TeraThink’s Laurence Hart: Automation Can Help Improve Records Management

Laurence Hart, a director at information technology and management consulting company TeraThink, said automating the recordskeeping process could help government agencies manage data, access to information and governance policies.

He wrote in an article posted Monday that paper-based processes require long-term management of physical documents and a digitized approach could reduce manpower and space requirements for data storage.

“You capture all information online,” Hart noted.

“Once completed, you still package up the case, this time as a digital record. With digital records you no longer need to worry about the inconvenience of managing records individually.”

He added that automation would help agencies to apply existing governance policies, such as re-arranging data after expiration date.

Transition to digital format may require changes in some policies, particularly those made for analog or paper-based processes, according to Hart.