3 in 4 agencies now managing records digitally

Three in four Australian government agencies are now managing their records digitally, according to a new report from the National Archives of Australia.

The number of agencies working digitally increased by 44% between 2010 and 2015, the report on the government’s Digital Continuity 2020 Policy shows.

Between 2014 and 2015 the percentage of agencies self-reporting as being at the furthest “optimising” stage of digital maturity also increased from 4.1% to 5.9%, while the percentage at the fourth “managing” stage grew from 20.9% to 25.2% and those at the third “defined” stage grew from 29.6% to 33.2%.

But this left 17.3% of agencies at the initial stage — down from 22.6% in 2014, and 18.5% at the second developing stage — down from 22.8% in 2014.

While agencies have made progress in digital information management, there remains more work to be done, according to NAA Director-General David Fricker.

“The continuing potential for loss of valuable government information is one of our greatest concerns. We are working together with agencies to improve that and assist with their progress towards digital information continuity by 2020,” he said.

The report notes that the NAA will continue to report on the government’s progress with digital continuity annually for at least the next three years.

Future analysis will focus on agencies’ ability to retain digital information for as long as it is needed, the improved integration of information governance practices into agencies’ corporate governance and identifying agencies that may need additional assistance in the transition to digital information management.

Image courtesy NAA.

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