Digitising Records and Information Assets - Ark Group...commercial opportunities across industries...
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ROBIN SMITH Digitising Records and Information Assets IN ASSOCIATION WITH PUBLISHED BY
Transcript of Digitising Records and Information Assets - Ark Group...commercial opportunities across industries...
ROBIn smIth
Digitising Records and Information Assets
In assOcIatIOn wIth PuBlIshed By
Digitising Records and Information Assets is published by ark Group
UK/EUROPE OFFICEark Group ltdPaulton house8 shepherdess walklondon n1 7lBunited Kingdomtel +44 (0)20 7490 0049 Fax +44 (0)20 7324 [email protected]
NORTH AMERICA OFFICE ark Group usa4408 n. Rockwood drivesuite 150Peoria Il 61614tel +1 309 495 2853Fax +1 309 495 [email protected]
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editorevie serventi [email protected]
head of contentanna shaw [email protected]
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uK/europe marketing enquiriesRobyn macé[email protected]
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asia/Pacific marketing enquiriessteve Oesterreich [email protected]
IsBn: 978-1-907787-12-6 (hard copy) 978-1-907787-13-3 (PdF)
copyrightthe copyright of all material appearing within this publication is reserved by the author and ark conferences 2010. It may not be reproduced, duplicated or copied by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher.
aRK1483
Robin Smith
Digitising Records and Information Assets
in aSSociation withPubliShed by
Contents
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Contents
Executive summary ............................................................................................................VII
About the author................................................................................................................IX
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................XI
Part One: Implementing enterprise digitisation projects
Chapter 1: Introducing enterprise digitisation projects ........................................................ 1The birth of digitisation .......................................................................................................... 1Defining enterprise digitisation ............................................................................................... 2Digitisation drivers ................................................................................................................ 2A collaboration of benefits… ................................................................................................. 3Digitisation risk assessment .................................................................................................... 4Digitisation development and implementation framework (DDIF) .............................................. 5Elements of the DDIF ............................................................................................................ 6DDIF impact and results ........................................................................................................ 7
Chapter 2: Building a business case for enterprise digitisation ............................................ 9Establishing the digitisation business case ............................................................................... 9Map the benefits to information strategy ............................................................................... 10Vision for digitisation strategy ............................................................................................... 11Principles of digitisation strategy ........................................................................................... 12Strategy focus areas ............................................................................................................ 13Introduce a digitisation change plan ..................................................................................... 13Digitisation strategy governance ........................................................................................... 15
Chapter 3: Planning and delivering the enterprise digitisation project ............................... 17Digitisation project management .......................................................................................... 18Project management methodologies ..................................................................................... 18Project governance ............................................................................................................. 19Developing the digitisation change plan ............................................................................... 20Aims and objectives ............................................................................................................ 20Scope ................................................................................................................................ 20Project plan ........................................................................................................................ 20Stakeholder management .................................................................................................... 22
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Managing costs and benefits ............................................................................................... 23Initial risks and issues .......................................................................................................... 23Successful project management ........................................................................................... 24
Chapter 4: Implementing digitisation standards ................................................................ 25Overview ........................................................................................................................... 25The problem with paper records ........................................................................................... 25Implementing standards for improvement.............................................................................. 26Outline key strategies .......................................................................................................... 26Preservation ........................................................................................................................ 29Linking process and technical requirements ........................................................................... 31The digitisation process ....................................................................................................... 31The cost of digitising ........................................................................................................... 31Standards and quality improvement ...................................................................................... 32
Chapter 5: Exploring technology accelerators for enterprise digitisation ............................ 33Trends in technology selection .............................................................................................. 33Benefiting from technology solutions..................................................................................... 34Digitisation technologies and information management ......................................................... 35Introducing technology accelerators ..................................................................................... 35Technology tool one: Scan and store .................................................................................... 35Technology tool two: Document management ....................................................................... 36Technology tool three: E-records management ...................................................................... 37Determining functional requirements .................................................................................... 38Digitisation project – Options appraisal ................................................................................ 39Going forward .................................................................................................................... 40
Chapter 6: Understanding the legal and regulatory environment ...................................... 41Effective corporate governance ............................................................................................ 41Information security ............................................................................................................. 42Classifying digital information .............................................................................................. 42Information access rights ..................................................................................................... 42Privacy, surveillance and data protection rights ...................................................................... 43Freedom of information ....................................................................................................... 44Authenticity and legal admissibility ....................................................................................... 44Legal discovery and hold ..................................................................................................... 45Copyright and intellectual property ....................................................................................... 45Technical information management standards ....................................................................... 45Linking law with practice ...................................................................................................... 46
Chapter 7: Achieving corporate integration and high performance ................................... 49Performance matters! Communication really matters! ............................................................. 49Review performance and learn lessons ................................................................................. 50Setting and assessing performance goals .............................................................................. 50
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Return on investment ........................................................................................................... 50Integrating with information strategy ..................................................................................... 51Communicate and market digitisation .................................................................................. 51The marketing process ........................................................................................................ 51Public relations ................................................................................................................... 52Branding information services .............................................................................................. 52Measuring progress ............................................................................................................ 52Using knowledge management (KM) techniques .................................................................... 53Linking KM and digitisation .................................................................................................. 53Tool one: After action reviews .............................................................................................. 53Tool two: Storytelling ........................................................................................................... 54Tool three: Communities of practice ..................................................................................... 54Information, integration and knowledge ................................................................................ 55
Chapter 8: Digitisation futures ......................................................................................... 57Recessionary times .............................................................................................................. 57New rights, new requirements .............................................................................................. 58Enhanced technologies and tools ......................................................................................... 58Protecting the brand ............................................................................................................ 58Security and threat assessment ............................................................................................. 58Information value management............................................................................................ 58Harmonised information estate ............................................................................................ 59Going forward .................................................................................................................... 59
Part Two: Case studies
Case study 1: Improving digitisation awareness within the UK research sector .................. 63Background ........................................................................................................................ 63Introduction to HATII ........................................................................................................... 63Born digital ........................................................................................................................ 64The linked research method ................................................................................................. 64Managing digital knowledge ................................................................................................ 65Lessons learnt ..................................................................................................................... 66
Case study 2: Introducing digitisation technologies to improve legal discovery within the UK health sector ........................................................................................................ 67
Context .............................................................................................................................. 67Information on demand ....................................................................................................... 67The problem of e-discovery ................................................................................................. 68Initiating digitisation ............................................................................................................ 68Information audit results: issues and risks .............................................................................. 69Exploring technology accelerators ........................................................................................ 70Implementation strategy: pilot .............................................................................................. 71Corporate implementation ................................................................................................... 71
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External assessment ............................................................................................................. 72Lessons learnt ..................................................................................................................... 72
Case study 3: Integrating digitisation into e-records management programmes within UK local government ........................................................................................................ 73
Context .............................................................................................................................. 73Responding to external drivers.............................................................................................. 73Initiating change ................................................................................................................ 74Technology options assessment ............................................................................................ 74Corporate EDRM objectives ................................................................................................. 75Managing the project .......................................................................................................... 75Project issues and risks ........................................................................................................ 76Implementing EDRM ........................................................................................................... 77Lessons learnt ..................................................................................................................... 77
Case study 4: Digitisation disasters – The lessons ............................................................. 79Disaster 1: What happens if disasters strike? ......................................................................... 79Disaster 2: Is it still admissible? ............................................................................................ 80Disaster 3: ‘We’ve destroyed the paper but can’t use the digital file!’ ...................................... 81
Appendices
Appendix 1: Digitisation strategy template ........................................................................ 83
Appendix 2: Digitisation standards and further reading .................................................... 85
Appendix 3: The DDIF implementation checklist ............................................................... 89
Index ............................................................................................................................... 91
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SINCE THE invention of the Gutenberg press in the mid 15th century there has been a permanent information revolution and in every year since, an exponential increase in the amount of information in the world. In 2010 for example, UK public organisations are estimated to store enough information in paper format to build a 40 billion foot tower that could stretch upwards from London’s Tower Bridge to Jupiter’s fifth moon, Io.
The information society continues to struggle to adapt to this exploding universe of information. Paper and digital records are constantly produced during every part of our working and private lives. At work, predictions about the paperless office have been made ever since IBM produced the first operational personal computer in 1954. Individuals within organisations continue to deal with a deluge of paper and digital records. Information that is ‘born digital’ is being managed by organisations, which still survive on a high-paper diet. This divided ‘information estate’ presents an array of risks and threats to the efficiency and operational ability of organisations in terms of high performance delivery.
Previous promises to relieve the burden of paper records in offices were poorly supported by e-records technologies but this has changed. All organisations are in a period of transition with new digital technologies offering cheaper alternatives to the retention of all physical records including expensive paper records. There is now a critical decision for organisations to make - to digitise or not?
Digitisation is defined as being the conversion of analogue items into digital format for the purpose of improving access and it can also provide crucial support and help preserve records.
The main benefits of implementing enterprise digitisation projects include:
Access � – To enable current and potential information users wherever they are to use the organisation’s collections and to open up collections that cannot always be accessed physically by the public or regulatory bodies.Enhance services � – To satisfy end-user expectations as the World Wide Web is often the first resort for users and to create virtual collections and ‘restore’ dispersed collections through cooperation and partnership with other bodies.Preservation of materials � – To preserve the original materials by making the digital copy available and by reducing physical handling.
The demand to digitise is growing. The new ‘digital natives’ are a powerful group of customers and employees who expect information to be available in a digital format immediately. Also, digitisation is not an activity that can function in isolation; it is linked to all aspects of services provided by information and records professionals. Digitisation enhances the potential for synergies within business services with other
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digital collections, through shared descriptive information in consolidated or federated online databases.
Digitising organisational records is a major project but not only can it improve access to information, it can ultimately deliver cost savings, efficiencies and productivity gains. Creating and providing access to digital copies of material gives clients and customers the potential to pursue educational and cultural appreciation; and commercial opportunities across industries and continents.
The aim of this report is to provide a complete digitisation toolkit for any organisation that is struggling with information overload. A new approach to enterprise digitisation projects known as the Digitisation Development and Implementation Framework (DDIF) is provided. The DDIF gives step-by-step guidance to information professionals charged with delivering improvements in this area, in terms of assessing an organisation’s needs relating to e-documents, describing the technical digitisation process to the end result of delivering accessible and secure electronic records.
This report consists of two parts. Part One provides an overview of enterprise digitisation projects and breaks down the DDIF process into clear and sequential steps. Part Two consists of in-depth case studies from a variety of organisations that have addressed digitisation projects using a series of implementation approaches.
The report concludes with a series of appendices outlining key resources and adaptable templates that information professionals can use as a reference when managing digitisation projects.
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About the author
HEAD OF information governance at the UK-based Northampton General Hospital Trust, Robin Smith is the author of the Information Risk and Intelligence Management model now being adopted by UK organisations which aim to deliver high performance business intelligence.
He has worked extensively in the public and private sectors as a change manager for information and digitisation projects, producing innovative solutions to legacy content and e-records issues; and was formerly marketing director for the Records Management Society UK.
Author of the business report Information Risk Management: Valuing, Protecting and Leveraging Business Information, Robin also lectures, is the biographer of the The Open Information Society and is about to release his new book Blackout. He is currently regional chair of the information and data quality network for IDEA.
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Acknowledgements
I WOULD like to thank Christine Allen from Northampton National Health Service, Andy Ibbitson from Carillion UK and Tim Holder for their help and support in producing this publication.
