The DOMEA concept: from project to practice: DOMEA has become a standard for document management and electronic archiving in Germany's federal, municipal, and state administrations.

• Author: Engel, Andreas
• Position: Setting Standards - Document Management and Electronic Archiving

At the Core

This article

* introduces Germany's Document Management and Electronic Archiving ill computer-assisted business processes (DOMEA)

* identifies the core requirements of the DOMEA Concept and their implementation

* discusses recommendations on disposition and archiving, which are part of the DOMEA Concept

Originally spurred by the re-unification of Germany, Germany's Bundestag (the federal parliament), the federal government, and some federal ministries have resumed their seat in Berlin. Six federal ministries have kept headquarters in Bonn and Berlin. To ensure the functioning of the federal administration and the cooperation of federal offices located in two cities, the Information Network Berlin-Bonn (Informationsverbund Berlin-Bonn, IVBB) was established. First, however, several important information technology (IT) preconditions had to be met, including:

* electronic mail, using the X.400 standard

* Internet access and a central firewall for the federal administration

* establishment of an IVBB intranet, where official documents--records from the European Union Council, the Bundestag, and the Federal Council (Bundesrat, representing the German states), laws, decrees, and ordinances, as well as organization plans of federal offices, databases, advertisements, and announcements--can be accessed

* multi-point video conferences

* implementation of an electronic address list (X.500 standard), which provides centralized connection and application data in a standardized format

* end-to-end encoding of e-mail

However, the biggest challenge for the IVBB continues to be the step-by-step transition from paper-based to electronic document exchange between Berlin and Bonn. The IT benefits of the IVBB can be fully exploited only if priority is given to the electronic transmission of documents and records. This requires the implementation of IT systems that support records management, electronic records creation, and cooperative business processes over long distances.

For this purpose, in 1996, the Coordinating and Advising Agency of the Federal Government for Information Technology in the Federal Administration (KBSt) introduced a pilot project--Document Management and Electronic Archiving in computer-assisted business processes (DOMEA)--in the Federal Ministry of the Interior (Bundesminister des Innern). The project group defined a government-wide "once-and-for-all" concept, later called the DOMEA Concept, which mainly addresses office systems manufacturers and points out the federal administration's requirements regarding electronic recordkeeping and IT support of administrative working processes. The group defined a standard for workflow and document management systems for the federal administration. The group was advised by an Inter-Ministerial Coordination Committee (IMKA) subcommittee, in which the German federal archives (Bundesarchiv) was also a member. Part of the project was a "test bed" for practical ministerial working procedures in an electronic environment.

The Record Concept in DOMEA

According to the "Committee on Electronic Records: Guide for Managing Electronic Records from an Archival Perspective" edited by the International Council on Archives: "A record is recorded information produced or received in the initiation, conduct, or completion of an institutional or individual activity and that comprises content, context, and structure sufficient to provide evidence of the activity regardless of the form or medium."

In workflow and document management systems, content, context, and structure of records are stored in different objects. The DOMEA Concept introduces a three-level object hierarchy for documents, folders, and files:

1. The basic objects in business processes are documents. They are the most important carriers of the content (primary information). Accordingly, documents are the basic units for storing primary information in the DOMEA Concept.

2. Documents produced in the same business process are linked in electronic folders. These folders are the results of particular transactions or operations that are, from a functional point of view, elementary units of action. In the electronic folders, the working process is documented by notes, endorsements, annotations, comments, instructions, orders, and approvals. They provide contextual information that provides evidence of business transactions. All relevant contextual information is stored automatically by the system together with the folders in a way that it cannot be changed or altered.

3. During the course of business, all documents and folders become part of files. Electronic files provide the functional and organizational framework for record creation. The identifiers that link documents and folders to particular files (meta-information) are kept evident after registration. (Registration involves recording brief, descriptive information about the record and assigning it a unique identifier. It provides evidence that a record has been captured in the records system.) Files remain the primary criterion for a subject-oriented systematic arrangement of records in the context of electronic archiving and workflow management. Folders serve as sub-units of files because they contain the contextual information.

Electronic Records Requirements and Electronic Recordkeeping Principles in Business Processes

The Federal Ministry of the Interior instructs that electronic records also have to meet the requirements for recordkeeping in public administrations, which are...