Antwort der DRT-Unternehmen an die Europäische Kommission
Im vergangenen Jahr gab die Europäische Kommission im Anschluß an das DLM-Forum 1999 ( www.dlmforum.eu.org ) in Brüssel eine Anfrage an die sogenannte ICT-Industry heraus (siehe Newsletter 20000530Newsletter 20000530) Die AIIM Europe als beratendes Mitglied des DLM-Forum hatte es sich zur Aufgabe gemacht, die entsprechende Anwort der ICT-Industry zusammenzustellen. Den Vorsitz über die DLM-Forum/ICT-Industry Working Group übernahm Dr. Ulrich Kampffmeyer, PROJECT CONSULT. An der Erstellung des Dokumentes waren neben den Autoren Thijs Laeven (Innogration Management, Niederlande), John Symon (AIIM Europe, U.K.), Dr. Ulrich Kampffmeyer, Per Johanson (Volvo, Schweden) weitere Mitglieder des DLM-Forum aus Finnland, Italien, Belgien u.a. beteiligt. Der Inhalt und die Strategie wurde mit zahlreichen führenden internationalen Anbietern abgestimmt. Bedingt durch diesen langwierigen Abstimmungsprozeß erschien die Antwort erst im Oktober 2000. Die Anfrage und die Antwort stehen in Deutsch, Englisch, Französisch und Spanisch zur Verfügung. Die deutsche Version der Anfrage und der Antwort der ICT-Industry ist unter dem Link
( http://www.ispo.cec.be/dlm/dlm99/industry_p1_de.htm ) abrufbar. Kommentare und Informationen zur Beteiligung an der Initiative der DLM-Forum/ICT-Industry Working Group bitten wir an mailto:AIIM-Europe_DLM-Forum@PROJECT-CONSULT.com zu richten. Im folgenden die Originalantwort in Englisch.
(FvB) ICT Industry’s Answer to the DLM Message on electronic document and records management
Introduction
Following the interdisciplinary European DLM Forum, which was organised by the European Commission in close co-operation with the European Union (EU) Member States in Brussels, 18 – 19 October 1999, a lot of discussions have emerged within the ICT industry with regard to the DLM-Message to the ICT industry on electronic document and records management**. ICT industry leaders stated that the public sector is one of the largest and most important vertical market for document related technologies. Today many proven and practical solutions are already in place in European administrations with the effective management of a vast amount of information. The problem is that many of these solutions have been developed individually and there are no standard software packages available for the specific needs of government and administration authorities. Further, the benefits of such proven applications now need to be disseminated to a broader user base within the EU as there are many similar requirements and applications in each of the member states. Solutions must be developed that are, on the one hand capable of adapting to rapid IT technological advancements, and on the other can guarantee short- and long-term accessibility and intelligent retrieval of knowledge stored in document management and archival systems. This is a critical factor in preserving the "Memory of the Information Society“ within the EU.
Solutions also need to be cost effective and easy to implement using standard, compatible and widely accepted software and hardware platforms and must address security and privacy issues.
The ICT industry readily accepts the challenge given to it by the DLM Forum and is prepared and willing to support the efforts of the European Union for the preservation and public access to archives and records in a variety of practical ways.
General objectives
To promote transparency in public administration and to implement direct access to public archives in Europe for all citizens includes a lot of challenges:
Authenticity of Information is hard to achieve. Digital records can easily be changed. Document warehouse, electronic archival and records management deliver solutions for audit proof and secure longterm storage. Regulations have to be developed to insure comparable and secure methods for authentic storage.
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| | · | Preservation and longevity |
Given the short- and long-term storage requirements of information, preservation and longevity is a challenge. Storage media and software selected must be capable of migration and upgrading over time to ensure the integrity of the original information. Standards and procedures have to be developed to insure the short- and long-term availability of information, records and documents.
Easy and unique access to information is needed to fulfil the needs of an open, information driven society. Today still different methods and user interfaces often allow access only to specialists. Establishing central document repositories, with access to public records can do this. With non-classified information using standardised web-based user interfaces and easy-to-use retrieval methods.
Although there is a need, and a political obligation, to allow public access to information, still requirements of privacy and confidentiality of information have to be kept. Special attributes added to the information objects and effective user and access management tools are needed to fulfil both needs, openness and privacy. Document and data management solutions offered by the ICT industry can address and comply with uniform privacy laws both in place and being developed for individuals and governments within the EU member states.
Security is one of the major issues when it comes to public accessible solutions. Information must not be accessed by non-authorised persons, altered or deleted. Security is needed for access, transfer and storage of information. Security has to cover confidentiality, integrity and availability. In an environment of communicating solutions, general standards for security have to be established. The ICT industry, in partnership with the EU, can provide valuable guidance on such areas as digital signatures; password protected access to records and the establishment of secure Intranets and Extranets solutions.
There are many different kinds of users and a wide range between the information professional and the average European citizen with just a computer-TV set. Every type of user has different needs for user interfaces, retrieval techniques, preparation and depth of information, even commercial use of records and documents stored in public archives. Software design and information access solutions has to allow for all these different kinds of users and give them adequate methods to access the needed information.
Individual solutions are gone. These types of implementations are very cost-intensive and they take years to implement, especially in an international network like the EU. Standardised software solutions are needed, effective and easy to configure, to be used on every platform, multilingual to fulfil European needs. Public institutions have to co-operate with the ICT industry to develop these solutions.
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| | · | Use of standard and widely accepted applications |
The ICT industry can provide solutions based on recognised standards. These standards cover access methods like SQL, storage formats, type definitions like XML, exchange procedures and protocols. The standard solutions for accessing public archives can have a „shrink-wrapped“ quality, and be available at no or only small cost to every European citizen.
National borders are coming down, although cultural and lingual differences will survive, even gain a new quality of cultural identification in a new united Europe. Access to records, documents and data can no longer be restricted, is has to be open. meta-data, describing information, automatic classification and translation solutions has to be part of the network-linked archive solutions.
Legal Aspects
To promote transparency in public administration and to improve direct access to public archives in Europe for all citizens raises a lot of legal issues. In some cases even changes in the legal framework are required.
The Digital Signature brings a new quality to electronic documents. Digitally signed documents have reached the same legal status as manually signed paper documents. Europe has introduced three different types of digital signatures with different quality. Regulations for the use of the different types of digital signatures in relation to different quality of business and information value must be developed. Problems of the short- and long-term archival and the legal admissibility of migrated digital documents have to be solved.
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| | · | Admissibility of digital documents |
Most European laws for the admissibility of documents in court still refers to paper based legislation of the past century. Digital documents have to receive the same degree of admissibility. Documents are created digitally and have no longer paper equivalent. New types of electronic documents rival with traditional scanned facsimiles and paper as well. Industry standards not only for the document itself but also for the documentation of the process of generation, context, storage, retrieval and reproduction have to be harmonized and implemented as addition to digital signature and E-commerce legislation.
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| | · | Accepted European Industry Codes of Best Practice |
Legislation cannot set technical standards in this rapidly changing world – legislation can only give a framework, define procedures and quality standards. Industry Codes of Best Practice are already existing in different countries of the EU. These Codes of Best Practice have to be harmonised and implemented on a short term by the Industry. The European Commission has the task of preparing the legal base for adopting these standards set by Industry Codes of Practice.
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| | · | Privacy and Use of Information |
Privacy of information, the right of every individual to know what kind of personal information is stored, has to be provided by any archival and records management solution. Practical methods to hinder and track the illegal use of personal information have to be integrated in ICT solutions. Different legal standards, rules and regulations have to be harmonized to secure the basic citizens’ rights.
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| | · | Copyrights, intellectual property and Multimedia Clearance Systems (MMCRS) |
The free flow and use of digital information has an open flank. Copyrights, authorship and other intellectual property rights are difficult to control. There is a need for standard procedures, regulations and laws which are designed to be implemented in technical solutions to enable the controlled trade, storage and use of the intellectual property of individuals as well as the intellectual properties of communities, state organisations and other bodies.
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| | · | Conformity Recommendations and Verification |
The recommendation of compatible, easy to use, standardised solutions will lead to a lot of well-meant statements but no real commitments. Both sides, the industry and the public administration, need a set of standardised procedures to prove conformity of solutions, to evaluate software if interfaces, meta-data, architecture and formats are keeping the set standards. Codes of Practice, standards and regulations are only of value if they can be measured, tested, verified and officially approved.
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| | · | Harmonisation of different national legal regulations |
Europe stands only at the beginning of the harmonisation of the legislation of the member states. This necessary task faces two challenges in regard to electronic documents. On one hand in every country quite a lot of laws have to be changed, on the other the technical development is moving faster and faster. Although there is still a lack of regulations in regard to the requirements of eBusiness and electronic records management, the general strategy should be the deregulation where ever possible and suitable. The European Union must focus on general outlines in regard to E-documents, digital signature, digital copyrights and admissibility of digital storage. There is not time for waiting and hesitating – the digital age is already here.
Qualification and Education
Alongside with the development of standards and the emergence of new procedures and methods for Electronic Documents and Records Management (EDRM), the Human Resources component should be taken seriously into account.
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| | · | Role of Electronic Documents and Records Management (EDRM) |
For the modern record keeping professional it is necessary to acquire new and adequate skills and attitude. This modern records management professional must be a specialist with an added value in interdisciplinary strategy making for the information architecture within organisations. He or she must move to the start of the information supply chain, where business process design and information policy meet. His or her added value will be the grafting of documentary processes upon primary business processes in order to guarantee the interests of authenticity, accountability, reliability, preservation, overtime access which he or she will have to defend in face of other information specialists and managers. Traditional values like these will be in good hands with the new record keeping professional. In this way he or she can contribute to implement new standards, methods and legislation in order to complete the organisation's mission and to protect democratic and consumers' rights. The modern EDRM professional should have the skills, attitude and qualifications of a modern archivist in the Information Society. He or she must be devoted to Knowledge Management and Business Intelligence, active in managing information, documents, knowledge and intelligence across the enterprise.
ICT industry and training institutions therefore appeal for the further development of a standard competency profile. It may serve as a reference model identifying the core competencies for the EDRM professional in a digital environment. A competency profile analyses the required qualifications for EDRM professionals and it will be of great help to enhance professionalism and employability.
Qualification standards will stimulate the creation of assessment and certification systems that monitor the level of professional development for record keeping and other EDRM specialists. It will contribute to the harmonisation between varying national educational and certification systems and enhance employability of qualified and certified specialists within the EU. It will also contribute to transparency in the education and labour market and to the human resources (HR) management for record keeping and EDRM specialists in organisations and enterprises. The development of qualification standards will have to take place in close interaction with all parties interested (professional organisations, employees' and employers' unions, government, industry). So the professional education will be tuned in to the labour market's needs in an actual and transparent way.
Secondly qualification standards are the starting point for the development of innovative curricula for the initial and continuous education of information managers and record keeping professionals. One such cross border initiative is currently being developed in a project co-funded by the European Commission’s LEONARDO programme: E-TERM. This project creates a web-based knowledge and experience platform that will be used in contact or distance learning. Students can make use of the E-TERM system to develop their skills in EDRM. In an interactive way they can share and compare knowledge and experience in the E-TERM system. It will be continuously updated to guarantee access to the newest insights and developments. Industry may find here a platform to promote products, methods and cases to a specialised and highly motivated audience. E-TERM is thought of as collaboration between countries, disciplines, universities and industry. It will eventually be a wide scope EDRM knowledge platform, also opened to non-education partners.
Functional and technical requirements
In order to promote transparency in public administration and to improve direct access to the public archives in Europe for all citizens, some functional and technical issues have to be considered.
There is a need for standardisation, harmonisation and regulation. This will affect several technical fields of software, interchange formats, protocols and interfaces. Standardisation has to set limitations to software and system development but define interchange, quality and interoperability rules. To comply with the directions for a European digital archive network accessible, there is a need for a European directive or an official European Code of Best Practice covering topics like interchange, storage, retrieval, security, etc.
Basic formats for document interchange and storage are available but have to be reduced in their multitude to allow public access and short- and long-term availability. Digital signatures can cover a part of authenticity, but these imply no regulations for securing the context, not the information. Security and compatible retrieval techniques, using modern search engines as well as controlled vocabulary, SQL or full text methods, still have to be harmonised.
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| | · | meta-data recommendations |
meta-data are one of the compelling challenges and there should be no difference between meta-data standards in the public and the commercial sector. A basic set of attributes, rules for the use of meta-data and a self-descriptive format like XML with appropriate definition types have to be standardised. meta-data has to refer not only to document related information, but must also include security and context information.
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| | · | Reference models for internal and external use of information |
There is no chance for a unique access model for every kind of system to be made available throughout Europe. But there must, at least, be well-defined rules and regulations for the use and access of information. These must include what information is public, what information is private, and what information quality is needed for publication. The internal use of an administration, the producer, collector and manager of information in public archives has to be distinguished from the different types of public users and their rights for access.
In Europe there is a special need for software that can manage multi-cultural and multi-lingual information. Requirements include automatic translation – not only of text, but as well of context. Multilingual thesauri help to index information and prepare records for their future use by individuals, which know little about the available information and its context. Methods of structured access and full text retrieval have to be combined for these tasks.
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| | · | Migration, Information Conversion, Rendition Management |
Technology changes and becomes unavailable or difficult to maintain after a short period. For short- and long-term preservation of records, data and documents, it must be easy to migrate to new media and format. Rules have to be established on how this process can be run. Where the original, unchanged character of information is, has to be secured. The conversion of paper, film and digital media to digital archives has to follow defined rules and has to include the availability of information in different formats (renditions) to be able to face future changes of technologies.
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| | · | Access-Rights-Management, Authorisation |
Access and authorisation can not be managed on an international level. Different sites, different archives will be open to different groups of users. Different user groups will select information for access. The base of future solutions will we directory services based on international standards like LDAP. Standards and rules have to be developed and enforced to protect both information from non-authorised access and fulfil to political directive of opening as much as possible to the public.
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| | · | Indexing and Classification issues |
Indexing and classification of information is the base for open access. Incomplete and incorrect indexing lead to wrong retrieval results. The depth, completeness and quality of indexing have to be defined on an overall level for European archives. These quality standards have to apply to manual as well as to automatic indexing methods.
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| | · | Application Service Providing (ASP) |
The technical management of electronic archives can be partially provided by specialised firms. Already today specialised companies provide scanning and indexing. In the future they will offer to maintain the technical equipment for running an electronic archive. Such solutions require special regulations due to the fact, that the information is no longer under direct control of the administration concerned. New models of use and payment need special rules for implementation, security and verification.
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| | · | Unification of functional and technical requirements |
The goal is not to reinvent the wheel with every new record management solution in the public sector. Only standardised solutions can be cost effective, easy to distribute and easy to maintain. Therefore the basics of software development and implementation standards like quality, modularity, interfacing, version management etc. have to be defined on a global level within the EU (cf. also the MoReq: Model Requirements for the Management of Electronic Documents and Records) project, funded in the framework of the European Commission’s IDA2 programme, to use and develop existing standards and specifications covering the whole continuum of electronic documents and records and to produce a reference model: www.cornwell.co.uk/moreq.html. | | | |
| | · | The lifecycle of information |
Documents have a life cycle, from creation, use, and publication to disposal. Software solutions for the public archives of Europe have to support this lifecycle, especially in regard to selective appraisal or deletion of information. The lifecycle of a document has to be recorded as well. Electronic documents of the future will contain their own content information about their lifecycle process and their context with other information. One important attribute of this kind of electronic document is their value. This value, to be stored for a millennium or to be disposed after receipt, will change during the lifecycle. The value of information is at least the measure line, how much to invest to make information available. An industry code of practice therefore must contain advice on how to evaluate information.
Information Policy
The ICT industry recognises it can play an expanded role in educating the user community within the EU public sector on the benefits of their technologies and solutions at both the national and international level. The key objectives for the ICT industry is to provide a more effective means of sharing their knowledge and experience through a variety of means including, but not limited to
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| | · | Exhibitions, Conferences, Seminars and Workshops |
Together with support from local and international document and information management associations the ICT industry is able to co-ordinate a wide range of educational forums. Leading industry speakers can be provided at such events to address current and new technologies, legal, security and archival issues and present proven applications. This “hands-on” approach will expose users in the public sector to the most appropriate solutions for their document and data management requirements and elevate the knowledge and expertise of their information managers.
The ICT industry and their respective associations, together with recognised industry analysts and consultants can provide a wide range of publications including books, magazines, newsletters, industry studies, technology reports and case studies for the public sector.
The web can provide an additional excellent and universal resource for the public sector on the technologies and solutions available from the ICT industry with appropriate links from the supplier community to the European Commission’s web sites and leading industry associations.
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| | · | Selling the message to the public |
The ICT industry, together with the EU, can provide easy to understand information to the public with regard to the opening of public archives - a democratic right for all citizens in ensuring Memory of the Information Society is preserved.
Conclusions
To support the efforts of the ICT industry in their stride to supply adequate and efficient solutions to the public sector as outlined above, the ICT industry asks the European Commission for the following:
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| | · | collection, bundling, and harmonization of the demand for such solutions to enable the industry to deliver practical, easy-to-use, and affordable solutions as standardized products. |
| | · | harmonisation and collaboration with the EU member states to establish initiatives that will further develop the use of information technology within the public sector; |
| | · | creation and maintenance of meta-data standards and specifications to be able to provide and implement unified ICT-solutions to electronic document and archives management; |
| | · | creation of a European authority for the harmonisation and collaboration with respect to such standards and specifications as well as codes of practice; |
| | · | harmonisation of public and commercial user needs with regard to content management, E-Commerce, digital signature and audit proof records management; |
| | · | definition of needed functionality including a “checklist” for compliance; |
| | · | joint interdisciplinary modular qualification, certification and training programmes to enhance the level of knowledge and understanding of public sector administrators, archivists and other information managers to be more effective in the new digital age. |
| | · | Establishment of a major, regularly held European Forum, to continue the work initiated and developed by archives and administration experts from the European Union and its Member States in 1994 and 1999 but to include more explicit involvement from the ICT industry. It is proposed that the first of these be held in Brussels in November/December 2001 and include an exhibition, conference and workshops on the practical implementation of electronic document and record management technologies and solutions. |
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| | · | Joint efforts with the ICT industry in the dissemination of publications and resource material to create more awareness of the importance of electronic document and data management to users in the public sector. |
The answer of the ICT industry was prepared and compiled by the independent ICT/DLM-working group:
Ulrich Kampffmeyer
President
PROJECT CONSULT, Hamburg, Germany
mailto:Ulrich.Kampffmeyer@PROJECT-CONSULT.com Thijs Laeven
Senior Partner, Innogration Management Consultants, Haarderwijk, The Netherlands
mailto:laeven@innogration.nl John Symon
Senior Vice President Europe
AIIM International
Datchet, Berkshire, United Kingdom
mailto:jsymon@aiim.org Per Johanson
Product Manager
Volvo, Information Technology
Sweden
mailto:IT1.PJ@memo.volvo.se * DLM is an acronym for the French "Données lisibles par machine", in English: "Machine-readable data", in German: “Maschinenlesbare Daten”. The DLM-Forum is based on the conclusions of the Council of the European Union (Official Journal of the European Communities N° C 235 of 17 June 1994, p. 3), concerning greater cooperation in the field of archives.
** issued by the DLM-Forum ’99 and published in the Proceedings of the DLM-Forum ’99. Luxembourg, Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2000. p. 345 as well as on the DLM-Website: ( http://www.dlmforum.eu.org ).
The answer was prepared and compiled by the independent ICT/DLM working group after consultations with associations, vendors, integrators, consultants, and members of the DLM-Monitoring Committee. 
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