Namibia's Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration Taps M-Files Dynamic Content Management System to Manage Tens of Millions of Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates
Tampere, Finland (PRWEB UK) 25 February 2014 -- M-Files Corporation, the developer of M-Files dynamic content management solutions that simplify and improve how businesses manage, secure and share information, has announced that the Namibia Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration is utilizing M-Files to manage all birth, marriage and death certificates dating back to the early 1900s. To date, more than 12 million birth and death certificates have been scanned and loaded into the organization's M-Files vault.
The mission of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration is to manage the national register and facilitate lawful migration for this African country with a population of just over two million. Located in Windhoek, Namibia, the government entity manages civic affairs such as birth certificates and registrations, marriage certificates and changing of surnames, identity documents and death certificates. The Namibia Ministry of Home Affairs also handles the country's immigration services pertaining to citizenship, passports, permits, visas and border control.
In 2009, The Document Warehouse, a Namibian-based Records Management IT firm and a member of the M-Files Partner Program, demonstrated to the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration how the M-Files ECM system could effectively manage the tens of millions of birth, marriage and death certificates for which the agency is responsible. Afterwards, the Ministry engaged with The Document Warehouse (Pty) Ltd on a long-term project to scan of all its birth, marriage and death certificates and related documents dating back to the early 1900s.
“All of the files and documents managed by our agency had been located in boxes that were stacked on top of each other and stored in a separate leased building. This paper-based process made it nearly impossible to find records,” said the Deputy Director of Population Services, Lydia Kandetu. “Now, a particular document can be located instantly from millions. It has truly had a major impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of our agency when processing these important documents.”
“In addition to the huge volume of documents that had to be imported into M-Files, some records were stored within leather-bound books that were difficult to scan,” said Wouter van Zijl, CEO of The Document Warehouse. “We have staff onsite at the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration dedicated to scanning records, indexing with metadata and conducting quality assurance. To date, we've scanned and stored more than 12 million birth- and death certificates into M-Files. With M-Files we're able to produce searchable PDF files from the millions of paper documents we've scanned while also automating file naming and the definition of document properties and metadata. As a result, the Ministry can now quickly and easily locate vital documentation on behalf of its citizens.”
"This project with the Namibian Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration is one of many within Africa where M-Files is being utilized to help government entities and private companies make the transition from paper to electronic document and information management," said Scott Erickson, vice president of channel sales at M-Files Inc. “We're excited that M-Files is playing an instrumental role in helping to modernize information and process management practices on the African continent.”
About The Document Warehouse (Pty) Ltd
The Document Warehouse (Pty) Ltd is the only dedicated document storage facility in Namibia. The company provides offsite document storage and various space-saving filing solutions, as well as records management software for tracking files onsite or offsite. The Document Warehouse assists their public and private sector clients in moving to the next level of professional records management, including file-based archiving, barcoded documents and files, bulk scanning of documents, EDRMS systems and data hosting. The company's services include long and short term storage of digital data in a secure environment, including daily or weekly pick-up of digital data on tapes, DVD’s, etc. They also provide consultancy and training services related to Information and Records Management, file plans, archival policies, document storage solutions, bulk scanning and indexing of hard copy documents. For more information, visit: http://www.documentwarehouse.com.na
About M-Files Corporation
M-Files dynamic content management solutions are disrupting the ECM market by eliminating information silos and providing quick and easy access to the right content from any core business system and device. M-Files achieves higher levels of user adoption resulting in faster ROI with a uniquely intuitive approach to ECM that is based on managing information by "what" it is versus "where" it's stored. With flexible on-premise, cloud and hybrid deployment options, M-Files places the power of ECM in the hands of the business user and reduces demands on IT by enabling those closest to the business need to access and control content based on their requirements. Thousands of organizations in over 100 countries use the M-Files dynamic content management system as a single platform for managing front office and back office business operations, which improves productivity and quality while ensuring compliance with industry regulations and standards, including companies such as SAS, Elekta and EADS. For more information, visit http://www.m-files.com.
M-Files is a registered trademark of M-Files Corporation. All other registered trademarks belong to their respective owners.
Matthew Meigs, M-Files Corporation, http://www.m-files.com, +1 (415) 686-6178, [email protected]
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