Remarks by John W. Carlin, Archivist of the United States
August 3, 2004
Good Morning.
As many of you know, the National Archives and Records Administration is our nation's record keeper. Everyday we work to preserve and provide access to the records of our Government, whether those records are the Declaration of Independence, service records of military veterans, electronic cable files from the State Department, or documentation on homeland security issues that will make our country safer.
Throughout the history of our democracy, these records have been first-hand witnesses to the events that have shaped our country. They have documented the rights and entitlements of our citizens. And they have held our Government officials accountable to the people.
Now, just like in the private sector, more and more of our Government records are created, and must be maintained, in an electronic format, and as Ren and Ken have pointed out, this poses challenges that have never been taken on by a Government agency before.
I am proud that the National Archives has both the mission and the capabilities to solve the problems posed by electronic records. At every step of the process of developing the ERA we have partnered with the best and the brightest to develop solutions, and today that will continue as we reach this milestone.
In just a minute, I'm going to announce the winners of the contract to design the new Electronic Records Archives. But first, I want to stress that this is not just an average Government contract award. These design contracts are valued at approximately $20 million for the first year.
However, this contract is potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars over the life of the contract, with countless ramifications for individuals, private businesses and Government organizations alike, as well as both our country and the world.
Mark my words, ERA is going to change the world as we know it.
Let me give you just one example of how ERA will benefit individuals, and streamline both private and public business processes.
Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services announced plans for a new nationwide health care information network where individual medical records could be maintained electronically and accessed whenever and wherever needed.
This would mean that doctors would be able to see a patient's current medical file and have accurate information on which to base treatment decisions, thus potentially reducing medical errors and costs and improving treatment.
In this way, the medical community would be able to, in effect, transcend distance and space, giving a doctor in California access to the treatment information carried out by another doctor in New York.
But in order for this system to work, we must also transcend time, meaning the information in an individual's medical file must be preserved intact, over the long term. In this way, the doctor of an elderly patient who is suffering from heart disease will have access to the results of that patient's first EKG administered 30 years earlier.
Technology and solutions developed for ERA will make this possible.
You see, when we say that ERA will make electronic information available virtually anytime, anywhere, to anyone with Internet access, we are not just talking about the information contained in Government records. We will START with Government records, but there is no end to where ERA can take us.
It is now my pleasure to announce the winners of the contract to design the Electronic Records Archives. Both of these companies have proven track records in areas that will support electronic records management.
They will hone their architectural insights on what the completed ERA system should look like, and what specific tools should go into it.
The awarding of these contracts follows five years of intensive study by NARA on the requirements for the design and implementation of ERA, and we believe that having two companies compete in this first phase will optimize the ERA system design.
NARA evaluated each of the offers we received on how well the company understands both our mission and the particular challenges we face in the area of electronic records. We asked them to describe a solution in terms of an overall architecture which addresses all of our requirements, and a design which shows that the architecture can be implemented, and that it can evolve over time.
We asked them to demonstrate that they have the technical know-how to build the system and that they have the management capability to do it on time, and within budget.
We investigated how well they have performed on other contracts, and we did an in-depth analysis of their proposed costs. Based on all these factors, we determined that the best value was in the proposals from these two companies.
The first company is Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin is a leader in Defense and Government Markets. Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., the corporation employs about 130,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services. I am pleased to introduce Don Antonucci, President of Lockheed Martin's Transportation and Security Solutions Division.
- Antonucci speaks
The second company is Harris Corporation. Harris Corporation is an international communications equipment company focused on providing product, system, and service solutions for commercial and government customers.
The company serves markets for microwave, broadcast, secure tactical radio, and government communications systems. Harris has more than 10,000 employees, including 5,000 engineers and scientists, and is headquartered in Melbourne Florida.
It is my pleasure to introduce Bob Henry, senior vice president of Harris Corporation and president of its Government Communications Systems Division.
- Henry speaks.
I know I speak for everyone on the National Archives ERA team, when I say that we are looking forward to working with both of our new partners on this ground-breaking project.
Now, Ren Cahoon, Ken Thibodeau, Don Antonucci, Bob Henry and myself will be available for interviews and to take questions. Thank you for joining us today.
