NARA Releases Draft of Digital Modernization Plan

The National Archives and Records Administration, a federal agency responsible for preserving historically valuable records, has released a draft of its plan to make digital records more accessible to the public.

The draft version of NARA’s 2022-2026 Strategic Plan outlines the changes that the agency believes it needs to make before it can fully embrace electronic information.

NARA identified four strategic areas that it needs to excel in for it to effectively perform its mission in a modern environment.

The first area involves digitizing millions of analog records and developing new ways to make information available to underserved communities, an effort aimed at expanding public participation and promoting equity.

NARA hopes to digitize 500 million pages of records by 2026 and make them publicly available online through the National Archives Catalog.

For the second area, the agency wants to cultivate public participation by enhancing engagement with individuals, communities, organizations and federal agencies.

NARA said the goal requires the modernization of enterprise communication and service channels to continuously improve citizen experience.

The third area calls for the exploration of new affordable technologies that can improve the record review, redaction and digitization processes.

By 2026, NARA hopes to be able to shorten the time it takes to process complex Freedom of Information Act requests for unclassified records.

NARA’s fourth focus area, “Build Our Future Through Our People,” is aimed at providing the agency’s employees the resources they need to transition to a digital environment.

The agency said it wants to increase the frequency of its employee coaching sessions by 50 percent by 2026 to improve performance, retention and relationships.