New White House directive puts time table on records shift

Many business and government organizations have seen success when shifting their document management strategies from paper to electronic files. Not only is monitoring the security of the documents safer, but the shift can also be cheaper and generally easier on leaders.

As such, President Barack Obama called for a shift to digitalization for federal records. On August 24, the White House released a directive stating that all federal organizations have until the end of 2019 to set forth systems regarding the transition to electronic documents, according to Next Gov. The source said by 2016, however, all records need to be in digital form.

According to the memorandum, President Obama began his push to digitalization in November of 2011, and the directive will be applicable to, "all executive agencies and to all records, without regard to security classification or any other restriction."

Next Gov explained this initiative will change protocol for many agencies, as they commonly print out paper files to make sure they can be read 30 years in the future, no matter what technological changes occur. The Obama Administration also set forth other deadlines for publishing guidance on how to store the records, appointing directors to oversee the transition and finally moving records over.

Brought to you by Image One Corporation, providing complete government and industry compliance solutions since 1994.