This is a thing I am qualified to talk about!
US government offices are more likely to use electronic communication than private industries because they 1. have money and 2. a federal mandate to attempt to do so.
Government records keeping is a big deal and the US National Archives is charged with securely storing all federal records with legal or historical value forever.
Their holdings are currently:
approximately 10 billion pages of textual records; 12 million maps, charts, and architectural and engineering drawings; 25 million still photographs and graphics; 24 million aerial photographs; 300,000 reels of motion picture film; 400,000 video and sound recordings; and 133 terabytes of electronic data
-NARA Website
There comes a point when the logistics of storing this much paper is no longer cheaper than mandating that departments start storing their records electronically, and so the federal government has ordered government departments to take steps to stop using paper. The two biggest reasons organizations give for aiming for a 'paperless office' are complying with regulations, and to reduce storage costs. Many organizations operate without strict record keeping laws, and don't generate enough volume for storage to be more costly than change.
Electronic records keeping costs 1. new equipment and software 2. new training for staff to learn this new equipment and software 3. IT support for this new hardware and software. In addition, it may require a lengthy review by the legal and records departments to make sure that the new systems actually meet records keeping requirements, and are secure enough not to put the organization at risk, both from unauthorized access and from loss. It is well and good to laugh at an office that is still using XP and printed forms, but if it does what they need, why would then spend the money on an upgrade, and they spend the money to retrain all their staff. It it ain't broke...
Simply adopting a new technologies to transmit information can put an organization at considerable risk if there is not, built in to the new methods, some way of capturing things that need to be kept. 45% of companies allow emails to just remain in user inboxes, if these emails contain sensitive information or need to be kept as records this puts them at tremendous risk, but purchasing and training staff on a system that can capture these records is costly, as a result 18% of organizations resort to printing emails and storing paper, and many (I don't have a number) rely on records that are paper-based to start with. Large organizations, particularly ones that regularly need to transmit secure information, can ensure their communications are securely encrypted and that there a protocols in place to prevent breeches (think reply all disasters), it is another hurdle for smaller organizations.
Allowing things to be born digital and stay that way has a lot of benefits, and more organizations are realizing that they will have to change eventually. This is great because it ensures me a career.
Kat
MSI- Archives and Records Management (
Anticipated Dec 2013)