Recordkeeping Open Government as a basis for Open Government Ivar Fonnes 05.06.2014

for high quality services to society and citizens Archives management for high quality services to society and citizens Open government is one of the key factors in building high quality governmental services to society an citizens is to a very large extent based on governmental records. Professional recordkeeping throughout the records’ life-cycle is thus a crucially important contribution to open government and thereby to high quality services.

Open government – aspects Open data: Actively publishing and making available for the public the data (records and other information) which are managed by an agency. Freedom of information (FOI): Transparency, access to records documenting the activities, business processes and decisions of an agency. My interpretation Open data: means actively making available the information and records you want the public to see. FOI – the Nordic model: means that the public has the right to look into your records, even those that you don’t want them to see.

Selected information published Actively transparent Yes Selected information published Actively transparent Open data OEP Norway No Access prohibited Passively transparent No Yes Transparency

OEP: Offentlig elektronisk postjournal  Public electronic correspondence registry Web-site: www.oep.no Covers all central governmental agencies and many others Updated every day Anybody can send a request for access to the records listed in the OEP.   

The bases of the OEP Transparency is obtained through the publishing of records metadata on the Internet (the OEP), and everybody’s right to access to the records identified in the OEP. What are the bases of these tools? The legal basis: The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Archives Act (AA) The technical basis: Standardized records management systems (The Noark standard) The administrative basis: Professional records management functions and routines. Transparent administration is not possible without professional records management functions.

The legal basis: The FOIA Basic principle Everyone (any person) has the right to access to public records (records from state and municipal administration) and records metadata (registries). Definitions Public records: Documents received by or submitted to a public agency or produced by the agency in its capacity of a governmental or municipal body. Examples: Letters, emails, memos, minutes from meetings etc. Registries: Registered metadata on each record, keeping track of work processes (for accountability) and containing contextual information related to content and the creation environment.

The legal basis: The FOIA Further on principles Time: The right to access is valid from day one – i.e. when the record has been created (when a document is received by or is finalized by the agency) Identification: In order to get access you will have to identify a record or a group of records (e.g. a file or a specific type of records). Request for access: A request for access can be oral or in writing (email, sms, letter etc.) Exceptions from access: A record or specific information contained in a record can be excepted from the right to access. All types of exceptions must be authorized by provisions in the FOIA itself or another act. If access is refused, the agency must specify the legal authorization by paragraph. The most common reason for exceptions is privacy related to personal information and internal business processes.

The legal basis: The FOIA and the AA Registries (records metadata) Public agencies are obligated to register their records according to principles defined in the Archives Act: All external correspondence has to be registered Internal correspondence and other documents should be included according to the agency’s needs A specified minimum of contextual metadata is mandatory. Electronic registries must meet the requirements of the Noark Standard (a National Records Management Standard, administered by the National Archives).

The legal basis: The FOIA Registries on the Internet (the OEP) Central government bodies are obliged to publish their registries (records metadata) on the Internet (the OEP). Purpose Present inventory lists of governmental records to the public. Give the public a tool for identifying records of interest. Restrictions Sensitive personal information should not be published. Names of persons shall not be searchable for more than one year.

The technical basis: The Noark standard The standard Noark was introduced in 1984 as a standard for electronic registries as an alternative to the manual registries used by the governmental agencies. Vendors of electronic systems for public administration were invited to develop systems based on the standard. Further developed for the same purposes through the next decade. In 1998 extended to a standard for electronic records management and recordkeeping, integrated with email and work-flow systems. Further developed in 2006 as a more open standard for defining metadata related to electronic records management. Also related to Moreq.

The technical basis: The Noark standard Implementation and use Noark established itself as a de facto standard both in governmental and municipal administration through the 1990-ies. In 1999 the Archives Act made it mandatory for electronic registry systems in public administration. Implications of Noark All public agencies have registry systems based on the Noark standard. The OEP therefore could be based on a standardized records metadata structure.

The administrative basis: RM functions Building professional records management (over the last 25 years) Long tradition of systematic records management in the ministries and the central governmental agencies (for accountability, transparency, the rule of law and internal memory of public administration). A more varying situation in local government and municipalities. The Noark standard: Aims to combine the best of traditional practices with new options in a digital environment – both for systems and routines. Legislation: Aims to raise the quality level of the records management and archival functions in public administration (the Archives Act). Education and training: Professional programs at a university college level were introduced in the early 1990-ies. Result: Records management in the public administration is in general carried out at a professional level.

Transparency benefits “The recordkeeping office is the heart of the organisation.” ”www.oep.no is my most important tool for getting information about activities in governmental administration.” ”Norwegian governmental sector is at the top of the world – even the Swedes envy us! A Norwegian democratic tool at top international level.” PAJ: 3000 requests for access every year. Per Anders Johansen journalist

Transparency costs – daily routines Prepare data for the OEP Identify information elements from the last day’s registrations which should not be published on the OEP – for privacy reasons, internal information etc. Mark those elements in the records management system in order to filter them out when publishing. Handle requests for access Read through the records requested in order to identify elements excepted from access. Logistics – request in, work flow, answer out. Totally 200.000 requests for access in 2012.

Open Government Partnership Initiated by the US Government Number of members Initially: 8 (Norway one of them) By 2013, the London Summit: 61 Agenda National action plans (evaluated by others) International work groups Conferences, summits etc. Benefits That a lot of countries around the world “confess” to Open Government as an objective (my personal view).