Leading technology lawyer calls for systems investment
to assist compliance with new Act
Bagshot, United Kingdom 4 October 2004 -
A leading technology lawyer has today called for practical assistance
to help the public sector comply with the Freedom of Information
Act and avoid a compliance crisis in January.
When the 'right to know' provisions of the Act comes
into force on 5 January 2005, all public bodies, including government
departments, councils, police, health and prison services, are
legally bound to disclose information within 20 working days,
providing there is no specific exemption preventing disclosure.
Crucially, disclosure includes all relevant paper-based files,
notes, documents and records.
With only three months to comply with the Freedom
of Information Act, most public bodies have successfully published
policies and procedures, but many have yet to install technology
that ensures they can meet the requirements of the Act. In fact,
a recent survey has revealed that local government organisations
believe their current document handling systems will struggle.
Cinzia Biondi, a senior associate in the Finance,
Projects and Technology group of Wragge & Co LLP, specialises
in technology and information law, focusing on freedom of information
advice for clients in the public and private sector. According
to Ms. Biondi, "The Freedom of Information Act will affect
every area within the public sector, from health care to local
government authorities in England and Wales. Parts of the public
sector are either ignoring or panicking about the pending cut-off
date, so clearly there is still a growing need for informative
but practical material on the Act to help guide the public sector
in the measures which can be taken to avoid a crisis in January.
No one knows what the demand for information will
be until after January next year and, although it is difficult
to foresee the full impact of this change, most organisations
will be telling staff they should assume all e-mails, paper and
electronic documents that they write and receive will be disclosable."
Ms. Biondi continues, "In the commercial world,
the Act is a huge issue for anyone sending information to a public
body, as it may be accessed by the public at large and by anyone
in the world, whether that is a lobby group, campaigner, competitor
or journalist. The risk is that information which private sector
organisations want to keep confidential, perhaps even that which
provides competitive advantage in the marketplace, may get disclosed.
This means that disclosure issues will affect contractual arrangements
which the private sector enter into with the public sector, and
will influence changes in tendering processes and information
sharing under public contracts including, PPP and PFI deals. Part
of the strain within the public sector is financial. Compliance
with associated legislation such as the Data Protection Act and
initiatives such as meeting the eGovernment agenda in similar
timeframes has put pressure on budgets."
"Even though grants have assisted with the
latter," Ms. Biondi concludes, "the funding has been
nowhere near enough to deal with all the technical, operational,
systems change, management and administrative costs involved.
The FOI's real challenge is changing the mindset from one of non-disclosure
to total transparency as the public monitor what civil servants,
council officials and others are doing on their behalf."
A recent eGovernment survey supports Ms. Biondi's
claims. This survey indicated that a third of public sector bodies
believe their internal information handling systems will struggle
to implement the new legislation. More alarmingly, other recent
surveys reveal that just 17% of local authorities have set aside
budgets to implement electronic systems that comply with the Act,
highlighting the lack of preparedness.
Ian Quanstrom, managing director of ZyLAB UK, an
established market leader of document management and full-text
retrieval software, has worked with many public sector organisations
in the UK, including the Metropolitan Police, to develop archive,
search and retrieval systems that are FOIA compliant.
Mr. Quanstrom notes, "By definition, document
imaging and paper filing software used in public sector environments
must be able to digitally file and manage millions of pages of
paper and electronic documents while offering high-quality search
and retrieval features to a large number of users in multi-locations.
The preferred solution must also offer users the ability to organise
and easily share all information. The survey reveals an urgent
need for improvement in document management within the public
sector. As specialists we are very close to this market and also
have experience across the world, but even we were shocked by
the low levels of concern and knowledge of the (FOI) act."
About ZyLAB
Founded in 1983, ZyLAB is the leading provider of document imaging
and paper filing software that helps Global 2000 companies and
governments digitally file and manage millions of pages of paper
and electronic documents. ZyLAB's comprehensive investigative
capabilities, with its high quality search and retrieval features
supporting over 200 languages, gives users the ability to organise
and easily share all information online, making ZyLAB software
the preferred solution for intelligence agencies, law-enforcement
organisations, prosecutors, law firms, courts, and in-house legal
departments.
With more than 7,000 installations worldwide and
over 300,000 users, ZyLAB has a wide breadth of experience and
knowledge across a variety of different industries and business
applications. Our clients include Gloucestershire County Council
Environment Department, Metropolitan Police, Serious Fraud Office,
University Hospital of Wales A&E Department, BBC, and Dell
Computers. ZyLAB UK is located in Bagshot and is part of the worldwide
ZyLAB network that serves its global customers from offices in
Virginia (USA HQ), Germany, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Singapore
and Australia. For more information visit www.zylab.co.uk
Media Contact:
Charlotte Louveaux
Phone: +44 (0)1276 850970
Charlotte@zylab.com