Document management systems aid compliance
- Posted:
- 14:27 28 May 2004
- Topics:
- Regulatory Compliance
Document management, document imaging and knowledge
management systems will play a vital role in helping local and
central government bodies comply with the Freedom of Information
Act.
Public bodies have received some guidance on the IT implications of
the Act from the Department for Constitutional Affairs.
It has published a general user requirements specification for
IT systems to manage freedom of information and environmental
information regulations enquiries.
But with the 2005 deadline for putting public services online
getting closer, councils are having to juggle different compliance
projects.
In Suffolk, the county, borough and district councils are working
with local health and police organisations in a project to tackle
the wide range of legislative requirements.
Adrian Lynch, project manager of the Suffolk Accessible Government
Partnership (SAGP), said, "We had the common challenge of meeting
the e-government agenda by 2005 and the introduction of the Freedom
of Information Act."
The SAGP is working with IT consultancy Artemis Corporation and
Atos Origin to deliver the OneSuffolk Portal - a central access
point for all the information and services provided by all the
partners involved in the SAGP.
At its core is Microsoft Content Management Server 2002, Windows
2003 Server, Office Sharepoint Portal Server 2003 and the Microsoft
.net Framework. Content is fed from the partners' sites to the
central portal site using Microsoft Biztalk 2004 Server.
Artemis has also developed "Requests Manager", a request handling
system that provides total compliance with the Department for
Constitutional Affairs' generic specification.
As a result, public authorities in Suffolk believe they will now
find it easier to meet the national e-government targets and comply
with the Freedom of Information Act by 2005.
Other councils are also working together. Bedfordshire Council, for
instance, has formed a partnership with local authorities in the
region to pull together data services.
