Queensland State Archives has issued a discussion paper that draws attention to “A critical disconnect [that] has emerged between government’s move towards digital service delivery, while still relying on outdated records management processes.” Developed in collaboration with the Queensland Government Chief Information Office, the Born digital, stay digital discussion paper has been accompanied by a request for state agencies to respond to a plan to “Develop a roadmap with set timeframes for public authorities to work toward.” No timetable has been announced.

Aiming to assist the Queensland Government’s determination to adopt a digital-first approach to service delivery, the consultation process will be open until Wednesday, 24 December 2014.

The discussion paper notes that “Government’s digital service delivery has outpaced its ability to capture, manage and preserve the digital evidence of its business decisions and activities. 

“Records management functionality is often not being embedded into the design of new business systems. This means government may not be able to optimise the value of their digital records, or secure their continuing integrity and useability over time.”

“When digital recordkeeping is not a natural or organic part of the business, there is a risk that records may not be captured and appropriately managed over time. If this trend is not reversed, the Queensland public sector will lose its ability to capture and manage its corporate memory, the evidence base of public administration and its ability to account for its decisions and activities.

A 2013 Recordkeeping Survey of Queensland Public Authorities found that:

• 80% indicated that they are resorting to preserving digital records in paper form.
• Only 47% were confident that their digital information will remain accessible for its entire retention period.
• 12% had lost the ability to access digital information before the expiry of the required retention period.

The Queensland Government currently has around 100 million interactions each year. Of these, approximately 35 per cent are online with similar shares in counter and telephone interactions.

In 2013, 73 per cent of Queensland public authorities used a combination of paper and digital recordkeeping systems, while 18 per cent indicated that their authority used predominantly digital recordkeeping systems. Only 9 per cent indicated that a predominantly paper recordkeeping system was used indicated that their public authority used predominantly digital recordkeeping systems.

The discussion paper notes the example of one large Queensland Government department where “queries from members of the community received via email are printed, a coversheet placed over the email with additional information (such as date response due), scanned and sent to the officer preparing a response. The response is prepared in a digital format, usually an email, sent to the recipient and saved in the electronic document management system (eDRMS). The email is then printed and saved in the paper-based filing system.”

The full paper can be found at http://www.archives.qld.gov.au/Recordkeeping/GRKDownloads/Documents/BDSD...