At Smals, a Belgian organisation specialising in IT services for the public sector, digital archiving has become a key solution for meeting the growing needs of public institutions. This presentation details the implementation of a shared platform, the challenges encountered, and the technical solutions chosen to manage a growing volume of digital data.
Background to the implementation of the platform
The project began with the National Social Security Office (NSSO), a central institution in Belgium responsible for managing electronic social security declarations. These files, generated in XML format, represent 100 million exchanges per year, with a growth of 10% each year.
Initially, the aim was to reduce logistical costs while ensuring the legal security of declarations. However, the massive accumulation of data since 2003 has forced a rethink towards a more robust and centralised archiving solution.
Transition to a shared platform
In 2015, Smals began transforming the initial project, intended for a single institution, into a platform shared between several public institutions. This model is based on a single infrastructure and information silos to preserve data confidentiality.
- In 2017, the project went into production with the NSSO as its first client.
- Other institutions are gradually being integrated, with currently 6 institutions connected and 5 others in the process of integration.
Today, the platform manages 480 million archived objects for a total of 81 TB of data, and is continuing to evolve.
Main features of the platform
- Proven and secure archiving: digital documents, whether PDFs, videos or other formats, are archived according to rigorous standards.
- Multiclient and centralisation: a single shared but secure infrastructure is open to federal and regional public institutions.
- Online consultation: The archives are directly accessible via public portals or business applications. For example, Belgian citizens can consult their pension forecasts or administrative documents online.
This direct consultation functionality has enhanced the value of the archives, making them indispensable to business processes while reducing the costs associated with duplicating files in other systems.
Technical challenges encountered
- Metadata management:
- The definition and use of metadata must balance their usefulness and the cost they incur.
- An initially ambitious client simplified its model from 30 to 15 generic metadata to reduce complexity.
- Storage migration:
- Regular replacement of storage media (every 5-6 years) involves cumbersome and costly migrations.
- The last migration lasted 18 months, posing challenges in terms of planning and resources.
- Volume and performance:
- Identifying formats with PRONOM caused significant slowdowns in production, especially for compressed or large files.
- Functionality testing on large volumes remains complex and expensive.
Impact and benefits
- Optimisation of costs: By reducing the need for redundant storage in business systems, the platform is recognised as an energy-saving solution.
- Support for business processes: Archives are no longer seen as a simple legal cost, but as a valued resource.
- Continuous evolution: The system is designed to adapt progressively to growing needs, while retaining the flexibility to integrate new institutions.
Conclusion of the presentation
The shared platform developed by Smals shows how an electronic archiving solution can meet the varied needs of public institutions while enhancing the archives for operational uses. Thanks to a modular and scalable approach, Smals has succeeded in reconciling legal requirements, technical constraints and economic ambitions, thus offering a sustainable and adaptable solution for the Belgian public sector.