Resources

“Hey Siri, manage my records:” the records management implications of emerging cognitive technologies

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Human decision-making is being supported or replaced by several emerging cognitive technologies, including Internet of Things, Robotic Process Automation, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. Recently, the National Archives and Records Administration issued a white paper that provides a review and analysis of these cognitive technologies and their potential impact on records management.

The white paper focuses on the following emerging cognitive technologies:

Internet of Things: The Internet of Things, or IoT, refers to the billions of physical devices around the world that are now connected to the internet, collecting and sharing data. Devices like Alexa and Siri can be used to operate lights, lock doors, add calendar items, answer questions, and more. In 2016, the City of San Diego approved a plant to retrofit streetlights with processors and data storage to gather data and analytics to improve parking, traffic and safety.

Robotic Process Automation: Robotic Process Automation is a technology platform that enables a software robot (“bot”) to interact with applications. The white paper offers an example of a bot that assists members of the public asking for information about a topic. The bot opens a chat, scans the content, opens the agency’s reference request system, populates the requester’s contact information, makes a best guess at the purpose of the request, and provides resources to help the requester find the information they seek.

Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence: Machine learning refers to a software programming technique that uses algorithms to autonomously improve decisions through analysis. Artificial intelligence is described as teaching machines to learn and solve problems so they can make yes or no decisions. The white paper discusses the use of these tools by governmental entities to classify emails to allow the public to search and more easily access certain government officials’ emails.

In addition to exploring the cultural and societal considerations associated with the use of cognitive technologies, the white paper explores the records management implications associated with their use and reminds readers of the following:

  • While the volume of data created by these technologies can be staggering, the data must be managed by agencies within a records management framework.
  • The length of retention continues to be driven by business needs and legal requirements.
  • These technologies may impact existing policies and standards, such as ensuring records management controls requirements for electronic information systems, and ensuring they adequately maintain the authenticity and integrity of records.

Although the white paper focuses primarily on federal records, it highlights the need for forethought from any public entity interested in incorporating these technologies into their business practices.

Spring cleaning your electronic records

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As you begin to tackle your spring cleaning projects, consider adding your public email accounts to your list. Not only can maintaining a clean email account lead to greater efficiencies for you and your employer, it can also help to limit maintenance and storage costs, reduce public record response time, and decrease your public entity’s potential liability.

As a reminder, the Ohio Electronic Records Committee has created a new virtual interactive training series that is designed to provide information and best practices. As you’re cleaning up your email accounts this spring, we encourage you to review the following:

  • Examples of non-records and transient records that may be deleted immediately – Part One at 3:27 and Part Two at 11:34.
  • Questions you can use to determine whether a specific email should be retained – Part One at 5:17.
  • Tips for managing email threads and attachments – Part One at 7:52
  • Suggestions for sorting and organizing your email inbox – Part Two at 12:54 and Part Four at 0:25.
  • Best practices for setting up an efficient and effective email filing system – Part Three at 7:22.
  • Suggestions for creating automatic retention rules for emails in Microsoft Outlook – Part Four at 6:20.

It’s important to give your electronic records attention throughout the year, but sometimes we all need an extra boost to get us motivated. Spring is an excellent time to review your approach to recordkeeping and establish some new best practices to keep you on track throughout the year. We encourage you to watch the entire training series for more information. The series takes approximately one hour to complete and a Certificate of Completion is provided at the end of Part Four.

New Email Management Series Training Series Module

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The Ohio Electronic Records Committee is excited to announce a new virtual, interactive Email Management Training Series. The training series will provide information and best practices on managing email. The four sections of the training are Email As A Record, Email Clean-up Strategies, Email Filing and Organization, and Microsoft 365 Outlook Email Management. This training was made possible due to grant funding provided by the Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Thank you to these organizations for their continued support of the Ohio ERC!

The Email Management Series online training is for use by state and local government officials and employees. The training will take approximately one hour. A Certificate of Completion will be provided for this training series at the end of Part Four.

Access the training modules for free at the links below: