Business Excellence Day November 2009 Putting trust in your electronic information store Alan Shipman Group 5 Training Limited

e-Records What are the issues? Most (all?) information is created or recorded electronically So why do we need paper copies? –We don’t trust our electronic systems –We need to keep the information for ever –We need to have the records signed off

e-Records So, how do we manage trust? Good management of e-records Implement an electronic archiving policy With the ability to demonstrate: –Confirmed access to e-records over time –No issues with authenticity –Electronic management of “sign off”

e-Records e-Records management Good practice guidelines: –ISO Records management –ISO Information security management –BS Evidential weight –ISO 9000 Quality management Sellafield Limited are working with these standards But needs users to help with their implementation –To achieve business excellence in e-Records management

e-Records e-Records management What are the advantages to the user? –Better management of information –Information is “there when you need it” –Less time wasted looking for information –Ability to share knowledge across the organisation –No need to manage paper filing –Reduced costs and risks of paper storage But it will take time / resource / willingness to achieve this goal

e-Archiving Purpose of e-Archiving To store information in an electronic form, such that it can be retrieved and displayed over its whole retention period

e-Archiving Pitfalls / Risks So, how do we implement e-Archiving? What are the issues? What are the solutions?

e-Archiving Archiving issues Which storage media (s) Which electronic format (s) Dependencies How valuable is the information Evidential weight How long is it to be retained Frequency of access Speed of access

Storage media What storage media should you use? What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of: Paper Microfilm Electronic systems –On-line (personal, shared, EDRMS) –Near-line –Off-line

Storage media Paper Comfort factor How long will paper last –Archival paper Backup issues – keeping of multiple copies Not ‘reliably’ computer readable Cost of indexing, storage and retrieval Speed of retrieval Risks related to loss / “cannot find”

Storage media Microfilm Difficult to automate retrieval Not ‘reliably’ computer readable Proven stability Easy to duplicate Excellent for disaster planning Ideal for >30 years with no access

Storage media Electronic systems Computer readable / searchable Can users trust e-storage? Use of electronic signatures Technology change issues –Media migrations –Format conversions Authenticity issues

e-Archiving Electronic formats As originally created –MS Office, CAD Image format –TIFF, JPEG Databases Standard formats –XML, PDF, TXT Many more!

e-Archiving PDF formats Original Adobe copyright, now at ISO ‘Free’ readers ISO – The PDF reference manual ISO – PDF/A for archiving applications ISO – PDF/E for engineering applications ISO – PDF/X for graphic arts applications …… etc ……

e-Archiving Legal admissibility issues Need to show: –Authenticity –Integrity –Availability Good procedures – user involvement –International and British Standards

e-Archiving Current initiatives Records management –Phillip Whittle E-records management –Martin Denvir Long term preservation –Rory McLeod (consultant)

Business Excellence Day 2009 End of Presentation Alan Shipman Group 5 Training Limited