Leaders across the federal government are under pressure to deliver on an ever-expanding mission with limited resources. Doing so requires the modernization of systems and processes to connect data, content, and applications to maximize existing infrastructure investments and enhance information availability, value, and security. With countless directives and executive orders on everything from cybersecurity and data sharing to improving the c...

In June 2019 the Office of Management and Budget released MemorandumM-19-21, directing all Executive Branch departments and agencies to transition to fully digitize all permanent records by Dec. 31, 2022. But many agencies are going to miss that deadline. Between the scope of the requirements and the effects of the pandemic, fully one-third of agencies have indicated they are going to miss the deadline. The challenge is not simply digitizing r...

Today, data is the most strategic asset for every government agency. State and local agencies hold a vast amount of data about their residents, including personally identifiable information. One result: the databases have become attractive targets for cyber attacks, from stealing data to sell to disrupting agency operations or services. All state and local agencies have security in place to protect their systems and data, but in the past coupl...

The Congressional Research Service noted a decade ago that, “Intelligence is valuable only if it can be shared with consumers who need it, but, to the extent that it is more widely shared, risks of compromise are enhanced.” That report was prompted in part by 9/11. In the twenty years since, “need to know” has become “need to share” throughout the federal government as agencies have come to realize the value...

Records Management University Class 5: Legacy System Data Transactions, Formatting & Public Access March 24, 2020 Although we have record schedules and file plans for traditional content, do they cover what constitutes data transactions (big data) as records. “Big data” as a volume generator far surpasses content-based records. Formatting data generated from different transactional systems (accounting, manufacturing, HR) into a...

Records Management University Class 4: Multi-media Capture, Storage and Rendering In the age of video recording everything with cell phones and body cameras, what was once relegated to bulky cameras and recorders for high definition surveillance, and lengthy recordings stored (but rarely accessed), is now commonplace. From recording all random public activity, environmental interactions, and obscure activity that has potential evidentiary impa...

Records Management University Class 3: Tapping and Collecting Social Media Threads As more and more organizations utilize the recent technological advances in communications and transacting business via Social Media, managing individual and group dialoging has quickly surpassed the use of verbal interactions (phone), that in the past required warrants and notice to record. Since privacy in communications is almost all but dead (the rebound of...

Records Management University Class 2: Synching and Ingesting eContent (non-email) Face it, you will never know of all the content that exists in your organization’s networked servers and legacy applications. For an enterprise record management solution, it is guaranteed be a lot. Ingesting and categorizing that content is a monumental task given the typical lack of resources and user apathy for manual intervention. In this class we will...

Records Management University Class 1: Conquering the Email Avalanche Email continues to evolve as the go to electronic record in eDiscovery. The growth of emails during the last 20+ years has been enormous. Basically, it has become the voice of the individual. As such, it’s capture, management, categorization and access have become instrumental in the functioning of organizations of all sizes. Email’s value continues to grow and d...

Blockchain in Government Training Workshop IV: Understanding Blockchain – Putting the Pieces Together – Looking into the Future Blockchain growth and adoption has only continued to increase in the public sector. The first three Potomac Forum Blockchain Workshops were a great success. Students requested a follow up Workshop in a Blockchain series and this fourth Workshop will offer the most detail in putting your chain together! Co...