The International Council on Archives is strongly committed to providing a wide range of products and services at the lowest possible cost to its members. As is the case for all organisations that wish to have a long-term future, ICA needs to ask itself regularly whether it has the right structures and systems in place to provide good value for money to all its members.  Governance and financial management have recently been identified as key areas for improvement.  ICA has, therefore, set in motion over the last few months a series of major management reforms which should ensure that decisions made about the allocation of scarce resources are fully transparent, and that these resources are efficiently used to meet the needs of members, with explicit financial reports.  These changes include a well-established best accounting practice, the appointment of a new auditor and the setting up of an Audit Commission.

The imperative to complete ICA’s reform programme as quickly and thoroughly as possible was one of the main talking points at this year’s CITRA conference in Curaçao.  Shortly before the conference a group of national archivists (United States, Canada, France, United Kingdom,  Australia and Switzerland) presented their proposals for strengthening ICA. Their ideas promptly received an enthusiastic response from the most senior office-bearers in ICA because they largely supported actions that were either planned or were already well underway. The CITRA conference provided an excellent opportunity to bring all these actions more closely together in a coherent whole, and to set out a precise timetable in one clear and concise document.  As well as the governance changes described above, the report of the Revenue Task Force and the Secretariat’s work on developing a Strategic Plan helped to point the way forward. Close collaborative working over several days resulted in the timely production of the document entitled ‘ICA Faces the Future: The Curaçao Consensus 2006’, which was unanimously approved at the Annual General Meeting on 24 November.

The Curaçao Consensus identifies eleven actions in the areas of management planning, governance, finance and communications. With one exception, all of them have to be completed by the time of CITRA to be held at Québec in November 2007.  Implementation of the action plan represents a formidable challenge for ICA, but one which we are determined to meet. We know that everyone who believes in international co-operation in the area of archives will want us to succeed.  We will keep all members regularly informed about progress on the ICA website and it is quite likely that we will ask some of you to help.

The first item on the list is the publication of a Strategic Plan. The Secretariat is beginning work on this straightway, and will post the first draft version on the website by the end of January.  We will need your input to write a plan that is genuinely responsive to your needs and the environments in which you operate – so look out for it and be prepared to offer your comments!