Managing electronic records across organizational boundaries. The experience of the Belgian federal government in automating investigation processes

Published date20 March 2017
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/RMJ-11-2015-0037
Date20 March 2017
Pages69-83
AuthorLaurence Maroye,Seth van Hooland,Fiona Aranguren Celorrio,Sébastien Soyez,Bénédicte Losdyck,Odile Vanreck,Cécile de Terwangne
Subject MatterInformation & knowledge management,Information management & governance
Managing electronic records
across organizational boundaries
The experience of the Belgian federal
government in automating
investigation processes
Laurence Maroye
Information Sciences and Communication, Université Libre de Bruxelles,
Brussels, Belgium
Seth van Hooland
Department of Information Sciences and Communication,
Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
Fiona Aranguren Celorrio and Sébastien Soyez
Archives de l’Etat, Brussels, Belgium, and
Bénédicte Losdyck, Odile Vanreck and Cécile de Terwangne
Centre de Recherche Information, Droit et Société, Université de Namur,
Brussels, Belgium
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the reasons behind the relatively poor level of
implementation of e-services. To this end, records management procedures in a particular Belgian federal
administration – the Belgian Federal Public Service (FPS) Employment, Labor and Social Dialogue – will be
studied. Based on this concrete and relevant case study, the authors examine how cross-organizational
differences in terms of the implementation speed of digital workows can hinder the development of
innovative e-services. By doing so, the authors raise relevant questions about the efcacy of digital workows
and work processes. The impact on the consultation and exchange of government records among public
services and toward citizens will be examined as well.
Design/methodology/approach In the context of an on-going four-year research project named
HECTOR (Hybrid Electronic Curation, Transformation and Organization of Records), the study is conducted
from an interdisciplinary approach, closely combining information sciences and law. Moreover, this approach
also has implications on information sciences through the integration of archival principles at an early stage
of conception of hybrid (paper-based and digital-based) records management strategies, instead of conning
archivists to a depository and preservation role. This “integrated archival” approach is highly encouraged to
anticipate best practices for the long-term preservation of records (Rousseau and Couture, 1994). Furthermore,
the project adopts a bottom-up approach based on an exploratory analysis of the particularities of hybrid
records management within a project called “e-PV” led by the FPS Employment, Labor and Social Dialogue to
draw general conclusions that could eventually be applied to other public services. In this case study,
standardized surveys were used to collect information from a manager perspective, followed by in-depth
interviews with eld workers.
Findings The miscellaneous reasons for the aforementioned poor level of implementation are a
continuously decreasing public budget, a strongly rooted resistance to change, the difcult but inevitable
cross-organizational relations between public administrations, the legal uncertainties arising from a
fast-changing digital environment and the political autonomy in the decision-making process of the different
public entities. As a consequence, the substantial differences between the many public administrations lead to
a lack of interoperability not only at a technical level but also at an organizational level. The many local and
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0956-5698.htm
Managing
electronic
records
69
Received 2 November 2015
Revised 4 March 2016
22 June 2016
Accepted 2 July 2016
RecordsManagement Journal
Vol.27 No. 1, 2017
pp.69-83
©Emerald Publishing Limited
0956-5698
DOI 10.1108/RMJ-11-2015-0037

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