JARD Urges MDAs to Strengthen Electronic Records Management

The Jamaica Archives and Records Department (JARD) is reminding all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the critical need to manage and protect electronic records with the same level of diligence as traditional manual files.

Senior Archivist at JARD, Alecia Litchmore, urges all institutions to bridge the gap between manual and electronic systems by adopting a hybrid approach.

“The same policies, in terms of having a retention schedule… we should ensure that we have those in place for our hybrid records or electronic records as well,” she told JIS News.

Mrs. Litchmore pointed out that compliance is key to information governance and, as such, each employee should understand their role in the process.

“We are all creating records daily, and we are responsible for the records that we generate. So we must ensure that we care and protect our records in accordance with the relevant policies and procedures,” she maintained.

The senior archivist emphasised that any breaches in the system should be reported promptly, as failure to comply with Records and Information Management (RIM) standards could lead to serious consequences for organisations, including reputational harm, compromised information integrity, and legal penalties.

“So, it’s important for every ministry, department and agency and, by extension, the wider Jamaica to ensure that there is compliance as it relates to how information is governed,” Mrs. Litchmore added.

Public sector entities are, therefore, being encouraged to align their practices with key frameworks, such as the Archives Act, ISO 15489 and the Data Protection Act, among others. These provide the legal and procedural foundation for safeguarding Jamaica’s information assets.

“If all institutions adhere to these policies and legislations, then we would not have an issue. We’re hoping to get there one day, [and] we are doing it incrementally,” Mrs. Litchmore said.

The Government of Jamaica (GOJ) Records and Information Management (RIM) Policy, developed in 2018, outlines the framework for the proper handling of official records across the public sector.

JARD commemorated RIM Month in April under the theme ‘Managing Compliance in a Hybrid Workplace: Empowering Employees through Effective Records and Information Management’.