Page 5 - Professorial Lecture - Prof Nengomasha

to the records which had suffered some neglect, this is not always possible
in the electronic environment. In the public sector, the creation of electronic
records has been evident with the establishment of e-services such as the
Integrated Tax Administration System (ITAS); Namibia Traffic Information System
(NaTIS); e-procurement, to name but a few. Access to these electronic records,
however, is dependent on the technology that led to their creation. Accordingly,
if strategies are not put in place at the creation stage to address technological
obsolescence, then these e-records will not be accessible in future. Studies
further indicate that the public service of Namibia has taken advantage of some
technology transformational opportunities in records management such as the
implementation of electronic document and records management systems and
cloud computing in the public sector, albeit with challenges.

Clearly, a lack of trained staff and financial resources; inadequate legal and
regulatory framework; failure to address change management; and a lack of
management support feature in most studies as the challenges impeding the
transformation of records and archives management in Namibia in the electronic
age.

The solutions to these challenges call for collaboration amongst several
stakeholders: the public service with the private sector, academics with
professional associations, records keeping staff with IT personnel, and records
keeping staff with action officers, to drive the transformation process for efficient
and effective record management in the public service of Namibia.

Transformation of Records & Archives Management in the Public Service of Namibia 5