U.K. public sector wasting millions on document management.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: News, Trends & Analysis - Brief Article

According to research from U.K. document management specialist Danka, key public sector organizations in the United Kingdom are wasting 722 million euros a year because they are failing to control the production of printed documents.

On a European scale, the research indicates a loss amounting to 4.7 billion euros ($5.6 billion U.S.), and only 23 percent of European government organizations were found to have a document management strategy in place. Last year, Danka released a report analyzing the "documess" in the private sector, which revealed that European companies are hemorrhaging nearly 8.7 billion euros ($10.4 billion U.S.) each year. The research shows the extent to which document production is still uncontrolled in the public sector, with organizations frequently unaware of the waste occurring.

Analyzing the potential for cost savings by key U.K. public sector function, the study highlighted:

* The Social Protection sector (potential cost savings = 302 million euros/ $364 million U.S.)--Less than 20 percent of...