You may have heard us talk about FERMI at recent events and you may have wondered, what is FERMI? Why is NARA talking about 20th Century physicists? In reality FERMI is the shorthand for the Federal Electronic Records Modernization Initiative (FERMI).
FERMI emerged from the Automated Electronic Records Management Plan, written to support the Managing Government Records Directive (M-12-18). FERMI aims to to provide a government-wide, modern, cost-effective, standardized, and interoperable set of records management solutions providing common, core functionality to support records management services for Federal agencies. While Federal agencies may have different missions, structures, and resources, they do have common needs for managing their electronic records. They all need to manage their records in compliance NARA’s statutes, regulations, and guidance. We want to make it easier to figure out which services and solutions meet these requirements and are approaching this in several ways
First, we are working with two groups at the General Services Administration (GSA): the Unified Shared Services Management (USSM) office under the Office of Shared Solutions and Performance Improvement (OSSPI) and the Schedule 36 team under the Federal Acquisitions Services (FAS).
Unified Shared Services Management
NARA is the Service Area Lead for Records Management and participates on the Business Standards Council. We provide records management input to the other Services Areas (Human Capital, Financial Management, Grants Management, IT, etc.). USSM produced the Federal Integrated Business Framework (FIBF) to help the Federal Government better coordinate and document common business needs across agencies and focus on outcomes, data, processes and performance.
We worked with GSA to create a Special Item Number (SIN) for Electronic Records Management (ERM) in Schedule 36. The existing SIN 51 504 was updated to solely include services related to physical records management. SIN 51 600 – Electronic Records Management Solutions was created for services necessary to provide a total ERM solution. Vendors must self-certify they meet the Universal ERM Requirements to be included in SIN 51 600.
The Universal ERM Requirements identify high level business needs for managing electronic records. They are baseline ERM program requirements derived from existing NARA regulations, policy, and guidance. They are a starting point for agencies to use when developing system requirements. Records management staff should work with acquisitions and IT personnel to tailor any final system requirements.
In addition, we worked with our stakeholder groups to develop the following two products:
Electronic Records Management Federal Integrated Business Framework (ERM-FIBF)
The ERM-FIBF is a model framework that identifies the key functions, activities, and capabilities necessary for agencies to manage their electronic records. The ERM-FIBF was developed according to standards set out in USSM’s FIBF. This document maps capabilities to authoritative references, including statutes, regulations, guidance, and standards.
Use Cases for Electronic Messages
The Use Cases for Electronic Messages serve as a tool agencies can use when procuring services or solutions to manage electronic messages. They can be used by agencies to demonstrate how vendors perform the described requirements and workflows. These are built directly off the ERM- FIBF. They tell the “stories” of how to manage electronic messages.
We posted the ERM-FIBF and Use of Cases for Electronic Messages for comment in January and received over 200 comments.
We will continue to use the blog for FERMI updates, so stay tuned!