E. Bryan - Governance & Records Management [Challenge to Change]

6 Challenge to Change

The Newsletter for Public Sector Reform

Governance: Information

Management Ma ers

What are Records?

Records are recorded informa on regardless of

medium or characteris cs. Records can be deÞ ned

as “Informa on created, received and maintained

as evidence and informa on by an organiza on or

person, in pursuance of legal obliga ons or in the

transac on of business”.

(ISO 15489-1, 2001)

The old adage, “What I cannot see would not hurt

me…” has never before, in the history of the world,

been further away from the truth than it is today,

especially in government. In this Informa on Age,

the evidence of our ac vi es, present or past,

professional or private, is now also recorded in

electronic format. Even more signiÞ cant is the

pace at which the various pla orms and media

for the storage of electronic records is changing.

Are the people managing these electronic

records aware of the vulnerabili es associated

with these new technologies? Are policy makers

(including permanent secretaries) aware of their

responsibility to oversee the recordkeeping process

as the organiza on’s ‘responsible o cer’?

These are challenges that Barbadian policy-makers

and informa on professionals across the public

service are grappling with. Whatever the nature

of business, ministry or department, it must

be recognized as a vital underpinning, that the

development of a strategy for managing recorded

informa on across all pla orms (both tradi onal

paper-based and electronic) is paramount. That

strategy must conform to the prevailing legal

mandates, as well as reß ect management prac ces

and technological op ons.

Legal Aspects of Records Management: The

Records Reten on Schedule

The Records Reten on Schedule

A records reten on schedule iden Þ es the length

of me a records series must be retained in ac ve

and inac ve storage before its Þ nal disposi on

to permanent storage, archival preserva on, or

destruc on.

When organiza ons sanc on the destruc on

of records in the normal course of business, the

employment of a reten on schedule should

provide evidence to show that the organiza on

has an o cial policy for disposing of its records

in compliance with any legisla on a ec ng the

organiza on. This can help the organiza on avoid

certain legal problems associated with illegal and

arbitrary disposal of records.

There are usually many outside regula ons that

oblige Records Managers to apply consistent,

structured management to their organiza on’s

documents. These apply equally to our electronic

documents. A sampling may include:

o Government legisla on which may require

employers to destroy sensi ve informa on

(such as personal employees/data) a er

a speciÞ ed me or to keep certain legal

documents for a minimum period.

o Adhering to a consistent schedule of

reten on and destruc on will strengthen the

defence of an organiza on’s

records-keeping, should it

Con nued on

page 7

7Challenge to Change

The Newsletter for Public Sector Reform

In September 2008, the Ministry

of Foreign A airs and Foreign

Trade introduced a new video

conferencing system at its

New York Mission, to make

collabora on between that o ce

and Barbados

alot easier.

The inaugural video conferencing call,

from the new headquarters of the New York

Mission, saw Prime Minister David Thompson,

together with the former Minister of Foreign

A airs, Christopher Sinckler, engaged in

dialogue with the then Minister of State,

Donville Inniss, via the new technology, which

cost government in the region of $40, 000 to

purchase and install.

Prime Minister Thompson disclosed that the

ini a ve is a venture that he would invite the

private sector to assist with. He added that

the technology would be installed at the other

nine Missions and it was expected to result in

a signiÞ cant reduc on in the Ministry’s overall

expenses.

Hailing it as a posi ve development, Prime

Minister Thompson said it was heartening that

the Ministry and its Missions would be able

to communicate in real me, face to face at

virtually no cost, as the video streaming is done

via the Internet. He explained that the video

conferencing facility was intended to reduce the

me it takes for sound decision-making to occur

and to increase the ß ow of informa on across

borders.

Meanwhile, Manager Informa on Systems,

Rodney Taylor, said that during 2009 the

Ministry will con nue to take advantage of

internet based technologies. He opined that

“such technologies have the poten al to change

the way we interact with each other and the

interna onal community”.

be required to do so by any court ac on.

Courts accept records as “evidence” if they

are managed according to corporately

sanc oned policies and procedures.

o Records management helps us iden fy

those documents that should have a

formal cer Þ ca on process applied for

destruc on. In some cases, the CEO/

Permanent Secretary/ an archivist’s consent

may be required prior to destroying any

document.

o Legisla on may require that vital

documents (essen al to the con nua on

of the business in the event of a disaster)

be properly iden Þ ed, handled, monitored

and protected.

o Access to Informa on/Privacy legisla on

may oblige an organiza on to produce

accurate and reliable informa on at

the right me. With sound records

management in place, it is less likely that

the organiza on may Þ nd itself unable to

supply the requested informa on Con nued on

page 20

I S b 2008 h Mi i

Technology Brings Change To

Foreign Ministry

20 Challenge to Change

The Newsletter for Public Sector Reform

to the requester.

NB. A major legal objec ve and

beneÞ t of a reten on scheduling programme is to

serve as evidence to indicate that the organiza on

does, in fact, observe an o cial policy for the

disposal of its business informa on, and that this

policy is implemented systema cally in the normal

course of business.

A Legal Research Exercise

A sure way of minimizing or elimina ng poten al

legal threats to one’s company/ organiza on would

be the development of a legal research plan with

the organiza on’s legal representa ve/ counsel.

This can be addressed by doing the following:-

1. Iden fy what general business ac vi es

may be subject to records-keeping statutes

and regula ons.

2. Iden fy what products or services that

the organiza on may provide which

could be subject to legal records-keeping

requirements. (e.g.; in the banking sector/

u li es companies which keep customers’

personal data by law).

3. Examine which of the organiza on’s

industries or business ac vi es is currently

or poten ally regulated by the government,

and may thus be or become subject to

records-keeping laws and regula ons. NB.

This may be best approached by iden fying

which agency (ies) of government oversees

the organiza on’s ac vi es.

4. Research the organiza on’s li ga on history

and what this history suggests in terms of

developing future records- reten on policies

that would be er protect that organiza on’s

interests.

5. Examine what future roles the legal counsel

may wish to have in the development and

opera on of the organiza on’s records-

reten on programme.

6. Considera on for the geographical areas

that the organiza on conducts its business.

Documen ng the Legal Research

It is the recommended route to document

the results of the legal research because the

organiza on’s a orneys should be provided with

complete legal research documenta on to enable

them to determine whether the law has been

reasonably and appropriately applied. Also, it

may be necessary to, at some me in the future,

do a follow-up exercise or to provide evidence to

regulatory o cials or in cases of li ga on that the

organiza ons had done its best to comply fully

with all the applicable legal requirements. Some

simple ways of doing this is to:-

post the proper statutory or regulatory

cita on of all legal requirements on all

records inventory worksheets;

make copies of relevant laws and regula ons

and Þ le them as suppor ng papers along

with the inventory worksheets or in a

separate Þ le; or

post a summary of the legal requirements

on the reten on schedule themselves or on

a separate suppor ng documenta on.

totototo

NN

Con nued

from page 7