The Department of Defense has debuted a new strategy aimed at improving its records management activities as part of efforts to achieve and maintain decision advantage.
“This DoD Records Strategy seeks to employ the latest technologies, such as artificial intelligence and cloud-based services, to reduce the administrative burden associated with records management, while creating an environment where DoD records are automatically identified and captured, expertly curated, and systemically governed,” Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks wrote in a foreword to the document.
Hicks, a 2023 Wash100 awardee, said the strategy builds on the goals included in the DOD Data Strategy.
The new strategy outlines four key enablers to achieve an information enterprise where records are discoverable and lifecycle managed by authorized users. One is advancing the strategic use of a records schedule through enhancements that offer a machine-readable roadmap to the value of digital assets.
The other three goals are completing metadata for records and records sharing backing automated records lifecycle management; providing guidance for electronic records management in a federated enterprise architecture; and developing a “multidimensional 21st Century Records Workforce” with skillsets in records curation, program management and ERM, among others.
To advance the automation of records processes for all users, the strategy enumerates several approaches, such as defining an information technology specialist role for ERM, deploying an auto-categorization tool and developing an ERM guidebook and playbook.