Dear all - Further to the last WGARM meeting discussions concerning sharing related E-documentation, Patrick Gremillet, UNDP's E-Documentation Team Leader, has kindly forwarded a draft of UNDP Policy on E-Documentation for your info and comments. The related document, 'Policy on Prescriptive Content', was forwarded previously to the group with the Meeting Minutes. Please note Patrick's message of 27 March below which provides some background to the document. Any comments may be forwarded to Patrick directly. Thanks Dhurjati (See attached file: E-Documentation Policy.htm) ----- Forwarded by Dhurjati Mueller/USA/HQ/UNICEF on 03-04-2003 10:58 AM ----- -----Original Message----- From: Patrick Gremillet [mailto:patrick.gremillet@undp.org] Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2003 11:54 AM To: Management Practice Network Subject: [mpn] FEEDBACK NEEDED: Policy on E-Documentation (From the Facilitator: The 2 key decision points of this policy as described below are:) Electronic versions of documents shall become the operational version. Electronic signatures will become equivalent to a hand-written signature. Dear MPN Colleagues A topic on E-Documentation was launched last year on the MPN to have feedback on a proposal regarding the gradual move from a paper-based to an electronic environment. There was a consensus that E-Documentation Management was the missing link among the main ICT initiatives currently implemented by UNDP corporately. Specific issues addressed at that time were related to the legal value of electronic documents, which was regarded as essential to implement any policy in this respect ( see summary). These comments have been incorporated into a Policy draft which shall serve as a guide to the management of electronic documents by establishing common goals and principles for all UNDP units and by providing a framework for more specific procedures and practices. The most important reasons to have a policy on electronic documents are the following: - to facilitate the on-going shift in organisational practice from the use of paper to electronic documents - to prepare UNDP for the ERP implementation as the system will obviate the need for many paper documents - to ensure that UNDP produces and maintains electronic documents that are acceptable for legal, audit and other purposes - to reduce paper storage space and related costs by relying increasingly on electronic records - to complement the recent Policy on Prescriptive Content Management There are two key decisions proposed in this policy: The electronic versions of documents shall become the operational versions for UNDP, provided that criteria for assessing the authenticity and integrity of electronic documents are met to prevent any alteration to informational content. When internal requirements necessitate the signature of a person on a document, these requirements can be met through electronic documents using an electronic signature that satisfies certain criteria of technical reliability. As such the electronic signature shall be functionally equivalent to a handwritten signature. The policy itself has been developed based on Model Laws adopted by the United Nations regarding the legal value of electronic records and electronic signatures. You are kindly invited to review this policy and provide feedback on its content. Your comments will help us ensure that the policy is applicable and reflects the requirements of the various units within the organisation. See 'E-Documentation Policy' at http://portal..undp.org/server/nis/4649027220078380. When providing comments, please bear in mind that this is a policy document addressing specific legal requirements, independently of any system or technical platform. Once it is approved, we will then have more opportunities to discuss concrete implementation issues. We intend to close the review on the MPN by 9 April. We will then provide a summary of the comments, and incorporate relevant changes in the main document. If the changes are significant, the text will then be resubmitted to the MPN for review. If not, the policy will follow the next steps of the workflow in order to be approved and officially issued. With best regards _______________________________________________ Patrick Gremillet United Nations Development Programme WITs - E-documentation Team Leader http://portal.undp.org/server/nis/edoc DC1-1790 Office Tel: +1 212 9066682 Mobile: +1 917 9576684 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UNICEF Internet Gateway has scanned this mail for currently known computer viruses, and it is believed virus-free. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||||||||||