Introduction

Despite university campuses and government agencies producing some of the most advanced state of the art technology in the world, many of these same organizations have been unable to revolutionize the technology in their own office premises. If you head the team for digital project management in such organizations, you may have heard the common reasons given by the board: “We have a limited budget” or “Why change it if there is nothing wrong with the current system?”

Yet, we all know that not digitalizing workflows at universities and government agencies can have serious consequences such as:

• Brilliant potential candidates might never get admitted, because their enrollment applications were lost in the office document systems
• Students may endure several months of delays on receiving financial aid, because their relevant documents could not be easily accessed from a single centralized location
• Applicants for government-based affordable housing programs could be denied, because their documents can’t be retrieved
• Parties who should not have access to the personal details of a government beneficiary or student can acquire them and leak them
• Extremely high costs of updates, since the document management system is on premises and only the supplier can update them

This is why spending some time and investment on a document management system for public institutions can not only save universities and government agencies tens of thousands of dollars, but also prevent serious damage to their reputation which could affect the interests of students and beneficiaries.

Are you a head of IT or digital asset management for universities, public institutions, or government agencies? Here is how you can guide the management team on the benefits and mitigated risks from migrating your documents to a secure, cloud-based, on-brand and regulatory-compliant document management system.

How can a document management system for public institutions improve security?

Cloud-based file storage is more secure than old-fashioned paper storage. Not only does the cloud back up files for you, digital files won’t get damaged during a natural disaster such as a fire, flood, tornado or earthquake. Digital document management also allows the university or government agency to choose who is allowed to access designated files. This means no displaced, lost, or deleted enrolment applications from students or public beneficiaries. A few mouse clicks to access any file on record for any authorized person. And no IT resources required for managing additional applications.

All in all, documents remain secure in some form or another, and there is no chance of losing them. A cloud-based document management system for your public institution is one of the most serious security measures you can take.

How can documents be made accessible for everyone?

Many universities are divided into autonomous departments, who manage their documentation on premise. This means duplicates of files and documents across different departments. Moreover, because of the lack of communication between these departments, it is not easy for them to access documents between each other.

That is why a centralized document management system ensures users can access the documents anytime, from anywhere. Because it stores all documents in a centralized location, cloud-based storage allows employees to pull up files from their computers or personal mobile devices in a matter of seconds.

Content management systems for universities and government agencies can ensure everyone gets the right file when and wherever they need it. It can also help assure that every department is using the same document templates and digital assets, helping maintain a consistent brand image across the entire institution.

Read next: Going paperless- Solving Document Management Once and For All

How can the information system ensure compliance?

There are a lot of important documents coming out of universities and government agencies and it is extremely important that they are compliant and up-to-date. These institutions also have a strong brand and it is important that they protect it by being consistent. And having consistent branding in government agencies is especially difficult.

Digital asset management for public institutions can help ensure that all documents are consistent in terms of images, fonts and logos to assist in strong brand integrity. Templafy in particular can empower branding teams with a platform where they can easily assure that all employees in universities and government agencies have access to best-practice document content and are using consistent, up-to-date and compliant logos as well as templates for letters, presentations, and emails. This consistency in letters, presentations, and emails is a big part of meeting the objectives of branding strategies for government agencies and universities.

Digital asset management also makes it much easier to comply with standards such as HIPAA and ISO 9001, which set forth specific rules about how to securely handle documentation. Additionally, with the launch of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDRP) in the EU, ensuring secure access will become increasingly important.

How can I improve efficiency while cutting costs?

Going paperless significantly reduces the costs associated with printing, copying, faxing and storing files. Moreover, a digital asset management system for universities and government agencies can remove the need for having to budget for software and hardware upgrades and maintenance because these responsibilities are taken care of. Most of all, digitalizing document management for public institutions can help streamline office processes, improve customer service across all departments and make office administration run much more smoothly.

Do you want a flexible, future-proof solution with improved user-experience features for everyone throughout the organization and a centralized way to distribute up-to-date, consistent and compliant content? We at Templafy want to help, as we did with the University of Aarhus and the Capital Region of Denmark.

Get in touch with us and see how Templafy can help improve your university or government agency’s digital asset management.