Creating a system for public information: the Swedish aid agency’s transformation to electronic administration
| Date | 01 April 2004 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09565690410528910 |
| Pages | 25-32 |
| Published date | 01 April 2004 |
| Author | Per Granath,Stefan Alariksson,Sverker Axelsson |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
Creating a system for
public information:
the Swedish aid agency's
transformation to
electronic administration
Per Granath
Stefan Alariksson and
Sverker Axelsson
The operational perspective
Although the ongoing process of change at Sida
(the Swedish International Development
Cooperation Agency) has its origins in the
archives, the main goal throughout has been to
improve the operations of the agency. Initially
the project only focused on the archives
perspective but that project was abandoned in
favour of a new project, the INDIAN project.
The acronym is derived from the guiding
principles of the project: ``Information, digital
and user-friendly'' (``AnvaÈndarvaÈnligt'' i n
Swedish).
Sida was formed in 1995 as a result of a
merger of the former SIDA and a number of
small agencies working with programmes about
international development cooperation. The
agency has the task of administering Swedish
development cooperation and has some 800
employees. Since it was formed, Sida has been
weighed down by various problems in its
information activities. This can partly be
explained by its complex field activities around
the world, but it is also a consequence of the
merger in 1995. After the merger Sida had a
decentralised archives organisation. This had
the effect that all the registrars were members of
different departments and much of the
responsibility for the archives was delegated to
individual programme officers. This method
made it difficult to obtain an overview of Sida's
overall records management.
The ``value base'' model
The point of departure of the model followed
by Sida's project group is the fact that different
users have different information needs. In
simple terms it can be likened to a triangle in
which three value bases represent the different
perspectives on information of the user groups
(see Figure 1).
Sida's management is in the first value base.
Here finance and efficiency are the natural
focus, together with the organisation's goal
fulfilment. How can an information system
contribute to achieving operational goals, to
optimising working methods and, at the same
time, to reducing costs?
The authors
Per Granath is Chief Archivist at Sida, Stockholm, Sweden.
Stefan Alariksson is a Management Adviser and
Sverker Axelsson is a Legal Adviser, both at Modul 1 Data
AB, Solna, Sweden.
Keywords
Records management, Sweden, Public sector organizations
Abstract
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
(Sida) is in the process of transition from paper-based to
electronic administration. This process includes the
introduction of new methods that are based on routines and
functions for electronic document management. The
electronic administration is adapted to the legal
requirements of the Swedish public sector and also includes
the agency's register of incoming and outgoing mail and
archives. In the article the authors present the operational
concept behind the major process of change being
implemented by Sida and its anticipated effects together
with the consequences of the change for archives work.
Finally, an explanation of the Swedish principle of public
access to official records and other legal aspects that affect
Sida's project for an electronic administration is provided.
Electronic access
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The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
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25
Records Management Journal
Volume 14 .Number 1 .2004 .pp. 25-32
#Emerald Group Publishing Limited .ISSN 0956-5698
DOI 10.1108/09565690410528910
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