AORC Hosts Webinar on Storing and Archiving Documents

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The African Ombudsman Research Centre’s (AORC) most recent webinar on 12 July focused on storing and archiving documents. The AORC is the resource and archive centre of the African Ombudsman and Mediators Association (AOMA), the research and training arm of which is housed in UKZN’s School of Law.

The webinar was facilitated by Ms Marion Adonis of the AORC assisted by Mr Franky Lwelela. The panel of high calibre guest speakers included Honourable Edouard Nduwimana, Ombudsman of Burundi; Honourable Endale Haile, Ombudsman of Ethiopia; and the deputy Ombudsman of Angola, Mr Aguinaldo Guedes da Costa Cristóvão, on behalf of Honourable Antónia Florbela Rocha Araujo, Ombudsman of Angola.

Acting Public Protector of South Africa and Acting Chairperson of the AORC Board Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka welcomed the participants. She highlighted the importance of a good record management system to promote good governance as well as enable future generations to access historical records and learn from them. The webinar focused on the internal, legal and regulatory requirements for the storing and archiving of documents; protection and processing of personal data; how long information should be kept and how to dispose of it when it is no longer required.

‘Archiving information is an act of good management without which organisations will suffer,’ said Honourable Nduwimana. He added that it promotes transparency and good governance and improves administration. Stored and archived information can prevent certain activities and help scholars to conduct research on institutions.

Europe is currently leading the way in terms of harnessing technology to protect personal information using advanced systems to store and archive data. Honourable Haile noted that some countries have regulatory bodies that ensure the availability and security of information and authorise the use of data for research and study purposes. ‘However, countries like Ethiopia do not have a national data protection authority. Indeed, United Nations statistics show that some countries have no legislation on data protection and privacy,’ he said.

Artificial Intelligence has been identified as a viable option to manage citizens’ complaints and to facilitate an Ombudsman’s processing of such issues. Cristóvão observed that, it is thus important for him/her to understand document management and archiving techniques. Document management consists of three phases, namely, production, utilisation and storage. He noted that, ‘in certain instances, access to documents may be restricted or denied, such as when they are being processed, or for reasons of confidentiality or organisational and security issues.’ Public institutions should not destroy archived documents without the Board of Directors considering the relevant legal obligations.

The next AORC webinar will be held in August and the details will be communicated in due course.

Words: Samukeliswe Cele

Image: Franky Lwelela