Bankruptcy dept eyes doc management
Australia's insolvency regulator is the latest government body to flag plans to implement a document and records management system to keep its paperwork organised.
"The Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia (ITSA) seeks to procure and implement a system that will improve its document management practices and provide the capability to also improve its records management practices," the federal government regulator wrote in tender documents released this week.
ITSA is a relatively small regulator responsible for the administration and regulation of the personal insolvency system in Australia -- operating the bankruptcy registry, and acting in various public roles in bankruptcy proceedings. The agency has around 300 staff located around the nation.
The tender documents stated ITSA was committed to becoming a client-driven organisation, and saw electronic delivery of services as a way to meet this philosophy. In turn, the regulator saw appropriate electronic document management practices as key to that ideal.
ITSA is currently using a case management system to provide "adequate" electronic records management, with a range of other document management methods also in place, including hard copy document receipt and storage.
The agency now wants to implement a concrete electronic document management system (EDMS) to support that case management system, and has also invited vendors to supply additional information on integrated records management systems.
"Initially, the primary purpose of this system will be to provide a structured document repository to store the myriad of documents that will be captured through ITSA's case management system," the regulator wrote.
"ITSA's case management system will integrate with the proposed document management system through an API (application programming interface), and the majority of users will never see or even know they are using a document management system."
Further down the track, the document management system will be integrated into all of ITSA's desktop PCs, so that "all corporate documents can be stored, managed and shared through the system". A supplementary records management system is not likely to be implemented until after the document management system has been fully commissioned.
ITSA will commence implementing its new EDMS after it selects a vendor for the project in late April. Initially the system will only touch 100 users, however it will eventually be rolled out to the whole organisation.
The agency is the latest in a long line of government bodies to recently plan a new document management system. ITSA made its tender documents available for this article but did not comment further.