National Archives Hosts Industry Day 2003 for the Electronic Records Archives
Press Release · Friday, January 24, 2003

College Park, MD

On Wednesday, February 5, 2003, the National Archives and Records Administration will host an Industry Day for the Electronic Records Archives (ERA). Vendors interested in obtaining information about ERA are invited to attend. The ERA Industry Day will include technical, program management and acquisition presentations about the ERA program. The National Archives will conduct an Open Panel Discussion to address questions and comments from vendors and industry attendees. Since there is no single commercial solution available today that meets the full end-to-end requirements for ERA, the National Archives is interested in exploring creative ideas and possible solutions to the continuing challenges posed by electronic records.

Industry Day will include:

• Briefings about the ERA program, ERA's technical understanding, and the acquisition strategy
• Vendor dialogue to ensure an accurate understanding of the challenges facing ERA and the requirements to meet those challenges
• Information gathering from vendors and industry about technology availability and strategy issues

Industry Day, which is free, will take place in the Auditorium at the National Archives College Park facility, located at 8601 Adelphi Road. Sign-in will begin at 11:15 AM. The discussion will begin at noon and end at 5 PM.

To fulfill its mission, the National Archives needs to respond effectively to the challenge posed by the diversity, complexity, and enormous volume of electronic records being created today and the rapidly changing nature of the systems that are used to create them. The Electronic Records Archives (ERA) will be a comprehensive, systematic, and dynamic means for preserving virtually any kind of electronic record, free from dependence on any specific hardware or software. ERA, when operational, will make it easy for NARA customers to find records they want, and easy for NARA to deliver those records in formats suited to customers' needs.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) ensures, for the citizen, the President, the Congress and the Courts, ready access to essential evidence that documents the rights of citizens, the actions of federal officials, and the national experience. The National Archives is a public trust that plays a key role in fostering effective and responsible government through management of the life cycle of records in all three Branches of the federal government and through sustained access to historically valuable records in the National Archives and the Presidential Libraries. These records enable people to inspect for themselves what the government has done, allow officials and agencies to review their actions, and help citizens hold them accountable.

Additional information about ERA and the acquisition efforts for ERA visit www.archives.gov/electronic_records_archives/

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