Government Lays Down the Law on Document Management

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, government bodies developed PC and server-based information architectures. Though these systems successfully served particular functions, there was also a need to communicate with other departments within or between ministries or agencies. In addition, as much as 80% of documents resided in unstructured systems such as e-mail and on individual PC hard drives. This often resulted in the unnecessary duplication of documentation and labor and limited access to valuable information.

The Government of Canada recognized the need for a document management system that could liberate information stored and duplicated in multiple ministries, departments and agencies. In the late 1990s, it tasked an interdepartmental committee to investigate the requirements of such a system.

Universal Access, Regardless of Origin

CGI Group Inc., the fifth largest independent information technology consulting firm in North America, was chosen to design, build and implement a Records, Documents, Information Management System (RDIMS). Based on the Hummingbird DM document management solution, RDIMS provides federal records employees with the ability to capture, manage and access valuable document-based information, regardless of ministerial, departmental or geographic origin.

“RDIMS allows users to classify their own records, search for records and submit retrieval requests from their desktops,” said Richard Spratt, Senior Consultant, CGI. “Putting records into the hands of users extends benefits to people who formerly had no experience with record management.”

To make the system available on as many desktops as possible and to support online government service evolution, RDIMS uses the Web client of Hummingbird DM as its interface to provide users with full document management functionality over the government’s intranet.

Responding to Policy, Regulatory Requirements

While RDIMS improves access to documents regardless of type or location, it also ensures that access is constrained by particular rules that correspond to public policy objectives and legal constraints such as the Canada Evidence Act, National Archives of Canada Act, Privacy Act and Access to Information Act. “Many legal rules assume the existence of original, signed paper records. The law of evidence traditionally relies on paper records,” said Spratt. “As more activities are carried out by electronic means, it becomes increasingly important that evidence of these activities is available to demonstrate the legal rights that flow from them.”

As a user’s responsibilities or the legislative regime governing information use change, the system can adapt without interrupting day-to-day operations. By using the browser, access privileges can be granted or constrained without the need to visit each individual desktop.

While it is expected that by 2010, 80% of the government’s information will be in electronic format, paper currently remains the standard, particularly for externally facing services and systems. To compensate for the continued reliance on paper, CGI incorporated Hummingbird Imaging to index and retrieve documents from a content-based search using built-in optical character recognition (OCR).

One long-term goal set by the Government of Canada is the movement toward the complete electronic delivery of services (EDS). RDIMS is a core technology that will allow this to happen, as most public business processes involve the construction and evaluation of document-based information. RDIMS’ open architecture allows new functionality necessary for EDS, such as Public Key Encryption, to be added gradually as it becomes more cost effective to embrace.

Industry: GovernmentOrganization: Government of Canada

The Challenge:

• Information stored and duplicated across ministries, departments and agencies
• 80% of electronic data remained unmanaged and stored in unstructured systems
• Legal and policy objectives were not consistently being met
• Relevant information was not available in a timely fashion.RDIMS Solution: Hummingbird contributed Document Management, Records Management, Imaging and Workflow

Key Benefits:

• Cost-efficiently captures, manages and shares information in many formats
• User interface is available in both official languages
• Supports document life-cycle from creation to distribution, storage and archival
• Adheres to evolving legal and policy requirements
• Integrates with legacy systems without record or document management capabilities.