The challenges come from the sheer volume of electronic records, their diversity and complexity, and not least from the rapidity of change in the information technologies used to create, store, and manage these records.
Technological change poses a twofold threat to archives.
First, even the best technical solutions now available to NARA and other organizations dealing with electronic records are likely to be obsolete within a few years. Second, even if we could solve all current electronic records problems, new challenges are certain to arise in the future. Moreover, future challenges are likely to be substantially larger and more complex as technology develops, and many of the new challenges will be unforeseeable. The ERA Concept The ERA concept emerged from research sponsored by NARA, principally on the articulation of an information management architecture for a persistent digital archives. Archivist of the United States John Carlin gave preliminary approval in July 1999 to the ERA Program.