The National Archives and Library reviews the country’s experience in developing the archival system during a debate in Morocco
ABU DHABI, April 10, 2018 (WAM) – The National Archives and the National Library participated in the first national debate held virtually on the archives in the Kingdom of Morocco, organized by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Communication, the Moroccan Archives Foundation, and the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco, under the slogan “The National Archives: Memory and Future.”
The debate addressed the rapid transformations witnessed by the archive sector globally, as archives are no longer a technical activity limited to preserving documents, but rather have become an essential pillar in supporting good governance, formulating public policies, and promoting the knowledge economy, in addition to its role in protecting national identity and consolidating digital sovereignty.
The participants stressed that the archive has become a strategic resource in managing state affairs, and a tool for evaluating performance and anticipating the future, in light of the rapid developments the world is witnessing in the fields of digitization and artificial intelligence, and the challenges posed by it related to data protection, accelerating access to information, and using it in sustainable development.
In this context, His Excellency Dr. Hamad Al-Mutairi, Acting Executive Director of the National Archives and the National Library, gave a presentation entitled “Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation in the Archives: The Archive and the National Library’s Experience and Its Future Vision,” in which he reviewed the UAE’s experience in developing the digital archival system.
He explained that the archive represents the national memory that preserves identity and heritage, and supports decision-makers, pointing to the transformation that the sector has witnessed from merely preserving documents to being a strategic, knowledge-based asset.
He touched on the efforts of the Archives and the National Library in adopting digital archiving policies, developing electronic systems, and strengthening digital preservation frameworks, in addition to exploring applications of artificial intelligence in classifying documents, extracting content, and facilitating search and retrieval, which contributes to transforming data into employable knowledge.
He pointed to the most prominent challenges facing the sector, including the increasing volume of archival data, the need to unify standards and metadata, and ensure the authenticity of documents in the era of artificial intelligence, in exchange for promising opportunities that include accelerating digitization processes, enhancing the availability of information, and building an integrated national digital memory.
He reviewed the strategic directions of the UAE in this field, which include developing national policies for digital preservation, employing artificial intelligence to verify the authenticity of documents, enhancing integration between government agencies, and building partnerships with specialized institutions, leading to a smart archival system.
Al-Mutairi stressed that the future of the archive is moving towards smart and reliable systems, stressing the importance of employing modern technologies to preserve the past and build the future, thus enhancing the role of the archive in supporting sustainable development and consolidating the knowledge economy.
The debate witnessed extensive discussions with the participation of experts, researchers and specialists from various countries, focusing on developing an integrated national strategy for archive management in Morocco, based on developing the archival system, enhancing competencies, integrating digitization and artificial intelligence, and protecting the documentary stock as a shared national memory.
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