Archives Act 20XX: What Does This Mean for Your Organization?

Posted on June 28

Public Records Act

 

 

Archives Act 20XX: What Does This Mean for Your Organization?

The implementation of the new Archives Act in the Netherlands has been postponed several times. The most recent information suggests that the law will take effect on January 1, 2026. Previous dates included January 1, 2024, and July 1, 2024, and there were also plans for summer 2022 or January 2023. Due to these delays, we now refer to it as the Archives Act 20XX.

The official name of the law is “Archives Act 2021.” This law applies to all government agencies that perform public functions, both at the national and local levels. The law focuses on the management, preservation, and accessibility of archives, both analog and digital. Specifically, the law applies to the following bodies:

  1. Municipalities
  2. Provinces
  3. Water Authorities
  4. Ministries
  5. Federal agencies and departments
  6. Public entities
  7. Joint arrangements
  8. Independent Administrative Bodies (IABs)
  9. Public broadcasters
  10. Higher education institutions

The 2021 Archives Act modernizes and replaces the current 1995 Archives Act, with a strong emphasis on digital archiving and long-term accessibility. Key provisions of the Act include:

  1. Digital sustainability: Measures must be taken to ensure that digital archives remain accessible and readable in the long term.
  2. Public access and availability: Archives must be made available for public use in a timely manner, unless specific exceptions apply.
  3. Archiving at the source: When creating documents, their eventual archiving must be taken into account.
  4. Supervision and enforcement: Stricter rules and increased oversight of compliance with archiving laws are being introduced.

For government agencies, particularly in the field of ICT, the 2021 Archives Act entails the following:

  1. Infrastructure and systems: Advanced systems and infrastructure must be established to manage digital archives in a sustainable manner. This may require new investments in technology and personnel.
  2. Digital standards: Organizations must comply with specific standards for digital archiving (e.g., METS, EAD, PREMIS).
  3. Security and integrity: Measures must be taken to ensure the integrity and security of digital archives, including protection against cyberattacks and data loss.
  4. Accessibility and metadata: Sufficient metadata and descriptions must be provided to ensure the accessibility of archives. This also means that systems must be established to facilitate the searchability and discoverability of archival records.
  5. Training and awareness: Staff must be trained and made aware of the requirements and best practices for archiving, especially in a digital context.

Our Advice

There will come a time when the law takes effect and your organization must comply with the requirements. Don’t wait until that date is almost upon you. It’s wise to thoroughly review your archiving process now and improve it to meet the requirements. In an age when enormous amounts of data are being generated, it’s crucial to retain some data and delete other data in a timely manner.

A successful improvement to the archiving process involves a combination of robust architecture, automation, user-friendliness, and user awareness, all wrapped up in a proven concept.

Are you curious about the possibilities, or would you like to know if your organization is on the right track? Then sign up for a free (online) consultation.

 

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