Mid Sweden University

This article is based on a survey of projects directed at improving business operations in two local government bodies in Sweden, Härnösand municipality with a population of 25,000 and Sundsvall municipality with a population of 95,000. The projects are directed at the modernization and improvement of service delivery to their citizens. Both municipalities are conducting projects that will enhance e-government. E-government aims to reform government public management, to allow for citizens’ participation in policy making and to foster efficiency and transparency. This has required the effective deployment of information systems to manage the information resources. Modern information technologies have facilitated the automation of business processes within the municipalities and the delivery of e-services to citizens, who can now access public information via the websites. This development however requires new ways of thinking which promote collaboration beyond the administrative departments and a holistic way of using the available resources. Information management is crucial to the daily decision-making processes and in establishing an efficient and service-minded organization which is customer-centered. However, critical factors regarding project implementation, change management business processes and the challenges of e-government will have to be addressed if successful achievement of agile government structures is to be attained. The article therefore highlights the challenges that still persist as local government bodies try to espouse the modernization process and identifies the areas that need closer examination.

This article presents an explorative study of business development projects and the issues of long-term preservation of information and recordkeeping expertise. The empirical focus is on 17 on-going business development projects in two local government bodies also referred to as municipalities. Business development is connected to e-government, through which authorities continuously improve their core business using information technology (IT) to become more productive and effective. Authorities use records in the conduct of business, to support accountability and for cultural purposes. E-government development is therefore an important driving force behind the development of electronic recordkeeping. Projects related to implementation of recordkeeping systems are, or could be, the first building block of a new strategic approach to embrace records and archive management in public organizations. The overall study sought to find out how aware the municipalities were of the importance of recordkeeping and professional expertise in business development projects, including business systems as well as electronic document and records systems. This article addresses the lack of recordkeeping expertise in strategic positions within local government and what effect that has on recordkeeping and professional competence development. While the context of this article is Sweden, the findings would have relevance in any local government body that is implementing electronic business applications to support e-delivery of services to the wider community.

While information technology plays an important role in the delivery of e-government services there are other issues and processes that are of equal importance to successful e-government programs, namely the appropriate consideration of laws and regulations, sound business processes and change management. Records are also an important element of e-government as they support and demonstrate accountability and transparency and are a source of information for the citizens. In Sweden, the documents produced by public organisations are official records, and Swedish citizens are entitled to free access to them. These official records have been defined as an organisation’s archives.

During the last 10 years, there have been many government programs and initiatives in Sweden aimed at achieving world class practices in e-government. Given that records are a part of e-government, this paper addresses whether or not consideration has been given to the role and importance of recordkeeping in developing best practice e-government. The specific context for this study is local government municipalities as the aim of world class, or e-government best practice, includes this level of government in Sweden. In particular, the paper investigates whether or not the municipalities that exhibited best practice in the delivery of e-government services have embraced recordkeeping as important to their strategic development. If so, to what extent have recordkeeping principles and practices been incorporated in the processes? 

The paper focuses on the establishment of policies and business process descriptions such as retention and disposal schedules, preservation plans, the use of electronic records and competence issues. The underlying assumption is that municipalities that are good examples of e-government development are aware of the recordkeeping expertise, involve the archivists in working strategically with mapping processes, and have established routines, policies and guidelines for recordkeeping.

The study presented in this paper is part of a larger body of research that is still in progress. This research aims to contribute to a better understanding of the importance of recordkeeping competence as a valuable component of best practice in e-government implementation. It also aims to identify recordkeeping challenges related to e-government development and electronic recordkeeping.

E-government development has put pressure on public organizations to work with electronic information. Records from complex e-government services have to be captured and managed in order to be accessible both in the present and in the long term. The data and analysis presented is based on a multiple case study of nine Swedish local governments (municipalities) identified as good ex-amples of best practice of e-government. An analytical model for recordkeeping awareness in three arenas: the legal, the political and the workplace has been created in order to identify how political decisions and new technology impact on professional archivists’ practice and status. The research findings demonstrate a gap between the legal and workplace arenas in both directions caused by lack of recordkeeping awareness primarily within the political arena. Archivists´ profes-sional status seems to be limited, which opens up possibilities for other profes-sional groups to replace them.