Estonia to create common document handling system

At the beginning of next year, most central government agencies' documents and correspondence are expected to be integrated into a unified system. This joint document management system will cost ministries €2.3 million.
"We are creating a unified system to manage document handling in the state more efficiently. Currently, we are using seven or eight different systems, all of which need to be kept secure and updated. This incurs costs, but with a unified system, expenses will be lower," said Pärt-Eo Rannap, head of the State Shared Services Center responsible for building the system.
"The other aspect is that systematizing document management will make operations within the state more straightforward. The goal, in any case, is to reduce the exchange of letters between entities and enable collaborative work within the new system. This should also speed up coordination processes, which would be a benefit for citizens," Rannap added.
The unified document management system is expected to be operational in the first half of next year.
"I want to emphasize that when all central government institutions are in one system, collaboration will improve. Today, if you want to coordinate something, a letter is sent from one system to another, but in the future, this could happen within a single process without the need to transfer letters between systems," Rannap explained.
The rules for public disclosure will remain unchanged, Rannap assured.
"From the perspective of journalists or ordinary citizens, everything will stay the same or even become simpler because there will no longer be a need to search through multiple document registries. Instead, there will be a unified standard system," Rannap said.
The system's total cost is €2.3 million, with ministries contributing equally.
The unified document management system will include documents from all central government institutions, such as ministries, government agencies, subordinate institutions, courts, prisons and state schools.
However, the Ministry of Defense, which has recently implemented its own new system, and the Government Office will not be part of the unified system.
--
Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!
Editor: Mari Peegel, Marcus Turovski