Eight representatives from ICA’s regional branches met in the ICA Secretariat in Paris on 9 April, immediately prior to the meeting of the ICA Executive Board on the following two days.
Bryan Corbett, coordinator of the North American branch (NAANICA), chaired the meeting and reported on the results of the questionnaire concerning the strategic direction of ICA, 2014-2018 which he had circulated earlier in the year. The branches which responded identified several areas for concerted ICA effort…advocacy, publications and communications, quality, affordable and cost effective conferences and congresses, and training with emphasis on records management, electronic records, traditional archival functions, especially in under resourced regions, and awareness; especially amongst political and community leaders. The results of the questionnaire will be shared with the Branches and the Programme Commission.
Attendees also discussed the Charting a New Directions document which was presented by the Strategic Planning Working Group with particular attention to Recommendation 12, “Building on existing work, the branches should carry out their own review of what they need from ICA, and report on their conclusions to the Executive Board in October 2014”. It was agreed that the Branches should carry out their own review as suggested but felt that a broader assessment and a longer time frame was needed. It was suggested that a draft should be prepared for the spring 2015 Executive Board meeting with a final report being submitted at the Executive Board meeting at the 2015 Conference (this being in line with the timeframe for a similar report concerning the Sections). It was agreed that the work done by Bryan Corbett as part of the Strategic Review should be expanded. Mr. Corbett asked for volunteers for this project. Mr. Jaime Antunes da Silva (ALA) and Mr. Kim Jaesoon (EASTICA) agreed to work with Mr. Corbett on this assessment. Mr. Corbett will develop suggestions for a broader assessment for consideration by the Branches.
The meeting concluded with an agreement that the meeting had been very useful and should be continued at subsequent meetings of the Executive Board, conferences and congresses.