Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Digital Records topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Open‑government advocates tell council DC needs stronger accountability for digital records
Summary
Witnesses told the committee that while DC has built infrastructure for digital preservation, it lacks enforcement, reporting metrics and adequate staffing; advocates urged annual reporting, oversight inspections and a staffing workload study.
Public advocates told the council that digital‑records preservation risks losing the historical record without stronger oversight and measurable reporting.
“‘If a record isn't online, it doesn't exist,’” said Fritz Mollhauser of the DC Open Government Coalition, summarizing why metadata, reporting and enforcement matter for digital access. Mollhauser said DC has software, policies and standards but little public oversight or compliance metrics and urged the council to mandate annual digital‑records reporting, empower the Office of Public Records to inspect agencies and fund independent assessments and a workload consultant.
Bill Rice and Kim Bender reinforced those points in testimony, citing chronic understaffing at OPR and urging the council to increase operational staff so agencies can meet digitization and metadata requirements. Dr. Lopez Matthews described current practices — regular site visits, record‑management workshops and digitization projects — but acknowledged that public accountability and agency compliance metrics remain areas for further work.
Committee members asked OPR for the agency’s record schedules, oversight responses and documentation of digitization progress; the secretary's office agreed to supply follow‑up materials for the hearing record.
