Challenges and risks of the dematerialization of documents

Twenty years ago, or even less, the introduction of the term "digital document" into the vocabulary of IT departments was a particularly low-key affair. At the time, very few managers were interested in this subject. Their preoccupations tended to focus on data management, in order to establish conceptual models representing business management situations.

Evolving needs, in particular for the rational and reliable updating of documentation for military equipment and nuclear power plants, led technical writers to question the capacity of IT techniques to handle this new object. The complexity of the task quickly became apparent. A dual structural and semantic approach led to the separation of content and form, and at the same time to the description of a production and usage process often referred to as the "digital document life cycle".

It was at this point that the concept of the "digital document" was born. Since then, this object has been fully supported by IT techniques. Paradoxically, and amusingly, the SGML and XML languages to which the descriptive analysis of documentary objects gave rise have become reference languages for computing in general.

Today, the technical aspects of document object management are largely robust and mature. On the other hand, new questions are arising. These are mainly linked to the use of this object by the greatest possible number of people. It's no longer just a question of technical documentation, but of all the documents involved in the activities of companies and the lives of citizens.

The aim of this article is to show that today's questions no longer focus on the object itself, but on how it is used.

The vast majority of documents used by businesses and citizens exist in digital form. The volumes and exchanges involved are already considerable, and growing exponentially. They translate and deal with extremely diverse subjects and concerns.

As a result, the questions now being asked are of a social nature. They are no longer purely technical. They have to do with usage. They are linked to the storage and probative value of digital documents, the preservation of personal rights and the traceability of exchanges. Clearly, they require appropriate scientific and technical responses within a normative framework that is essential for ensuring exchanges and accepted by all players.