The Evolving Role of Technology in State and Local Agency Records Archiving
As we head into 2026, records programs in state and local government are being forced to modernize faster than most agencies planned due to new website and records requirements. According to the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO), artificial intelligence (AI) has overtaken cybersecurity as the top technology priority for government CIOs, a shift that has not occurred in more than 20 years.
Why modern records infrastructure now defines government accountability
The shift to AI-driven, cloud-native systems is changing what regulators, courts, and the public expect from government records programs. Records teams are no longer judged solely on retention compliance, but on their ability to explain decisions, preserve digital context, and respond at speed across fragmented systems. Treating records management as unchanged increases legal exposure, operational strain, and reputational risk at a moment when transparency, accessibility, and defensibility are under heightened scrutiny.
For records managers, this changing environment isn’t just an academic exercise; it changes what we do day to day. It reflects a fundamental change in how records programs support public trust, regulatory compliance, and digital continuity. Archives shouldn’t be treated as “where records go to die” anymore. They are now recognized as mission-critical infrastructure for transparency, accountability, and defensible governance.
I keep hearing the same thing from records managers: they’re being asked to do more with less, across more systems than ever. Today, records managers are expected to understand governance, risk, compliance, and technology, not just procedures and retention schedules. Let’s break down what’s changing — and what records teams will need to do differently.
Artificial intelligence for government records management
AI is already showing up in real records workflows; not as a future concept, but to keep up with quickly growing volume. Government agencies are producing digital content faster than manual classification and review processes can keep up.
Automated classification and metadata management
Modern tools can now scan content, suggest classifications, apply metadata, and route records faster and more consistently than manual filing. For agencies dealing with backlogs or inconsistent filing, AI-assisted classification improves both efficiency and defensibility.
Automated redaction for FOIA and public records requests
AI-driven redaction tools deliver immediate value, particularly for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and public records requests. These systems can identify and mask personally identifiable information (PII) and sensitive data at scale, reducing response times while maintaining compliance.
But there’s a catch: if AI touches records decisions, agencies must be able to explain and defend the outcomes. With evolving federal guidance and executive actions related to AI use, explainability, auditability, and documentation are now essential. Records managers must be able to demonstrate how AI systems classify records, apply retention schedules, and handle exceptions.
Cloud-native architecture and records compliance
The adoption of cloud computing in government has permanently altered how records are stored, accessed, and preserved. Most agencies are now prioritizing cloud-native records management systems; platforms designed specifically for cloud environments rather than adapted from on-premises systems.
Moving to the cloud doesn’t eliminate records management obligations; it shifts where non-compliance risk lives. In cloud environments, records lifecycle management must begin with system design, not at disposition. If retention and metadata management aren’t built into the system from the start, agencies end up patching controls later, usually after a failure, an audit, or a public records request.
Shared responsibility and records risk
Cloud providers such as AWS and Microsoft Azure operate under a shared responsibility model. While vendors secure infrastructure, agencies remain responsible for data governance, identity management, configurations, and retention enforcement.
Records managers play a critical role in ensuring that cloud adoption does not compromise the authenticity, reliability, and integrity of official government records.
Preserving provenance and original order in digital systems
Despite technological change, core archival principles remain unchanged. Provenance and original order are what make a record legally and historically meaningful, especially when someone later challenges authenticity. Most modern platforms aren’t built with archival principles in mind. They’re built for collaboration and speed.
To mitigate this risk, agencies are adopting secure-by-design architectures, layered metadata models, and workflow-aware systems that capture context throughout a record’s lifecycle.
Some organizations are exploring blockchain-based audit trails as a tamper-evident way to prove what happened to a record over time (creation, access, export, deletion, etc.).
2026: A stress test for digital records infrastructure
Two near-term pressures are hitting records teams at the same time, and neither is optional.
Large-scale public events (including the 2026 World Cup in U.S. host cities) will generate an explosion of video, drone footage, and interagency communications, much of which will later become discoverable.
At the same time, digital accessibility compliance is forcing agencies to remediate legacy content, especially PDFs and public-facing records, to ensure they remain usable and compliant in the long term.
These requirements arrive amid fiscal constraints. Reductions in federal funding have elevated cost optimization and system consolidation as top priorities. As a result, agencies are retiring point solutions in favor of centralized platforms that integrate workflow automation, e-signature, content management, and records retention.
The future of state and local records archiving
Over the next five to ten years, paper records will continue to decline, becoming an exception rather than the rule. We’re already experiencing the early productivity gains of conversational search; users asking archives questions in plain language instead of guessing keywords.
At the same time, cloud archiving systems will increasingly be viewed as strategic assets rather than merely compliance obligations. When governed responsibly, historical records can inform policy decisions, infrastructure planning, and community engagement.
Practical guidance for modern records managers
To adapt successfully, agencies should focus on pragmatic, defensible steps:
- Audit existing records systems to identify unmanaged risk
- Prioritize cloud-native platforms with built-in lifecycle controls
- Pilot AI-driven redaction and metadata tools in controlled environments
- Invest in workforce training focused on digital governance
Managing digital records today is no longer about protecting a static archive. It is about maintaining a living, interconnected information ecosystem. When records systems fail, the impact extends beyond operations — public trust and accountability are at stake.
How can Smarsh support state and local records management
State and local government agencies face mounting challenges in capturing, preserving, and producing digital records across an expanding range of communication channels. Smarsh offers unique solutions that closely align with the needs outlined in this blog, helping records managers modernize archiving practices, strengthen compliance, and streamline operational workflows.
Comprehensive capture and archiving
Smarsh provides cloud-based capture and archiving solutions designed to ingest, store, and preserve communications from more than 100 digital channels, including email, instant messaging, collaboration platforms, social media, mobile/text, voice, and web content. Smarsh solutions capture communications with conversation context and metadata intact, which matters when you need to reconstruct who said what, when, and in what thread.
Designed for public sector compliance
Public sector compliance requirements, such as FOIA, Sunshine Laws, and public records obligations, demand fast, reliable access to archived data. Smarsh’s public sector solutions help agencies capture and index communications securely and make data findable and exportable in seconds, so FOIA and public records responses don’t turn into a weeks-long fire drill.
Streamlined e-discovery and legal requests
In addition to archiving, Smarsh offers e-discovery and early case assessment tools that centralize archived content into a single, searchable system. This unified approach helps legal and records teams rapidly identify relevant content, apply legal holds, manage cases, and produce defensible exports in standard formats, saving time and reducing risk during investigations or litigation.
Flexibility, security, and scalability
Smarsh solutions support flexible deployment models, including cloud capture and archiving, that scale with agency needs while enforcing enterprise-grade security and governance controls. Data is encrypted both in transit and at rest and stored in immutable formats to meet evolving regulatory and archival requirements.
Enhancing modern records management
By consolidating capture, archiving, compliance, supervision, and discovery into a single platform, Smarsh helps agencies reduce complexity and eliminate siloed data stores. This unified architecture supports defensible retention policies, robust search and retrieval, and audit-ready workflows — advancing digital records programs from manual, reactive processes to proactive, technology-enabled operations.
Partnering with Smarsh can help state and local records managers address the very challenges this article outlines, turning voluminous, multi-channel digital communications into organized, searchable, compliant, and retrievable records that preserve institutional memory, support transparency, and withstand legal scrutiny.
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Bill is a frequent speaker at legal and information governance industry events and has authored four eBooks including Email Archiving for Dummies, Cloud Archiving for Dummies, The Bartenders Guide to eDiscovery and the Know IT All's Guide to eDiscovery. Bill has also authored 60 plus industry articles and hundreds of blogs as well as hosting 37 podcasts with industry pundits, subject matter experts, state legislators, and attorneys.
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