The 3rd Forum of Archivists
The 3rd Forum of Archivists, which is to take place in Saint-Étienne (France) from 3 to 5 April 2019, will be the opportunity to take stock of current archival practices, in respect of transparency issues, and to consider future prospects. It will also be a chance for discussions with users of the records and data that archivists are partly responsible for preserving, and with the other professions contributing to producing information.
The Open Government Partnership, which was officially inaugurated worldwide on 20 September 2011, included a declaration in favour of open government, in which emphasis was placed on the importance of “transparency and participation in public contracting systems”. At the time the French Government was also working on application of Article 225 of the Grenelle II Act of 12 July 2010, which required companies to be more transparent in their social and environmental accountability undertakings.
In our modern society, transparency is increasingly equated with social progress. The obligation to ensure transparency is synonymous with easier access to the information produced by individuals or entities in the public or private sector as part of their activities and has direct implications for the archiving profession. Whether they work for the private or the public sector, whether they handle historical archives or contemporary records, archivists constitute a vital link in the information transmission chain.