E-record readiness – Can we build a contextual and conceptual framework for labour organisations in Botswana?

Abstract

Literature shows that by and large, most labour organisations’
activities are largely knowledge-based as well as information intensive
and that the proliferation of e-records has brought about many
challenges to labour organizations, many of which are unaware of the
numerous issues pertaining to the creation, storage and retrieval and
dissemination of e-records. Currently there are various assessment
tools that have been put in place to assess the depth of e-readiness
all over the world. However, most of these tools have been criticized
for “varying definitions for e-readiness and different methods for
measurement while others have been criticized for lacking the
“information access” component but “subsumed under information
and communication technology (ICT)”. In particular, most of these
tools are said to be general in nature and that they are highly
quantitative in measurement, focus on government agencies and do
not emphasize the question of e-record readiness in the civil society
or non-governmental organizations. The question, therefore, that
needs to be addressed is whether the existing e-records readiness
framework is appropriate for assessing e-records readiness in labour
organizations and to what extent such a framework can be used as
basis for understanding the management of electronic records in
such organizations. This article therefore interrogates the usefulness
of e-records readiness assessment tools in labour organizations in
Botswana. Based on a literature review, the article seeks to review
the content, context and implementation of e-records readiness tools
in labour organisations in Botswana. The article concludes by calling
for the development of a framework that “institutionalises knowledge
about the e-records readiness process-es” in labour organizations for
them to integrate fully in the envisaged e-environment in Botswana.