ARMA Europe - member update

Dear ARMA Europe member,


Following on from our recent survey to which many of you replied I’d like to share with you the latest thinking about how we can develop the region and provide you all with resources that are relevant to you. Below is a list of initiatives we plan to move forward with in 2011, these can only happen if members volunteer to help run them and provide input.

Website launch; we have now established a website with the support of ARMA HQ, to make this a worthwhile resource we need to develop a content strategy and reach out to members to provide value to the site. I am keen to make this site the flagship for the region, make it relevant to our members and distinct from the main ARMA site. There are many good examples of chapter sites available via the main site. Please take a look at these, provide feedback to me and get involved in providing content.

Events; we have the opportunity to provide members with both ARMA (Europe) led and co-hosted events in 2011, currently we are focusing on three probable events (Spring, Summer, Autumn) locations to be confirmed. We have also been approached by other organisations (e.g. vendors) looking to run smaller local activities. Again, none of these things can really happen without your input and support. As plans develop we will be looking for volunteers to assist. If you are able to suggest/provide venues for small meetings we can facilitate getting members to participate and contact vendors on your behalf to support/sponsor such events. We will also continue to negotiate on your behalf to provide member discounts to other European events – if you are aware of any up and coming events you would like us to look at please let me know.

Membership for the region continues to grow; however, we would like to do more in increasing our numbers. Both the website and the planned events programme will go someway to provide a shop front for ARMA Europe, combined with direct marketing and approaches to other associations and interest groups across the region we hope to expand over the next 12 months. Reliance on our members to make ARMA the first choice professional association for our colleagues depends on you getting involved.

To assist us in the run up to elections in the middle of 2011 where we plan to expand the regions committee I would like to reach out to all of you and ask for volunteers in a holding capacity for the following committee roles:

- Communications & Website;
- Events;
- Membership.

Please let me know if you are willing to take on any of these important roles. I would like to have a meeting early in the New Year so that we can move forward with these initiatives.

Finally, following on from my recent visit to the DLM meeting in Brussels last week; ARMA Europe and the DLM continue to work closely together and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them for asking me to speak at the meeting. The MoReq 2010 initiative continues to move forward. Here is the final Press Announcement of the Launch of the MoReq 2010 Electronic Records Management, I have asked ARMA HQ to publish this release on the website and in the magazine but wish to share it with you here.

The MoReq2010 Launch marks a milestone in Cross Sector, Flexible Records Management. DLM are developing a Presentation and Workshop pack for MoReq 2010 and there are planned events in Norway, Finland, Stockholm, UK. Also a MoReq 2010 Testing Board is being set up; six companies across Europe so far have registered interest in becoming Test Centres.

ARMA and DLM have recently published a webinar about Moreq 2010; this is available free on the main ARMA website for a limited time. The latest draft of the core requirements is also available online via the DLM website.

Regards,

Gavin

Gavin Siggers
Region Director ARMA Europe

European Commission's collected decisions and implementing rules on records management

The English language version of all current decisions and implementing rules, as result of the thorough recast in 2009-2010 is now available, providing a coherent and up-to-date foundation for the records and archives management within the European Commission.

EU to press for 'right to be forgotten' online

EUObserver writes that the EU is in the process of revamping its data privacy rules dating back to 1995 so as to encompass social networks, online data aggregators and the way prosecutors and policemen across the bloc handle personal records.

The Facebook generation knows it. Everything you've posted online can and will be used against you at some point. People have been fired for the party pictures or unthoughtful jokes they've posted online.


Deleting a Facebook account does not help. According to the popular website, users can "reactivate" their accounts at any time: Facebook does not erase your data, its simply hides it from others.


In a bid to stem these developments, the commission is now revising a 15-year-old "Data Protection Directive," drafted before the Google and Facebook booms. New legislative proposals are set to be put forward mid-2011, but the commission has already adopted a "strategy" on how to go about the changes.

One of the principles mentioned is the "right to be forgotten" online, meaning that people who want their online profiles deleted "should be able to rely on the service provider to remove personal data, such as photos, completely

Seen from the American perspective, businesses find it difficult to navigate between the EU laws and the patchwork of national data protection requirements, one US official familiar with this dossier told EUobserver.
"The lack of harmonisation among the member states in terms of interpreting the directive and transposing the directive into national laws led to uncertainty among compliance officers, privacy officers, and legal counsel. These ambiguities result in confusion and a lack of clarity with regard to obligations the business community must meet," said the official, who requested not to be named.

Read the full article here: http://euobserver.com/9/31200/?rk=1

Free Moreq2010 webinar

Doe not miss the new webinar on the ARMA website: Developing MoReq2010 – an ERMS Specification for Diverse Industries and Applications, Viewable through December 3, 2010


Click here