By: Lamin B. Darboe
Senior Communication Officer, MoPS
The Government of The Gambia, in partnership with GK Partners, on Thursday convened the 19th Technical Roundtable (TR19) on the digitisation of public records at the National Records Service (NRS) offices in Kanifing.
The meeting brought together officials from government institutions, development partners, and technical experts to advance plans for the digitisation of key archival materials in the country.
The initiative is being implemented under the Migration and Sustainable Development Gambia (MSDG) project, launched in 2017 through collaboration between the Government of The Gambia, the Office of the President, and the Government of Switzerland, in partnership with GK Partners.
The MSDG programme has reportedly implemented more than 200 development interventions in The Gambia between 2017 and 2024, with Technical Roundtables introduced in 2018 as a platform for addressing technical issues affecting ministries, departments, and agencies.
The 19th Technical Roundtable focused on identifying priority archival records for digitisation, defining technical specifications for scanning equipment, and agreeing on standards for labelling and branding digitised records.
Participants also discussed the creation of depository websites and action plans for the initial phase of scanning public archival materials.
The digitisation project will initially cover records from the National Archives, the National Centre for Arts and Culture, and the Laws of The Gambia.
It is being implemented through the Diaspora Development Fund, with coordination by a diaspora fellow appointed to support the project alongside technical partners.
The initiative builds on earlier fellowship projects involving the Law Hub, the National Assembly, and the National Centre for Arts and Culture.
Officials present at the meeting included representatives from the Personnel Management Office, National Records Service, Ministry of Digital Economy, National Library Services, National Centre for Arts and Culture, and the Gambia Printing and Publishing Corporation.
Project partners said follow-up activities will include access to archival records in the United Kingdom, publication of materials on global history platforms, and thematic research and discussion series aimed at strengthening public record management in The Gambia.