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Record keeping needs multidimensional approach

By Nadine Arendse
Johannesburg, 28 Nov 2011

The explosion of electronic information, and the technology that controls and distributes it, presents practical and legal challenges to existing records systems and practices.

So says Dewald Opperman, director at legal firm Mostert Opperman. People still perceive records management as a relatively unimportant activity, handled by filing clerks or IT administrators, he says.

However, record keeping in the digital age is becoming an essential business function, he emphasises. Record keeping requires a multidimensional approach, which involves the use of various disciplines within the organisation, such as the collaboration of IT and legal departments, ensuring technology and compliance meet.

“The proper management of electronic records according to internationally recognised standards could also serve a legal purpose in SA,” Opperman says.

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The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, with regard to electronic evidence, requires one to convincingly show that electronic records and other evidence presented to courts have retained their integrity over time, he says. The Act is not prescriptive in terms of how to achieve this, he elaborates; however, following national and international standards - which strive to achieve the same objective - preservation of the integrity of electronic records over time is a good way to ensure this happens, he says.

“There's also an international consensus that the records systems of organisations should be the foundation for compulsory requirements within the business area that the organisation operates,” he says.

There are a number of mandatory requirements that organisations need to be aware of, Opperman says. These include how electronic records should be stored, who should have access to these records, how the records should be protected, as well as when and how they should be destroyed.

Organisations that adopt a one-dimensional, stagnant approach to records compliance are at risk, Opperman says. Legislation changes in SA over the past three years produced an average of 41 new acts and 1 518 new subordinate measures annually, Opperman says. Organisations need to track and comply with these changes, where required, he stressed.

Opperman is a speaker at the ITWeb Risk, Governance and Compliance 2012 event. Click here for more information.

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