Tag Archive for: PSDC
18 months after the implementation of the PSDC status: assessment and prospects by two PSDC-DC companies: Labgroup and Numen
The certification and accreditation of the first PSDC (Provider of Digitisation and Conservation Services), on February 1st, 2017, marked the implementation of the law of July 25th, 2015 on electronic archiving, and the establishment of the chain of digital trust. A year and a half after its implementation two PSDC-DC companies, Lab Luxembourg S.A. (Labgroup) and Numen, decided to present the progress of the status and to make a first assessment, by organising a private conference about this subject.
Back to the beginning:
At the European level, this is the European regulation eIDAS (Electronic Identification and Trust Services) n°910/2014, fully implemented since July 1st, 2016, which permitted to demonstrate the willingness of member states to democratise digitisation by: – enhancing the security of electronic exchanges; – recognising the universal value of the electronic signature; – granting a legal value to a digital document (non-discrimination principle of the digital evidence to courts).
Luxembourg was the first country in Europe to establish a legal system that supports electronic archiving while committing the state via the certification of trusted service providers. The law of July 25th, 2015 relating to electronic archiving recognises the probative value of electronic copies of paper documents, produced by a certified PSDC respecting all conditions of strict accuracy to the original, and gives them a presumption of conformity to the original.
The PSDC certification is issued by a certification body accredited by the Luxembourg Office of Accreditation and Surveillance (OLAS) before obtaining approval by the Luxembourg Institute of Standardisation, Accreditation, Safety and Quality of products and services (ILNAS). ILNAS registers the relevant organisation in the list of PSDC companies (specifying certification processes) thus establishing the PSDC status.
The PSDC-DC status is defined as: – Provider of Digitisation Services, in other words, an organisation authorised to create legal electronic copies of paper documents; – Provider of Conservation Services, which guarantees the integrity, confidentiality and durability of electronic archives throughout their retention period.
Labgroup and Numen both obtained PSDC certification before being accredited by ILNAS.
The combination of skills by these two major players in Luxembourg is proving successful for several years now. Indeed, in 2015 Labgroup and Numen Europe decided to combine their expertise to be able to handle the entire lifecycle of physical and electronic documents from their collection to the certified destruction. Together, the companies can guarantee a continuity of the operations thanks to the redundancy of their resources and certifications. The University of Luxembourg, the European Parliament and Raiffeisen Bank are among their renowned customers, highlighting the efficiency of the combined services of both partners.
As part of the law of July 25th, 2015 about electronic archiving, Luxembourg now counts six PSDC including:
- 3 specialised providers, certified PSDC-DC
- 1 certified company PSDC-DC for 1 client
- 1 trade union and 1 public institution, certified PSDC-Conservation
This relatively small number can be explained by the substantial investments a company need to plan if it wishes to obtain the PSDC status.
In order to draw a first assessment, a year and a half after the implementation of the PSDC status, the two companies of legal electronic archiving organised a private conference on October 4th, 2018; an opportunity to explain the evolution of this status as well as the actual efficiency of a digital process.
An interactive conference presenting the status, its regulatory framework and its legal specificities was organised that morning. A first assessment was drawn answering the three following questions:
- What about the position of the PSDC status at the international level?
Luxembourg’s neighbours are democratising in turn digitisation! Luxembourg, being the first country to create a specific framework, neighbouring countries have not failed to follow the digital trend by creating a legal framework that supports the “paperless” process, thus completing the eIDAS regulation (in Belgium the Digital Act and in France the NF-461 standard & NF Z 42-026 standard). The presence of the “trusted service provider” status is considerably strengthened, allowing recognition of the PSDC status at the international level.
- PSDC – Quo vadis?
As much as the issue of electronic archiving represents a current challenge to companies, the decisions to take the leap delay! In terms of investments, this is not a priority. The decision cycle is prolonged, and too often, the projects are still in the initial stage, in the process of reflection (take a step back to see the big picture?). To date, about ten organisations are in the stage of taking advantage of the PSDC, but the process remains slow. The market is still evolving, but is growing fast with the combination of the electronic archiving and the electronic signature; a complementarity between the Luxembourgish legal framework allowing to accelerate and expand digital transformation and the eIDAS, which gives a European legal value to digital trust services, such as electronic signature and timestamp.
- Homo Papyrus vs Homo Digitalis: the hidden costs issue.
Customers who took the plunge notice a decrease in costs and an increase in customer service quality. A better knowledge sharing, a decline of information loss risks, a guarantee of data privacy … the benefits are numerous. However, the real benefits often come in terms of “hidden savings”; ex. How much is the worth of time of a manager who takes 15 minutes per day to sign paper contracts? What is the cost of a paper process vs a dematerialised process?
The PSDC status requires upstream work, a certain digital maturity/stability of a structure, long before its implementation. The digitisation in a whole includes different stages. The First step? Shut off the “paper production” tap by dematerialising the exchanges, then by dematerialising the processes.
About Numen
As a service provider of IT solutions, hosting and dematerialisation, Numen is committed to working with their customers in their digital transformation projects, optimising customer relations and back offices, managing their documents and enhancing their cultural and sensitive contents. With 980 experienced employees, Numen is a reliable technological partner for more than 500 clients, varying form banking, insurance, real estate, medical, publishing, distribution, culture, industry, human resources, as well as European institutions and public organisations. With 50 years of expertise and its local (9 regional implementation) and European presence and its center of development and BPO in Madagascar, the company has an annual turnover in excess of 65 million euros. For further information: www.numen.fr – www.linkedin.com/company/494479 / – www.numeneurope.com/en/ – www.linkedin.com/company/numen-europe/
About Labgroup
Labgroup is a Luxembourg-based company that provides information management & archiving services to a large range of organisations and institutions. Since 1977, Labgroup has endeavoured to assist its clients in their digitisation efforts by offering adapted services and solutions for electronic data management. Labgroup offers the complete range of Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) solutions and services including digitising of paper documents, storing and destroying physical archives, capturing and conserving electronic archives, protecting and restoring data, preserving IT media and giving consulting services and training. Our professional services team provides advice regarding archiving policy, records management and compliance. Labgroup is an international company with business activities on five continents. Labgroup’s mission is to enable organisations to maintain compliance with legal obligations whilst enhancing the efficiency of their information management. For further information: www.labgroup.com
Contact:
Labgroup
Cindy Reff
Marketing & Communication
Tél : +352 350 222 243 – Email : marketing@labgroup.com
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Links:
Communiqué de presse – Labgroup
Invitation – Conférence privée Le statut PSDC – quel bilan 18 mois après sa mise en application ?
04.10.2018
Labgroup a le plaisir de vous inviter à la conférence privée qui aura lieu jeudi 4 octobre 2018 à partir de 8h00 à l’hôtel Olivier.
Un an et demi après la mise en application du statut PSDC (Prestataire de Services de Dématérialisation et de Conservation), Labgroup, première société certifiée PSDC et Numen, ayant obtenu ce même statut quelques mois plus tard, organisent un petit-déjeuner suivi d’une conférence interactive dédiée au statut PSDC.
Une présentation du statut et son cadre réglementaire sera suivie d’une démonstration concrète et pratique d’un processus « zéro papier » ; de la dématérialisation à valeur probante jusqu’à l’archivage sécurisé des documents et données sensibles.
PROGRAMME
| 8h00 – 8h45 | Accueil et Petit – déjeuner |
| 8h45 – 9h30 | Présentation du statut PSDC et de son cadre réglementaire, bilan et perspectives |
| 9h30 – 10h00 | Témoignage Client |
| 10h00 – 10h30 | Session Q&R |
LIEU
Hôtel Olivier
140 Route d’Arlon
L-8008 Strassen – Luxembourg
Towards a paperless office: Nothing to fear, but fear itself!
On 1 February 2017, Labgroup became the first company in Luxembourg to achieve PSDC (Provider of Digitalisation and Conservation Services) certification from ILNAS (the Luxembourg Institute for Normalisation, Accreditation, Security and Quality of products and services). Just over one year later, Jean Racine, Labgroup’s chief business development officer, talks about the importance of the certification and how it has impacted Labgroup’s service offering to clients. He also calms the fears of those who hesitate to go digital.
Margaret Ferns: Why was it important to get PSDC certification?
Jean Racine: Archiving has been Labgroup’s core business for 40 years and, over this time, we have invested heavily in information technology in order to help our customers plan for the (very) slow death of paper. Qualifying for PSDC certification was the logical next step. It was also essential to boost digital trust at a time when businesses are likely to outsource non-core activities (such as data archiving) in a context of a heavy regulatory burden, especially with regards personal data protection– GDPR regulation.
MF: In what ways has it altered Labgroup’s service offering to clients?
JR: Although information security is always a major priority for us (for example, we have been an ISO 27001 certified company since 2014), there is always room for improvement. Under the act establishing the PSDC status (the Law of 25 July 2015 relating to electronic archiving), we are required to implement increased security measures. For example, traffic on internal corporate networks must now be encrypted. PSDCs are also obliged to submit complete and detailed information on infrastructure and technical installations, safety systems and procedures, applicable standards and workflow management, etc.
Labgroup has taken its role as advisor seriously by developing a specific archiving project methodology based on best management practices. As a result, interaction between parties and exchanges among persons are structured, scheduled, and accordingly more constructive, building a trusting relationship.
MF: With regards to PSDC, which sectors of activity do your clients come from?
JR: It should be noted that PSDC services (paper documents digitisation and electronic records preservation), are available not just to companies in Luxembourg but worldwide. Indeed, among our first customers, we counted several significant foreign insurance companies, which tend to be the most prolific in terms of producing records.
Locally, the first organisation to trust Labgroup as a PSDC was not a business, but the University of Luxembourg. One year after the formalisation of Labgroup’s PSDC status, however, most demand comes from the financial sector. Surprisingly, we have also seen demand from the construction sector for the digitisation and archiving of supplier invoices.
MF: Have you observed any hesitation in moving forward with digitalisation in any sectors?
JR: The current situation is rather paradoxical. Indeed, despite the fact that we are subject to the same obligations of professional secrecy as a PSF, companies managing highly confidential information have always rejected the idea of digitising their files, since that meant that the documents would leave their premises.
Today, however, we find that it is these same companies that are the first to initiate the most projects of native digitisation (without passing through the paper stage), in order be able to offer their customers all over the world the opportunity to subscribe and operate online. The fact that contracts and transaction notices are processed by a third party such as Labgroup significantly limits the risk of disclosure. Don’t forget that data encryption is very difficult to implement on paper, not so digitally.
MF: Does increasing digitalisation mean less control of data for your clients?
JR: In fact, it is just the opposite. Where a physical item can only be stored in a single place and classified according to a single criterion (e.g. name of author, title…), an electronic record may be searched and retrieved in many ways, each one corresponding to the specific needs of the user. In a similar vein, where access to paper documents requires physical movements and complicated key-based security management, the confidentiality of an electronic record can be managed through indexes/metadata, subject to instant amendment.
In general terms, thanks to digitalisation, information holders have the ability to have total control of their data with regards to its readability, intelligibility, integrity, confidentiality and availability.
@Copyright: Delano
Raiffeisen has entrusted Lab Luxembourg S.A. (Labgroup) and Numen Europe with the implementation of a digitisation and electronic archiving solution for its daily business requirements.
Raiffeisen Bank, the first cooperative bank where interests and decisions centres are based in Luxembourg, places the customer at the centre of its concerns. Raiffeisen strengthens its position within the market place by anticipating trends and modernising its range of products and services to meet the requirements of their customers.
According to Raiffeisen, digitisation offers numerous benefits. The bank decided to call upon Lab Luxembourg S.A. (Labgroup) and Numen Europe to provide modern and flexible services to its clients. Thanks to the convergence of its physical and digital channels, Raiffeisen has developed its digitisation to increase its operational efficiency.
Following a tender (issued in 2015), Raiffeisen Bank entrusted the deployment of a digitisation service and an electronic archiving solution to Labgroup, a document management specialist with more than 40 years’ experience, and to Numen Europe, an expert in confidential data extraction and document processing. Labgroup and Numen were both certified PSDC (Provider of Digitisation and Conservation Services) before being certified by ILNAS (Luxembourg Institute for Standardisation, Accreditation, Security and Quality of Products and Services).
The project aimed at optimising the management, the protection and the preservation of documents in the perspective of a “Paperless Office”, and this includes three steps:
- The digitisation of client files that represents, the collection of 8 million pages;
- The daily digitisation of paper documents concerning daily banking activities;
- The archiving of documents, existing electronic or digitised (contracts or operations in electronic form).
The electronic copies created by a PSDC according to the regulation have the same probative value as the original documents (which henceforth can be destroyed). Therefore, all holders of information such as Raiffeisen Bank can entrust Labgroup with their digitisation and conservation operations, in complete safety, with the guarantee of the Luxembourg State.
The combination of the skills of both companies has been a successful collaboration within and beyond Luxembourg. Thanks to this partnership, Numen Europe and Labgroup can take charge of physical and electronic documents life cycle from their collection to their certified destruction. Both also guarantee business continuity thanks to the redundancy of their tools and certifications.
The CSSF (Luxembourg Financial Services Supervisory Authority) and the ILNAS (Luxembourg Institute for Standardisation, Accreditation, Security and Quality for Products and Services) monitor Labgroup and Numen Europe as being a PSF (Professional of the Financial Sector) and PSDC (Provider of Digitisation and Conservation Services).
Labgroup and Numen are both certified ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 27001:2013, thus ensuring the highest level of confidentiality and information security to their customers.
About Labgroup
Labgroup is a Luxembourg-based company that provides information management & archiving services to a large range of organisations and institutions.
Since 1977, Labgroup has endeavoured to assist its clients in their digitisation efforts by offering adapted services and solutions for electronic data management.
Labgroup offers the complete range of Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) solutions and services including digitising of paper documents, storing and destroying physical archives, capturing and conserving electronic archives, protecting and restoring data, preserving IT media and giving consulting services and training. Our professional services team provides advice regarding archiving policy, records management and compliance. Labgroup is an international company with business activities on five continents. Labgroup’s mission is to enable organisations to maintain compliance with legal obligations whilst enhancing the efficiency of their information management. For more information: www.labgroup.com
About Numen
As a service provider of IT solutions, hosting and dematerialisation, Numen is committed to working with their customers in their digital transformation projects, optimising customer relations and back offices, managing their documents and enhancing their cultural and sensitive contents.
With 980 experienced employees, Numen is a reliable technological partner for more than 500 clients, varying form banking, insurance, real estate, medical, publishing, distribution, culture, industry, human resources, as well as European institutions and public organisations.
With 50 years of expertise and 16 locations in France and Europe, the company has an annual turnover in excess of 65 million euros. For further information: http://www.numen.fr/en/
Contact:
Labgroup
Cindy Reff
Marketing & Communication
Tél : +352 350 222 243 – Email : marketing@labgroup.com
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Links:
Communiqué de presse – Labgroup
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Links Press:
@Copyright photo: Raiffeisen Bank
Un nouvel arrivant dans la communauté des PSDC !
Dans le cadre de la loi du 25 juillet 2015 sur l’archivage électronique, le Luxembourg compte désormais quatre Prestataires de Services de Dématérialisation ou de Conservation (PSDC), qui ont obtenu la certification correspondante avant d’être agréé par l’ILNAS (Institut Luxembourgeois de la Normalisation, de l’Accréditation, de la Sécurité et qualité des produits et services).
En effet, en date du 26 février 2018, le SIGI (Syndicat Intercommunal de Gestion Informatique), partenaire des administrations communales et nationales, a rejoint Labgroup sur la liste officielle, en tant que PSDC de conservation.
Cela renforce la position de précurseur du Luxembourg en matière d’archivage électronique et augure bien de son développement dans le secteur administratif.
Pour rappel, le 1er février 2017, Lab Luxembourg S.A. (Labgroup) fut le premier PSDC agréé, aussi bien pour la dématérialisation que pour la conservation.
Le statut de PSDC garantit la fidélité de la digitalisation des documents papier et l’intégrité de la conservation des documents électroniques. C’est donc en toute sécurité, avec la garantie de l’État luxembourgeois, que les détenteurs d’informations de tout pays peuvent confier à un PSDC, tant leurs opérations de dématérialisation que de conservation, et bénéficier de la présomption de conformité de la preuve électronique à l’original.
En résumé, le statut PSDC propose un niveau de sécurité inédit !
Plus d’informations : https://portail-qualite.public.lu/fr/confiance-numerique/archivage-electronique/liste-psdc.html#.
