Page 13 - Professorial Lecture - Prof Nengomasha

Calls for a new theory for the management of digital records have argued that
the traditional concept of the life cycle of records changes when archivists and
records managers work with digital records (Note, 2020). The records continuum
theory for managing electronic records addresses hardware and software
obsolescence, which, if not addressed, can lead to loss of access and use
of electronic records. This is digital continuity which is about making sure that
information is complete, available, and therefore usable for business needs.
Digital preservation is a crucial to ensure digital continuity. Unfortunately, studies
indicate that Namibia’s public service has not addressed the issue of digital
preservation. A study by Nakale (2023) found the absence of a digital preservation
policy and strategy at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM). These findings show
that the public service of Namibia has not adopted one of the many digital
preservation maturity models to inform its policies and procedures. Considering
that the OPM is the Office in charge of the public service of Namibia’s EDRMS it
can be deduced that this applied to the entire public service. One of the records
keeping functional requirements of an electronic records management system
is digital preservation (USA, Department of Defense, 2007). A similar situation as
the public service of Namibia was identified in the public service of Botswana by
Porogo and Kalusopa (2021) who argue that a lack of preservation guidelines
and strategies impeded the preservation of electronic records for continuity.

The continuum theory of managing electronic records informs archival institutions
to establish digital archival repositories guided by standards such as the Open
Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model. Lowry and Thurston (2015)
highlight that the lack of procedures for handling digital documents has become
a serious concern in many African countries’ public records centres and national
archives, and if not rectified, it might jeopardise ICT initiatives put in place to
keep up with operations in the digital era. This observation is true of Namibia.
A study by Mulokoshi (2022) reports that the public service of Namibia records
centres were offering traditional services and not much had changed in the
digital environment. The challenges faced by these records centres were human
and financial resource needs; and a lack of adequate equipment to meet
the digitalisation of records. The National Archives and Records Administration
(NARA) of the United States of America Government had an ambitious plan, as
part of the “transformational change to modernise Government” to transition to
electronic records and end the acceptance of paper records by the National
Archives and Records Administration (NARA) by 31 December 2021 (Office of
Management and Budget & NARA, 2019). This transition has been slow due a
lack of resources amongst other factors (Doubleday, 2022). A Namibian study
by Mulokoshi (2023) also identified a lack of resources as one of the impeding
factors towards e-records centres. NARA embarked on setting up the Electronic

Transformation of Records & Archives Management in the Public Service of Namibia 13