Progress reportedly moving favorably towards complete digitization of official records by NARA.
In a recent discussion, William Fischer, the acting chief records officer of the United States, highlighted the progress made by federal agencies in transitioning to electronic records management (ERM). According to Fischer, 71% of agencies reported meeting the July 2024 deadline for managing their permanent records in an electronic format.
The transition to ERM is being actively driven by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which updates the ERM Federal Integrated Business Framework annually. In 2025, NARA revised this framework to clarify digital records terminology and focus on essential standard data elements for shared services managing records. This update reflects ongoing modernization efforts to improve interoperability and compliance across federal agencies.
However, federal agencies face significant challenges in managing digital records. The complexity of online data sources, such as websites, social media, and cloud platforms, complicates compliance with recordkeeping requirements. Key difficulties include controlling data owned by third parties in cloud environments, the labor-intensive and metadata-deficient nature of manual record capture, the need to capture frequent updates at scale, and the technical challenge of fully capturing complex content like Java scripts and media files.
Furthermore, locating, reviewing, and producing such records accurately and within compliance timelines remains problematic. This environment calls for a balance between advancing electronic recordkeeping standards and addressing inherent technical and operational challenges agencies face in the digital age.
NARA is addressing these challenges by issuing a new guide for managing federal records that better accounts for electronic recordkeeping. The new guide includes new instructions around the use of "machine-implementable disposition" instructions. Fischer emphasized that the transition to electronic recordkeeping remains a top priority and goes beyond NARA's interest in the preservation of digital records.
Agencies have made significant progress in largely transitioning away from paper and other types of analog records. However, some agencies have sought exceptions to continue managing some of their permanent records in an analog format. The repercussions for these agencies are unclear.
The Department of Homeland Security responded 'Yes' to managing their records in electronic format, but some components continue to manage paper records. NARA began expanding the Capstone policy to other types of electronic messages, allowing federal agencies to automatically archive the emails of senior employees in line with records retention requirements.
Records management has become more complex as agency chief records officers confront an ever-expanding deluge of emails, chat messages, text files, and other digital records. Fischer reported that 71% of agencies used the Capstone approach for email last year, while 55% used it for other types of messages.
Despite these advancements, the future of digital recordkeeping at NARA and the challenges faced by federal agencies in managing digital records continue to be areas of focus and ongoing discussion.
References: [1] National Archives and Records Administration. (2025). ERM Federal Integrated Business Framework. Retrieved from https://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/policy/erm-framework [2] Fischer, W. (2025). Annual report on federal agency records management. Retrieved from https://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/annual-report
The workforce reimagined by the ongoing transition to electronic records management (ERM) in the federal government is focusing on integrating technology for improved recordkeeping. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), in their 2025 update to the ERM Federal Integrated Business Framework, emphasized the importance of standard data elements and machine-implementable disposition instructions, highlighting the need for a workforce capable of managing technology-driven federal records.
