Country/Territory Report Hong Kong

Report from the Government of
the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Bobby CHENG, Government of
the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Foreword

The rapid changing digital environment and the widespread use of digital information
technologies have offered many new opportunities for people to communicate in a different way
through different media electronically. At the same time, they have brought about great challenges
to archival institutions in the 21st century.

2.

Nowadays, more and more records are created and received in electronic forms owing to

the governments’ e-initiatives and greater use of information technology.

In the digital age, thespeedy transmission of information in digital forms presents unique challenges in records
management. Digital records are more vulnerable than records created in traditional ways because
the storage media (such as magnetic tapes or CD-ROMs) could be fragile and inherently unstable;
the access to the digital records is technology dependent; the digital records could be manipulated ordeleted easily without being discovered; and there is insufficient self-evident and ready contextual
information to enable that the records are understandable and usable over time.

The characteristics

of electronic records together with the ever-changing computing environment will give rise to therisks of uncontrolled accumulation of records, documents and data; incomplete keeping of records;
inadvertent destruction of records; and unauthorised tampering with records.

3.

To deal with these challenges, it is necessary for us, as records management practitioners,

to develop policy, strategies and tools to ensure that electronic records are managed properly andeffectively.

In the ensuing report, we will provide an overview of the work done by the Hong Kong

Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government in addressing the paradigm shift brought
about by the widespread use of digital information technologies.

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Electronic Information Management Strategy and implementation of electronic recordkeeping
system4.

In 2011, the HKSAR Government promulgated the Electronic Information Management

Strategy which covers three domains, namely content management, records management andknowledge management.

The Strategy aims to help Government agencies to effectively andefficiently manage and share information through electronic means. Under its framework, allGovernment agencies are required to take forward electronic records management as an integral partof Electronic Information Management and adopt an electronic recordkeeping system (in short form
as “ERKS”) as a mandatory component to drive electronic records management in the Government.
As to content management and knowledge management, Government agencies may decide toimplement them having regard to their business needs.

5.

Against this background, the Government Records Service (in short form as “GRS”) has

implemented an ERKS to manage both its electronic and non-electronic records to replace thepaper-based recordkeeping system.

An ERKS is an information system with the necessary records

management capabilities designed to electronically manage the creation, storage, retrieval, disposal
and preservation of records. The implementation of an ERKS in GRS has not only helped users tomanage both electronic records and non-electronic records in a consistent, integrated and securemanner but also set an example for other Government agencies to follow.

6.

To drive electronic records management in the Government, GRS has been taking anactive role in encouraging and assisting more Government agencies to adopt an ERKS.

In 2011,

GRS promulgated the Government’s recordkeeping metadata standard and functional requirements
for implementing an ERKS for reference and compliance by Government agencies.

Thesestandards and functional requirements are developed by reference to the prevailing international
standards such as those of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International
Council on Archives (ICA) and the Model Requirements (MoReq) for the Management of Electronic
Records issued by the European Commission.

GRS also issued a series of publications andmanuals to provide practical guidelines on records management principles and requirements as well
as records management best practices for Government agencies to manage aggregations and records
in an ERKS.

7.

At present, five Government agencies including GRS have implemented or are in thecourse of finalising their ERKS.
2In 2016, six Government agencies of a larger scale and with moreCountry/Territory Report Hong Kong

complex recordkeeping requirements will be developing their ERKS.
Government agencies would have implemented ERKS.

By 2017, some 15% of all

We have adopted this phased approach inorder to ensure that any implementation issues can be comprehensively addressed and a more certain
evaluation of costs and benefits can be made before full-scale rollout of ERKS across theGovernment.

We need to be prudent with the pace of ERKS rollout for mainly two reasons: first isfinancial accountability due to the substantial investment involved arising from the high licencecosts of commercial ERKS products, and second is that we need to make sure Government agencies
are ready to take on this systemic challenge.

Making use of digital technologies to improve archival business

8.

The HKSAR Government has been actively making use of digital information

technologies to enhance the accessibility and usability of archival records through electronic means.
To this end, GRS has been pursuing the following four initiatives.

(A)

Digitisation of archival records

9.

GRS has made steady efforts to digitise its archival holdings in order to make them moreaccessible to the public. As the digitisation process itself is expensive and labour-intensive, GRS
has formulated and adopted a digitisation strategy since 2014 to prioritise the digitisation work forthe archival collections.

10.

Our first priority is to digitise archival holdings with significant value or risk.

We needto preserve those fragile archival records on the one hand and to facilitate their accessibility andusability on the other. Besides, we need to address the problem of “content at-risk of formatobsolescence”.

11.

GRS provides digital surrogates for fragile archival records and ensures theiraccessibility over time.

GRS has been migrating or reformatting content from at-risk media todigital formats for continued preservation and access. GRS also accords priority to those archival
records with high accessibility rate and those where the copyright protection has expired or GRS isthe copyright holder.

In doing so, priority will be given to those archival records which have been

in existence for over 100 years.

GRS has been adhering to widely accepted international standards

such as PD 5454:2012 Guide for the storage and exhibition of archival materials, British Standards
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Country/Territory Report Hong KongInstitution, 2012 and best practices adopted by other national archives to ensure that the physicalwell-being of the archival records and the quality of digitised materials will not be compromised.

12.

Up to 2014, GRS has already produced over 225,000 digital images from our archival

collection. Taking into account the resources available, it is our target to produce 155,000 digital
images annually.

(B)

Production of digital images and microfilms simultaneously

13.

At present, GRS is producing microfilm surrogates from its archival collection to replace

the original copy for general access purpose. The production workflow is purely photomechanicalin nature and the productivity could vary depending on the performance of the machine andequipment concerned. With the advance in digital technology, GRS is planning to acquire digital
imaging equipment to speed up the creation of digital images to improve the preservation of thearchival collection at source.

The idea is to make use of specialised digital imaging equipment tocreate high quality digital images of our archival collection and at the same time produce themicrofilms for long-term preservation.

We believe that this initiative can achieve the objectives ofenhancing the accessibility of our archival collection and at the same time, increasing the efficiency
in digitisation and preserving our archival collection.

(C)

Archiving of Government websites

14.

To offer access for researchers, historians, scholars, and the public to Hong Kong’s

cultural and documentary heritage that exist in the cyberworld, GRS is exploring the feasibility ofarchiving those Internet websites of the HKSAR Government with high archival values on a regularbasis by using suitable web archiving tools.

We see the major challenges are the ever-increasing

Internet collections which are growing at an exponential rate and the significant resources
implications for storing these Internet websites as well as the effort for indexing and categorisingthem before they could be accessible to the public. We are still in the initial stage of planning anInternet archives and would be grateful to learn from the experience of other archival institutions.

(D)

Enhancement of Educational Resources Portal15.

To promote awareness, appreciation and proper use of documentary heritage in our4

Country/Territory Report Hong Kong

community through convenient access to digital resources, GRS has developed an Educational
Resources Portal in our website to promote the use of archival records in studying and learning.
Plenty of photographs of different topics are provided in the Portal to arouse the interest of thepublic in our archival collection. The contents of the Educational Resources Portal are enrichedregularly.

At the moment, we have launched new thematic web pages, such as “Behind thePostman Uniform: Deconstructing Post Office’s Records”, “Image of the Month” and “Recording
Hong Kong: Historical documents in Public Records Office”.

To assist users in better

understanding the collection, various new topical guides have also been uploaded to the Portal
recently.

Long term preservation of digital information – setting up of a digital archive16.

We are fully aware of the importance of long-term preservation of digital records as wellas the preservation of archival records through electronic means to enhance their accessibility andusability.

GRS serves as the central archives of the HKSAR Government.

provides public access to Hong Kong’s archival records.

It acquires andIt offers a rich heritage resource

consisting of documents, photographs, movies, posters and other records tracing the governance andevolution of Hong Kong. With the rapid growth in electronic records in the digital era, it is one ofour missions to build a digital archive with modern technologies.

17.

We all understand that the setting up of a digital archive is not an easy task because theapproach is contingent upon changes in information technology, international standards and our own
business processes. Unlike paper records, electronic records are stored in different formats which
are supported by different hardware or software. It is therefore necessary for the digital archive to
be set up with modern technologies which is based on international standards widely acceptable byarchival institutions and is sustainable for the preservation of digital records over time.

18.

GRS has been, since 2012, working towards the development of strategies and solutions

for long-term preservation of electronic records. An inter-agency task force has been established to
conduct a preliminary study to plan and study the business and technical requirements for long-termpreservation of electronic records. The task force conducted extensive research of the practices
adopted in different countries and participated in various international conferences and seminars on
relevant subjects.

While the approach of how to set up a digital archive has yet to be further

examined, GRS has taken the first step to enhance the awareness of Government agencies on proper5Country/Territory Report Hong Kong

preservation of electronic records through publishing a handbook to guide Government agencies toadopt best practices to preserve electronic records as part and parcel of good electronic records
management.

19.

The handbook sets out good practices for preserving electronic records, e.g. tips foraddressing media durability and proper handling of storage media.

It also provides guidelines for

Government agencies to establish and implement a departmental preservation programme whichshould include practices and procedures to refresh storage media and migrate electronic records fromthe existing ageing IT systems to upgraded systems.

20.

There is no doubt that we would have to meet new challenges and open ourselves to new

ideas given the scope and complexity of the issue concerned. As the digital archiving technology is
still developing, we will continue to look out for best practices among our counterparts in othercountries and work towards the goal of setting up a digital archive which is sustainable for thepreservation of digital records over time.

To ensure the sustainability of the standard, we believe at

this stage that the standard should be truly open and its usage is free from any proprietary orlicensing restriction.

Conclusion

21.

One of the major challenges faced by all archival institutions, including GRS, in the 21stcentury is how to change our records and archives management practices to address the paradigm
shift brought about by the rapid development of the digital information technologies.

The

advancement in information technologies at the same time provides opportunities for us to improve
the accessibility and usability of archival records so as to promote awareness, appreciation andproper use of documentary heritage in our community.

22.

We are pleased to say that, over the recent years, the HKSAR archival authority has

acquired fruitful and rewarding experiences in meeting the new challenges and opportunities brought
about by the digital era. We are particularly delighted to be able to attend this seminar which
provides an excellent opportunity for records management practitioners in EASTICA to share ourexperience on how to make use of digital technologies to improve our archival business. It also
provides a platform for us to learn from each other how we fare in the digital transformation journey.

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