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MoReq Roadmap

Purpose of MoReq

The DLM Forum maintains and promotes MoReq, the specification of Model Requirements for the Management of Electronic Records, for a particular purpose.

We define the purpose of MoReq as, "To achieve the widest possible adoption of good records management practice across Europe, and beyond."

Where, "widest possible adoption" includes within:

  • Organisations, practitioners, users, trainers, consultants
  • Archives, universities, government bodies, commercial interests, industry sectors
  • Off-the-shelf products, in house solutions, small local suppliers, large international suppliers
  • Office documents, scanned documents, email, Web pages, Wikis, Blogs, Tweets
  • PCs, mobile devices, private networks, repositories, databases, the Cloud

"Good records management practice" includes records management as it is practised in relation to records in:

  • Public domain, freedom of information, environmental impact, e-disclosure, public interest
  • Confidential, private, personal data protection, health records, genetic fingerprints
  • Secure information, legal, defence, counter-terrorist, in confidence, restricted, intelligence
  • Historical records, archives, traditions, ancestry, democracy

And "across Europe, and beyond" includes:

  • In every country
  • In every language
  • In every jurisdiction
  • In every archive
  • In European legislation
  • In national standards
  • In treaties and acts of government

In short, the DLM Forum wants to see good records management practice, in use, everyday, everywhere, and we see the general introduction and adoption of MoReq as one of the chief vehicles for getting there.

The Roadmap - getting us there

We know that the vision outlined above is a tall order, and we know that not only will there need to be change within organisations, commentators, experts and suppliers but MoReq itself will also need to change for us to make progress.

To date MoReq's success has been due to its international focus and its endorsement by public sector organisations as reflected by their purchasing of traditional EDRMS (Electronic Document and Records Management Systems).

Despite this success, there are a lot of industry sectors out there that have never heard of the discipline of electronic records management, or individually manage compliance without recognising that what they do is part of a wider discipline.  Equally, there are many, many software products that are produced that work with documents in some way but do not recognise or allow for record capture or implement good records management governance.

We recognise that we must widen the appeal of MoReq to encompass these different industry sectors and software that does not overtly comply with the traditional EDRMS model.

For these reasons we see that MoReq is on a journey with MoReq2 only an intermediate destination.  The journey may be summarised by the following diagram:

MoReq

The original MoReq specification was developed and released by the DLM Forum in 2001.  There was no testing and certification regime or other compelling case for the adoption of MoReq, which could most accurately be described as a set of guidelines that promoted good records management practice.  Nevertheless, because of its unique Eurpoean focus, MoReq was translated into a number of different languages and widely and successfully adopted.  It may be said that the original variant of MoReq was "MoReq for records management practitioners".

MoReq2

MoReq2 was released in early 2008 following a 2005 scoping report.  It represented a major extension of the original MoReq and added new features, such as the concept of a mandatory core plus optional modules, a testing and certification regime, and an XML schema and a much expanded and compulsory metadata model.  For the first time the MoReq specification could be thought of as a "standard", rather than a set of guidelines.  It has already been translated into several languages and is heading for even greater success and wider spread adoption than the original MoReq.  MoReq2 may be said to be "MoReq for suppliers" because of its prescriptive software model with its emphasis on compliance.

The latest MoReq2 specification may be downloaded from here

MoReq2010

The DLM Forum is currently working on the next generation of MoReq, to be called MoReq2010.  The objectives of the next generation are to broaden the appeal of MoReq, significantly increase its adoption, and make compliance accessible to non-traditional software suppliers.  While MoReq2 introduced a model of software compliance, MoReq2010 must incorporate the flexibility to to extend that compliance to a wider range of software, including lowering the bar for entry for lightweight or niche applications.  At the same time, MoReq2010 will be more loosely coupled, allowing the creation of more optional modules as they are required.  Consumers will be able to "dial up" a version of MoReq2010 that suits them, and this is what the next generation of MoReq can be said to be, "MoReq for Consumers".

Work on MoReq2010 started with the release of an invitation to tender for the MoReq2 Work Programme 2010 in December 2009.  The contract for MoReq2010 was awarded by the DLM Forum in March 2010.

MoReq Future

The next generation will provide the firm foundation for future modular versions of MoReq.  We see MoReq diversifying against a common core set of best practice requirements to infiltrate not only different software and technologies but also different industry sectors.  By 2012 and beyond we see the start of a trend to package MoReq for "Health", for "Defence", for "Oil & Gas", and so on.  Far from this diversification being seen as a dilution of the MoReq ideal, we see MoReq as a unifying and socialising force towards the adoption of a common records management approach across diverse industry sectors, different compliance regimes, nationalities and cultures.

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