Recordkeeping In A Digital Age

          Records are an invaluable source of information and are normally regarded as a liquid asset of any organization. Good recordkeeping is equally vital in regards to the maintenance of integrity, transparency, and accountability as “evidence of a transaction,” and also in enhancing organizational operational efficiency, equity, and effectiveness.

          The unique characteristics of electronic data, compared to paper, present unprecedented new challenges for records and information management. For example, the sheer volume of electronic communications today, such as email, makes it virtually impossible for individual employees to manage the lengthy records retention archives. This leads to two problems - on the one hand, even though much of the stored and exchanged information has only short-term business value and no “record value,” it may remain within the technology systems of the organization indefinitely. On the other hand, the inability to isolate and protect information of enduring value may lead to the inadvertent loss of that information which may cause detriment to the organization. 

          The “computer revolution” has brought about momentous change over the past 20 years in the way society creates, communicates and stores information. In assessing its information and records management needs, and in deciding what resources to commit, an organization may wish to consider the following possible benefits of an effective information and records management such as:

• Facilitating easier and more timely identification of records
• Access to necessary information
• Controlling the creation and growth of information
• Reducing operating and storage costs
• Improving efficiency and productivity
• Meeting statutory and regulatory retention obligations
• Protecting the integrity and availability of business-critical information
• Leveraging information capital and making better decisions
• Preserving corporate history and memory, including evidence to support corporate governance
• Compliance initiatives.

All of this can be achieved with an effective digital recordkeeping management.

          An organization may also wish to consider the possible risks of not actively managing electronic information and records. These risks include:

• The inability to retrieve and productively use business-critical information on a daily or historical basis
• Loss of strategic opportunities due to the inability to recognize or leverage valuable information
• Increased costs of doing business from inefficiencies related to disparate or inaccessible data
• Failure to comply with statutory or regulatory retention and destruction requirements
• Failure to comply with security breach notification requirements.

Furthermore, an organization that does not actively manage their recordkeeping practices will have a reduced ability to comply with court orders and other litigation-related imperatives requiring access to existing information and inability to respond promptly to government inquiries.

          The consequences of a failure will vary depending upon the circumstances but could range from minor to catastrophic such as lost business, lost profits, regulatory fines, and penalties. In short, recordkeeping in a Digital Age is simply a necessity to maintain organizational liability, integrity, efficiency and effectiveness in the environment where information is the key source of organizations success and prosperity.

          Allyn International offers several options of electronic recordkeeping for its clients, such as entry data and entry documents recordkeeping and collection, metrics and entry audit. Based on entry data that Allyn collects from Import Brokers the client will receive multiple customized entry data analysis that provides the client with a clear overview and full transparency of their account.

 

Contributor: Katerina Kucerova