SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED March 2015 OFFICE OF INSPECTIONS Domestic Operations and Special Reports Review of State Messaging and Archive Retrieval Toolset and Record Email View Report ISP-I-15-15 What OIG Inspected The review took place in Washington DC between January 24 and March 15 2014 What OIG Recommended OIG made seven recommendations to improve the use of record emails by Department of State employees and mission staff members OIG recommended establishing a process to review record email usage across missions and bureaus as well as issuing guidance to Department of State employees and mission staff members that specifies their record-keeping responsibilities provides examples to guide choices among cables and record and working emails and suggests the establishment of record email policies OIG recommended convening functionally defined focus groups to identify practical examples of official records canvassing through focus groups in all bureaus periodically to identify obstacles to the use of SMART for record emails and cables establishing an Electronic Records Management Working Group to advise on record emails and related issues and making introductory and refresher courses on records management a requirement for Department of State employees What OIG Found  A 2009 upgrade in the Department of State’s system facilitated the preservation of emails as official records However Department of State employees have not received adequate training or guidance on their responsibilities for using those systems to preserve “record emails ” In 2011 employees created 61 156 record emails out of more than a billion emails sent Employees created 41 749 record emails in 2013  Record email usage varies widely across bureaus and missions The Bureau of Administration needs to exercise central oversight of the use of the record email function  Some employees do not create record emails because they do not want to make the email available in searches or fear that this availability would inhibit debate about pending decisions  System designers in the Bureau of Information Resource Management need more understanding and knowledge of the needs of their customers to make the system more useful A new procedure for monitoring the needs of customers would facilitate making those adjustments OIG also recommended expanding the Foreign Service Institute’s current record email training curriculum to include handson SMART client and classroom training as well as additional material on record-keeping requirements SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED ISP-I-15-15 Office of Inspections March 2015 Review of State Messaging and Archive Retrieval Toolset and Record Email DOMESTIC OPERATIONS AND SPECIAL REPORTS IMPORTANT NOTICE This report is intended solely for the official use of the Department of State or the Broadcasting Board of Governors or any agency or organization receiving a copy directly from the Office of Inspector General No secondary distribution may be made in whole or in part outside the Department of State or the Broadcasting Board of Governors by them or by other agencies of organizations without prior authorization by the Inspector General Public availability of the document will be determined by the Inspector General under the U S Code 5 U S C 552 Improper disclosure of this report may result in criminal civil or administrative penalties SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED CONTENTS KEY FINDINGS 1 CONTEXT 2 RECORD EMAIL USE CONTINUES TO FALL SHORT OF EXPECTATIONS 3 CENTRALIZED OVERSIGHT OF RECORD EMAIL USE NEEDED 4 DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEES NEED BETTER GUIDANCE AND TRAINING IN RECORDS MANAGEMENT 5 INADEQUATE TECHNICAL TRAINING CONTRIBUTES TO UNDERUSE OF RECORD EMAIL 7 FOCUS GROUPS COULD ASSIST IN IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS WITH SMART APPLICATION 7 ELECTRONIC RECORDS MANAGEMENT WORKING GROUP SHOULD CONTINUE 9 RECOMMENDATIONS 10 APPENDIX A SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY 11 APPENDIX B FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON USE OF SMART AND RECORD EMAIL IN RECENT OIG INSPECTION REPORTS 12 APPENDIX C RECORD EMAIL USE ORIGINATING IN DIPLOMATIC POSTS–2013 14 APPENDIX D RECORD EMAIL USE ORIGINATING IN WASHINGTON DC BY BUREAU OF DOMESTIC ENTITIES–2013 21 APPENDIX E FSI COURSES RELATED TO RECORD PRESERVATION OR RECORD EMAIL USE 23 ABBREVIATIONS 25 INSPECTION TEAM MEMBERS 26 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED KEY FINDINGS     A 2009 upgrade in the Department of State’s system facilitated the preservation of emails as official records However Department of State employees have not received adequate training or guidance on their responsibilities for using those systems to preserve “record emails ” In 2011 employees created 61 156 record emails out of more than a billion emails sent Employees created 41 749 record emails in 2013 Record email usage varies widely across bureaus and missions The Bureau of Administration needs to exercise central oversight of the use of the record email function Some employees do not create record emails because they do not want to make the email available in searches or fear that this availability would inhibit debate about pending decisions System designers in the Bureau of Information Resource Management need more understanding and knowledge of the needs of their customers to make the system more useful A new procedure for monitoring the needs of customers would facilitate making those adjustments ISP-I-15-15 1 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED CONTEXT The Department of State Department and its employees need official records for many purposes reference in conducting ongoing operations orientation of successors defending the U S Government’s position in disputes or misunderstandings holding individuals accountable recording policies practices and accomplishments responding to congressional and other enquiries and documenting U S diplomatic history Record preservation is particularly important in the Department because Foreign Service officers rotate into new positions every 2 or 3 years Federal law requires departments agencies and their employees to create records of their more significant actions and to preserve records according to Governmentwide standards 1 In 2009 the Bureau of Information Resource Management IRM introduced the State Messaging and Archive Retrieval Toolset SMART which allowed for the preservation of emails as official records SMART allows users to create official records in the form of cables and “record emails” through Microsoft Outlook Other SMART users can also access SMART cables and record emails using a search function 2 Every employee in the Department has the responsibility of preserving emails that should be retained as official records 3 The Office of Information Programs and Services in the Bureau of Administration’s Office of Global Information Services A GIS IPS is responsible for the Department’s records management program including providing guidance on the preservation of records for the Department and ensuring compliance 4 IRM administers the enterprise email system including SMART and therefore provides the technical infrastructure for sending and receiving emails and preserving some as record email 5 If an employee puts down on paper or in electronic form information about “the organization functions policies decisions procedures operations or other activities of the Government ” the information may be appropriate for preservation and therefore a record according to law whether or not the author recognizes this fact 6 Whether the written information creates a record is a matter of content not form Federal statutes regulations presidential executive orders the Foreign Affairs Manual FAM Department notices cables and the SMART Messaging Guidebook contain the criteria for creating and maintaining official records and associated employee responsibilities 7 1 44 U S Code sections 3101-3107 3301-3324 and 18 U S Code section 2071 2 Prior to this email records were available only if they were printed and filed saved to a CD or backed up and accessible to system administrators 3 See 5 FAM 754 44 U S Code section 3301 and 18 U S Code section 2071 4 See 1 FAM 211 2 e Functions of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and 5 FAM 400 Records Management 5 See 5 FAM 115 2 Chief Information Officer 6 44 U S Code section 3301 7 Title 44 U S Code section 3301 36 CFR 1222 38 5 FAM 422 2005 and Department Notice 2009_06_090 Guidance on use of the new SMART cable and record email functions is included in 5 FAM 1200 5 FAM 443 2 14 State 22238 and 14 State 111506 and 5 Foreign Affairs Handbook-4 H-100 the SMART Messaging Guidebook ISP-I-15-15 2 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED According to Department guidance referenced above email messages should be saved as records if they document the formulation and execution of basic policies and actions or important meetings if they facilitate action by agency officials and their successors in office if they help Department officials answer congressional questions or if they protect the financial legal and other rights of the government or persons the government’s actions directly affect Guidance also provides a series of questions prompting employees to consider whether the information should be shared whether the successor would find the email helpful whether it is an email that would ordinarily be saved in the employee’s own records whether it contains historically important information whether it preserves the employee’s position on an issue or whether it documents important actions that affect financial or legal rights of the government or the public OIG previously examined the Department’s records management including electronic records management in its 2012 inspection of A GIS IPS 8 OIG found that A GIS IPS was not meeting statutory and regulatory records management requirements because although the office developed policy and issued guidance on records management it did not ensure proper implementation monitor performance or enforce compliance OIG also noted that although SMART users can save emails as records using the record email function they save only a fraction of the numbers sent OIG recommended that the Bureau of Administration implement a plan to increase the number of record emails saved in SMART RECORD EMAIL USE CONTINUES TO FALL SHORT OF EXPECTATIONS In 2013 Department employees created 41 749 record emails 9 These statistics are similar to numbers from 2011 when Department employees created 61 156 record emails out of more than a billion10 emails sent The OIG team did not review 2012 figures Department officials have noted that many emails that qualify as records are not being saved as record emails 11 The OIG team found that several major conditions impede the use of record emails an absence of centralized oversight a lack of understanding and knowledge of record-keeping requirements a reluctance to use record email because of possible consequences a lack of understanding of SMART features and impediments in the software that prevent easy use 8 Inspection of the Bureau of Administration Global Information Services Office of Information Services Report No ISP-I-12-54 September 2012 9 See totals from Appendices C and D 10 IRM estimate 11 These assessments do not apply to the system used by the Department’s high-level principals the Secretary the Deputy Secretaries the Under Secretaries and their immediate staffs which maintain separate systems ISP-I-15-15 3 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED CENTRALIZED OVERSIGHT OF RECORD EMAIL USE NEEDED The Bureau of Administration does not review record email use across bureaus or missions In response to OIG’s 2012 report the bureau indicated that it had developed a plan to monitor record-keeping compliance and had established a working group to develop a plan to capture and archive record emails in SMART The OIG team welcomes these efforts but notes that reviewing record email use across missions and bureaus can be easily accomplished as IRM can produce data such as that found in Appendices C and D The OIG team’s review of the Department’s records on record email use by missions and bureaus shows great variations see Appendices C and D For example Embassy Singapore created 1 047 record emails in 2013 Embassy Islamabad created 121 and Embassy Beijing only 47 Consulate General Lagos created 4 922 record emails the most of any post in 2013 The Department’s bureaus also vary widely in their use of record email The Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs created 736 record emails in 2013 the Bureau of International Organizations 311 the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs 26 and the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs only 22 IRM created 1 630 record emails more than any other bureau in 2013 Some missions and bureaus use record email more frequently because they have established practices that employees should send particular types of messages such as diplomatic notes or official-informals by record email 12 Others use more record email after OIG teams noted their failure to use record email to their advantage For example Embassies Lisbon Moscow San Jose and Singapore increased their numbers of record email after OIG teams made recommendations for greater use The absence of centralized oversight allows for an inconsistent application of policy Reviews by the Bureau of Administration with feedback to bureaus and missions would encourage greater use of record email by the bureaus and missions where employees fail to use record email in compliance with the Department’s records management standards Recommendation 1 The Bureau of Administration should establish a process to review record email usage by bureaus and missions annually with data provided by the Bureau of Information Resource Management and to provide feedback to those organizational units Action A in coordination with IRM 12 Diplomatic notes are written communications used for correspondence between the U S Government and foreign governments See 5 Foreign Affairs Handbook-1 H-600 2013 Official-informals are communications within the U S Government on an informal but official basis including officials of the Department and officers at posts officers at other Federal agencies and officers of the Department conducting work on a continuing basis and officers at different posts See 5 Foreign Affairs Handbook-1 H-412 6 2012 ISP-I-15-15 4 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEES NEED BETTER GUIDANCE AND TRAINING IN RECORDS MANAGEMENT Most mission and bureau employees who did not use record emails as intended told OIG they were usually unaware of what types of information should be saved as record emails As shown in Appendix B during 20 inspections conducted since 2010 OIG found that mission employees failed to use record email as originally intended generally because they did not know when it was supposed to be used In a series of interviews with all regional and some functional bureaus the OIG team also found that many officers and employees—not just those new to the Department—had little idea about what makes an item of information a record This general lack of understanding which extends to records in all forms is a major obstacle to the use of record email OIG interviews revealed that some employees learned about record email in training about using the SMART software but were not aware of any requirement to use it Based on OIG interviews the Department does not give employees adequate training to distinguish between information that should be preserved as records and information that may be discarded Most employees had received some training on the technical requirements of creating a record email but did not know when to do so Some employees were under the impression that record emails were only a convenience they had not understood that some emails were required to be saved as records 13 Most Foreign Service and Civil Service employees who were with the Department during the initial SMART deployment in 2009 and 2010 received SMART training from a technical specialist who could not offer examples of common types of mission and bureau messages that should be saved as record emails FAM guidance and Foreign Service Institute FSI courses see Appendix E on records management and record email use are broad and lack practical examples For example the online FSI course on SMART states that failure to use record emails could result in the loss of information that “authorizes action…contains position papers meeting minutes or officialinformal messages…adds proper understanding to policies decisions and responsibilities ” The guidance does not include practical concrete examples for mission-based reporting officers and various other groups in the Department Because the language is so broad and subject to widely varying interpretations some missions and bureaus have established their own policies on record email use Bureau of Administration employees rather than the Foreign Service officers and Civil Service employees who create the largest number of official records needed to conduct diplomacy provide the FAM guidance and FSI course content Mission employees could benefit from 13 Formerly much of the knowledge of record-keeping requirements was lodged in a large secretarial staff that is now much reduced with the progress of information technology Those secretaries provided new employees with on-the-job training in records management Foreign Service and Civil Service employees now have more individual responsibility to ensure that the Department’s records are properly preserved but they are not being adequately trained for their responsibilities ISP-I-15-15 5 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED guidance and training that includes practical concrete examples from reporting officers consular officers and others to guide choices among cables record emails and working emails for messages that should be saved Recommendation 2 The Bureau of Administration should convene functionally defined focus groups of employees to identify practical examples of official records and include them in Foreign Service Institute courses on State Messaging and Archive Retrieval Toolset and records management Action A in coordination with FSI Recommendation 3 The Bureau of Administration should issue guidance to Department of State employees and mission staff members to remind them of their record-keeping responsibilities outline practical function-specific examples to guide choices among cables record emails and working emails and suggest that missions establish record email policies Action A The Department’s deficiencies in preserving appropriate emails cannot be changed unless the actions of individual employees change Education is the key As shown in 13 FAM 020 managers at all levels have a responsibility to ensure that employees have the training necessary to fulfill their responsibilities A circular from the Office of Management and Budget says that agencies must “train personnel in skills appropriate to management of information” and “provide training and guidance” to all agency employees “regarding their Federal records management responsibilities ”14 The OIG team concluded that every Foreign Service officer and most Civil Service employees would benefit from taking a course on records in their first year of employment Although a course at FSI can introduce new employees to their obligation more seasoned employees with practical experience would benefit from refresher courses to keep the information current The Department can offer a 1-hour online course on preserving records including record emails similar to the course on cybersecurity required annually Without adequate training Department employees will not be saving records—including messages that should be saved as record emails—that will be needed in the future and that are required to be saved by Federal law Recommendation 4 The Bureau of Human Resources in coordination with the Bureau of Administration and the Foreign Service Institute should convene a working group to develop proposals for requiring Department of State employees to take courses on records management both an introductory course and a refresher course and offer those proposals for approval by the Under Secretary for Management Action DGHR in coordination with A and FSI 14 OMB Circular A-130 Revised Section 8a f and 8d d ISP-I-15-15 6 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED INADEQUATE TECHNICAL TRAINING CONTRIBUTES TO UNDERUSE OF RECORD EMAIL Additional technical training could alleviate employees’ concerns about the consequences of creating record emails and would facilitate record email use The OIG team found instances where employees did not want to use record email because the messages would become accessible to persons conducting searches not just the intended recipient In some cases it was because the email contained individual opinions that contributed to internal debate on a pending issue Many interviewees expressed a fear that if participants in such a debate knew that their opinions would be permanently recorded or accessible in searches they would not express their opinions in an uninhibited manner In some cases an email containing a decision that ought to be preserved as a record was preceded by a chain of emails full of deliberative comments In other instances the situation discussed in the email was considered sensitive Some employees were unaware that they could designate record emails “addressee only” or that they could compose emails “for the record” that are not sent to anyone—possibilities that would tend to allay some concerns about the use of record email Interviews revealed that most Department employees also lack training on timesaving features such as templates The use of templates does not appear to have been included in the classroom or online training The use of templates would allow SMART users to save time and eliminate much of the repetitive data entry work but currently very few users seem to know of the existence of templates Recommendation 5 The Foreign Service Institute in coordination with the Bureau of Administration and the Bureau of Information Resource Management should review its training curriculum and expand its existing and new State Messaging and Archive Retrieval Toolset course content by including hands-on State Messaging and Archive Retrieval Toolset client classroom training as well as more material on the Department of State’s requirements for keeping records Action FSI in coordination with A and IRM FOCUS GROUPS COULD ASSIST IN IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS WITH SMART APPLICATION Although the SMART client application15 partly meets the essential business needs of the SMART cable and record email users the OIG team found a widespread perception among SMART users that the SMART client application is not intuitive difficult to use and still problem-afflicted The IRM SMART systems development staff acknowledged several of the SMART application errors and said that they had program fixes scheduled for future releases The intermittent application errors are an ongoing source of frustration that SMART users said was negatively affecting their 15 As defined by Susan Hansche John Berti and Chris Hare “application” is “computer software used to perform a distinct function” or “to describe the function itself ” ISP-I-15-15 7 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED ability to complete their work in a timely manner SMART users brought to the OIG team’s attention some examples of technical problems        Users receive a message for invalid email addresses for one or more previously verified email addresses when the user attempts to add new addresses to an existing cable Users receive a message for invalid email addresses when the user attempts to add new addresses directly from the SMART global address list Users receive an error message for an invalid email address when the user attempts to add a valid non-Department email address Users receive a dialog box that prompts the SMART cable user to add the cable classification information when the user attempts to forward a classified cable even though the user is not the classifying authority The SMART client application uninstalls itself from Outlook without the SMART user’s involvement The SMART application suddenly stops working BlackBerry users complained about the separate email inbox and emails disappearing just after being opened Interviews and other evidence revealed an important reason for most of the SMART user complaints is a failure of the SMART systems development staff to reach out aggressively to the Department’s SMART users to identify problems in the application IRM has relied heavily on reviewing “trouble tickets” to identify problems with the SMART system and employees’ problems with using record email once new features have been introduced A trouble ticket is a record of a request submitted to an information technology help desk that contains details about the nature of the user’s problem with a network component and is forwarded to an information technology technician for resolution If a user can avoid the problem by taking an alternative course of action the user does not contact the help desk no ticket is created and the help desk does not receive information about the problem The OIG team found that users in regional and functional bureaus are “working around” problems with SMART because their workloads force them to complete tasks as quickly as possible They do not stop to contact the help desk when they have deadlines to meet As a result the SMART development staff has not fully understood SMART users’ business requirements or the impact of application errors on SMART users’ productivity Project managers are required to manage resources and activities to satisfy user requirements 16 SMART project managers need to involve users so long as they continue to use the software for all major applications and general support system activities The use of focus groups from individual bureaus is one of several effective techniques for gathering information on and insights into the problems that users encounter 16 5 FAM 617 2 ISP-I-15-15 8 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED Recommendation 6 The Bureau of Information Resource Management in coordination with the Bureau of Administration should canvass through focus groups in all bureaus periodically to identify application program errors and other obstacles to the easy and efficient use of the State Messaging and Archive Retrieval Toolset for record emails and cables Action IRM in coordination with A ELECTRONIC RECORDS MANAGEMENT WORKING GROUP SHOULD CONTINUE Communication between SMART users and the SMART system development team has been inadequate for the developers to understand what users need and how they will use this application More technical training is necessary but insufficient to overcome the technical obstacles that still impede the use of record emails in SMART in the fast-paced environment of the Department’s country desks and program offices Because the SMART system was not meeting the Department’s needs the Office of Management Policy Rightsizing and Innovation convened an Electronic Records Management Working Group to develop the specifications for the SMART system in 2013 If made permanent this group could facilitate communication of users’ needs to application developers Recommendation 7 The Office of Management Policy Rightsizing and Innovation should establish the Electronic Records Management Working Group as a continuing entity to advise on record emails and related issues Action M PRI ISP-I-15-15 9 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendation 1 The Bureau of Administration should establish a process to review record email usage by bureaus and missions annually with data provided by the Bureau of Information Resource Management and to provide feedback to those organizational units Action A in coordination with IRM Recommendation 2 The Bureau of Administration should convene functionally defined focus groups of employees to identify practical examples of official records and include them in Foreign Service Institute courses on State Messaging and Archive Retrieval Toolset and records management Action A in coordination with FSI Recommendation 3 The Bureau of Administration should issue guidance to Department of State employees and mission staff members to remind them of their record-keeping responsibilities outline practical function-specific examples to guide choices among cables record emails and working emails and suggest that missions establish record email policies Action A Recommendation 4 The Bureau of Human Resources in coordination with the Bureau of Administration and the Foreign Service Institute should convene a working group to develop proposals for requiring Department of State employees to take courses on records management both an introductory course and a refresher course and offer those proposals for approval by the Under Secretary for Management Action DGHR in coordination with A and FSI Recommendation 5 The Foreign Service Institute in coordination with the Bureau of Administration and the Bureau of Information Resource Management should review its training curriculum and expand its existing and new State Messaging and Archive Retrieval Toolset course content by including hands-on State Messaging and Archive Retrieval Toolset client classroom training as well as more material on the Department of State’s requirements for keeping records Action FSI in coordination with A and IRM Recommendation 6 The Bureau of Information Resource Management in coordination with the Bureau of Administration should canvass through focus groups in all bureaus periodically to identify application program errors and other obstacles to the easy and efficient use of the State Messaging and Archive Retrieval Toolset for record emails and cables Action IRM in coordination with A Recommendation 7 The Office of Management Policy Rightsizing and Innovation should establish the Electronic Records Management Working Group as a continuing entity to advise on record emails and related issues Action M PRI ISP-I-15-15 10 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED APPENDIX A SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY This inspection was conducted in accordance with the Quality Standards for Inspection and Evaluation as issued in 2012 by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency and the Inspector’s Handbook as issued by the Office of Inspector General for the U S Department of State and the Broadcasting Board of Governors BBG PURPOSE AND SCOPE The Office of Inspections provides the Secretary of State the Chairman of the BBG and Congress with systematic and independent evaluations of the operations of the Department and the BBG Inspections cover three broad areas consistent with Section 209 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980    Policy Implementation whether policy goals and objectives are being effectively achieved whether U S interests are being accurately and effectively represented and whether all elements of an office or mission are being adequately coordinated Resource Management whether resources are being used and managed with maximum efficiency effectiveness and economy and whether financial transactions and accounts are properly conducted maintained and reported Management Controls whether the administration of activities and operations meets the requirements of applicable laws and regulations whether internal management controls have been instituted to ensure quality of performance and reduce the likelihood of mismanagement whether instances of fraud waste or abuse exist and whether adequate steps for detection correction and prevention have been taken METHODOLOGY In conducting this inspection the inspectors reviewed pertinent records as appropriate circulated reviewed and compiled the results of survey instruments conducted on-site interviews and reviewed the substance of the report and its findings and recommendations with offices individuals organizations and activities affected by this review The OIG team interviewed 78 Washington-based officials in 15 bureaus and offices in the Department and considered documentary evidence The OIG team also drew from 21 embassy and bureau inspections that identified the record email issue see Appendix B The team considered the findings of an inspection of the Bureau of Administration Global Information Systems Office of Information Programs and Services in September 2012 ISP-I-12-54 ISP-I-15-15 11 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED APPENDIX B FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON USE OF SMART AND RECORD EMAIL IN RECENT OIG INSPECTION REPORTS Summary Many inspections of embassies and bureaus have found that the use of SMART and the record email function are poorly understood This lack of understanding is one of the principal causes of the failure of U S embassies to use record email more often The inspections show that many employees do not know what types of emails should be saved as record emails The employees typically need more and clearer guidance and more training OIG has made formal and informal recommendations to increase the use of record email to write and distribute formal embassy or bureau guidance on record email and to arrange for training Greater Use The following inspection reports contained recommendations that the embassy increase the use of record email    Inspection of Embassy Ulaanbaatar Mongolia – August 2011 ISP-I-11-58A Informal Recommendation 1 p 6 Inspection of the U S Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe – March 2012 ISP-I-12-18A Recommendation 3 p 10 Inspection of Embassy Vienna Austria – March 2012 ISP-I-12-16A Informal Recommendation 1 p 7 Formal Guidance The following inspection reports contained recommendations that the embassy or bureau issue notices or other formal guidance on the use of record email       Inspection of Embassy Bogotá Colombia – June 2011 ISP-I-11-41A Recommendation 3 p 7 Inspection of Embassy Copenhagen Denmark – March 2011 ISP-I-11-19A Informal Recommendation 1 p 7 Inspection of Embassy Dili Timor-Leste – March 2011 ISP-I-11-21A Informal Recommendation 4 p 12 Inspection of Embassy Jakarta Indonesia and Constituent Posts – March 2011 ISP-I-1124A Informal Recommendation 5 p 21 Inspection of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs – May 2011 ISP-I-11-49A Recommendation 30 p 26 Inspection of Embassy Santo Domingo Dominican Republic – May 2011 ISP-I-11-40A Recommendation 3 p 9 ISP-I-15-15 12 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED       Inspection of the U S Mission to the United Nations New York – July 2011 ISP-I-11-54A Recommendation 12 pp 19–20 Inspection of Embassy Port-au-Prince Haiti – May 2012 ISP-I-12-24A Recommendation 2 p 10 Inspection of Embassy San José Costa Rica – May 2012 ISP-I-12-23A Recommendation 7 p 12 Inspection of the U S Mission to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization Paris France – May 2012 ISP-I-12-26 Informal Recommendation 4 p 9 Inspection of the U S Mission to International Organizations in Vienna – March 2012 ISP-I-12-17A Recommendation 4 pp 8–9 Inspection of Embassy Moscow and Constituent Posts Russia – June 2013 ISP-I-13-48A Recommendation 6 p 13 Training in SMART and Record Email The following inspection reports contain recommendations that the embassy or bureau arrange for training in the use of SMART and record email       Inspection of Embassy Athens Greece – February 2011 ISP-I-11-15A Informal Recommendation 2 All reporting officers should take the Foreign Service Institute’s PS530 SMART Messaging OpenNet course p 13 Inspection of Embassy Bogota Colombia – June 2011 ISP-I-11-41A Recommendation 3 and Informal Recommendation 24 Embassy should develop a training regimen on use of SMART pp 7 and 41 Inspection of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs – May 2011 ISP-I-11-49A Recommendation 30 p 22 Inspection of Embassy Santo Domingo Dominican Republic – May 2011 ISP-I-11-40A Informal Recommendation 4 p 9 Inspection of Embassy Paris France and Constituent Posts – May 2012 ISP-I-12-25A Informal Recommendation 26 p 48 Inspection of the U S Mission to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Paris France – May 2012 ISP-I-12-27 Recommendation 3 p 8 ISP-I-15-15 13 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED APPENDIX C RECORD EMAIL USE ORIGINATING IN DIPLOMATIC POSTS–2013 Post Name 2013 Record Emails Abidjan Embassy 14 Abu Dhabi Embassy 42 Abuja Embassy 22 Accra Embassy 37 Adana Consulate 9 Addis Ababa Embassy 13 Alexandria Consulate 1 Algiers Embassy 23 Almaty Consulate 1 Amman Embassy 52 Ankara Embassy 16 Antananarivo Embassy 6 Apia Embassy 2 Ashgabat Embassy 6 Asmara Embassy 2 Astana Embassy 17 Asuncion Embassy 11 Athens Embassy Auckland Consulate Baghdad Embassy 572 55 303 Baku Embassy 24 Bamako Embassy 10 Bandar Seri Begawan Embassy 153 Bangkok Embassy 93 Banjul Embassy 22 Barcelona Consulate 5 Basrah Consulate 6 Beijing Embassy 47 Beirut Embassy 47 Belfast Consulate 1 Belgrade Embassy 286 Belmopan Embassy 49 Berlin Embassy 262 Bern Embassy 90 Bogota Embassy 262 Brasilia Embassy 687 Bratislava Embassy 237 ISP-I-15-15 14 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED Post Name 2013 Record Emails Brazzaville Embassy 2 Bridgetown Embassy 35 Brussels Embassy 85 Bucharest Embassy 171 Budapest Embassy 77 Buenos Aires Embassy 30 Bujumbura Embassy Cairo Embassy 7 27 Calgary Consulate 2 Canberra Embassy 24 Cape Town Consulate 1 Caracas Embassy 9 Casablanca Consulate 94 Chengdu Consulate 1 Chennai Consulate 9 Chiang Mai Consulate 1 Chisinau Embassy 5 Ciudad Juarez Consulate 5 Colombo Embassy 269 Conakry Embassy 19 Copenhagen Embassy 6 Cotonou Embassy 4 Curacao Consulate 1 Dakar Embassy 33 Damascus Embassy 11 Dar Es Salaam Embassy 11 Dhahran Consulate 2 Dhaka Embassy 33 Dili Embassy 31 Djibouti Embassy 3 Doha Embassy 4 Dubai Consulate 1 Dublin Embassy 32 Durban Consulate 1 Dushanbe Embassy 8 EAP Domestic 2 Erbil Consulate 8 Frankfurt Consulate 53 Freetown Embassy 7 Fukuoka Consulate 1 ISP-I-15-15 15 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED Post Name 2013 Record Emails Gaborone Embassy 8 Geneva U S Mission 41 Georgetown Embassy Grenada Embassy 2 47 Guangzhou Consulate 2 Guatemala Embassy 22 Guayaquil Consulate 3 Hamilton Consulate 9 Hanoi Embassy 993 Harare Embassy 9 Havana U S Interests Section 16 Helsinki Embassy 43 Herat Consulate 2 Hermosillo Consulate 5 Ho Chi Minh City Consulate 539 Hong Kong Consulate 102 Hyderabad Consulate 33 Islamabad Embassy Istanbul Consulate Jakarta Embassy 121 20 786 Jeddah Consulate 1 Jerusalem Consulate 17 Johannesburg Consulate 29 Juba Embassy 6 Kabul Embassy 61 Kampala Embassy 21 Karachi Consulate 183 Kathmandu Embassy Khartoum Embassy 6 26 Kigali Embassy 6 Kinshasa Embassy 13 Kolkata Consulate 11 Kolonia Embassy 3 Krakow Consulate 1 Kuala Lumpur Embassy 1 570 Kuwait Embassy 16 Kyiv Embassy 63 La Paz Embassy 37 Lagos Consulate 4 922 Lahore Consulate ISP-I-15-15 4 16 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED Post Name Libreville Embassy 2013 Record Emails 691 Lilongwe Embassy Lima Embassy Lisbon Embassy 5 79 285 Ljubljana Embassy 6 Lome Embassy 7 London Embassy 286 Luanda Embassy 11 Lusaka Embassy 12 Luxembourg Embassy 15 Madrid Embassy 259 Majuro Embassy 20 Malabo Embassy 1 Managua Embassy 26 Manama Embassy 26 Manila Embassy 323 Maputo Embassy 14 Maseru Embassy 43 Matamoros Consulate 7 Mbabane Embassy 2 Melbourne Consulate 3 Merida Consulate 4 Mexico City Embassy 108 Milan Consulate 47 Minsk Embassy 248 Monrovia Embassy 15 Monterrey Consulate 12 Montevideo Embassy 11 Moscow Embassy 389 Mumbai Consulate 29 Munich Consulate 21 Muscat Embassy 12 Nagoya Consulate Nairobi Embassy 2 40 Naples Consulate 1 Nassau Embassy 45 Ndjamena Embassy 17 New Delhi Embassy 328 Niamey Embassy 7 Nicosia Embassy 36 ISP-I-15-15 17 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED Post Name 2013 Record Emails Nogales Consulate 23 Nouakchott Embassy 13 Osaka Kobe Consulate Oslo Embassy Ottawa Embassy 2 25 792 Ouagadougou Embassy 20 Panama Embassy 20 Paramaribo Embassy 30 Paris Embassy Paris Mission to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Perth Consulate 452 28 2 Peshawar Consulate 5 Phnom Penh Embassy 11 Podgorica Embassy 42 Port Au Prince Embassy 45 Port Louis Embassy 84 Port Moresby Embassy 8 Port of Spain Embassy 12 Prague Embassy 10 Praia Embassy 2 Pretoria Embassy 22 Pristina Embassy 212 Quito Embassy 32 Rabat Embassy 38 Rangoon Embassy 18 Recife Consulate 1 Reykjavik Embassy 4 Riga Embassy 10 Rio De Janeiro Consulate 430 Riyadh Embassy 109 Rome Embassy 108 San Jose Embassy 201 San Salvador Embassy Sanaa Embassy 25 142 Santiago Embassy 25 Santo Domingo Embassy 32 Sao Paulo Consulate 19 Sarajevo Embassy ISP-I-15-15 7 18 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED Post Name Seoul Embassy 2013 Record Emails 366 Shanghai Consulate 18 Singapore Embassy 1 047 Skopje Embassy 6 Sofia Embassy 152 St Petersburg Consulate 194 Stockholm Embassy 23 Surabaya Consulate 7 Suva Embassy 3 Sydney Consulate 5 Taipei American Interests Section Tallinn Embassy 13 Tashkent Embassy 22 Tbilisi Embassy 4 271 Tegucigalpa Embassy 8 Tel Aviv Embassy 225 The Hague Embassy 131 Thessaloniki Consulate 19 Tijuana Consulate 249 Tirana Embassy 209 Tokyo Embassy 225 Toronto Consulate 4 Tripoli Embassy 10 Tunis Embassy 189 Ulaanbaatar Embassy 6 U S Mission to UN Rome U S Mission to UNESCO Paris U S Mission to UN Vienna U S Mission to African Union Addis Ababa U S Mission to EU Brussels 1 16 127 2 362 U S Mission to NATO Brussels 7 U S Mission to OSCE Vienna 7 U S Mission to UN New York 191 Valletta Embassy 34 Vancouver Consulate 16 Vienna Embassy 112 Vientiane Embassy Vilnius Embassy 4 126 ISP-I-15-15 19 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED Post Name 2013 Record Emails Vladivostok Consulate Warsaw Embassy 7 38 Wellington Embassy 3 Windhoek Embassy 7 Yaounde Embassy 20 Yekaterinburg Consulate 81 Yerevan Embassy 3 Zagreb Embassy 75 Other Emails Originating Outside Washington Record Email Total by Post 645 34 309 ISP-I-15-15 20 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED APPENDIX D RECORD EMAIL USE ORIGINATING IN WASHINGTON DC BY BUREAU OF DOMESTIC ENTITIES–2013 2013 Record Emails Bureau or Office Administration 178 African Affairs 36 Arms Control Verification and Compliance 16 Consular Affairs 426 Diplomatic Security 409 East Asian and Pacific Affairs 736 Energy Resources 2 Legislative Affairs 5 Human Resources 99 Intelligence and Research 274 Information Resource Management 1 630 International Security and Nonproliferation 34 Legal Adviser 28 Overseas Buildings Operations 879 Resource Management 32 Public Affairs 29 Office of the Secretary 7 Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs 70 Western Hemisphere 50 Democracy Human Rights and Labor 17 Education and Cultural Affairs 51 Economic Energy and Business Affairs European and Eurasian Affairs 101 66 U S Foreign Assistance Resources 1 Under Secretary for Global Affairs 3 International Information Programs 29 International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs 22 International Organization Affairs 311 Under Secretary for Civilian Security Democracy and Human Rights Under Secretary for Management 9 77 ISP-I-15-15 21 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 2013 Record Emails Bureau or Office Medical Services Health Units and Clinics 49 Near Eastern Affairs 399 Inspector General 774 Political-Military Affairs 500 Population Refugees and Migration 7 South and Central Asian Affairs 26 Other Washington Offices 58 Total 7 440 ISP-I-15-15 22 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED APPENDIX E FSI COURSES RELATED TO RECORD PRESERVATION OR RECORD EMAIL USE I Courses on Records Management The Foreign Service Institute offers a 1-day classroom course on records management PK 207— Files and Records Management for all levels of Department employees including direct-hire Foreign Service Civil Service and locally employed staff including Foreign Service nationals This course is open to Department third-party contractors who handle files and records management FSI revised this course to include information from the Department Notice of February 27 2014 titled “IRM Explanation of Record E-mails ” FSI expects to complete its revision of the online version by the end of 2014 The classroom and FSI courses are the Department’s principal means of instructing employees on the principles and practices of records management II Courses Including Some Content on Record Email Office Management Training As part of the PK 102 Foreign Service Office Management Specialist Training for Entering Personnel SMART training instructors discuss using record emails and provide practice This course instructs students that emails often need to be saved as records but not necessarily as record emails A SMART overview class equivalent to PS 531 including record emails is taught by an instructor from the School of Applied Information Technology Orientation Courses Trainees in A-100 specialist and limited noncareer appointment orientations are required to take the online SMART course PS 530 SMART Messaging for Users which covers record emails In the Foreign Service writing modules the instructor also discusses both the mechanics and importance of record emails in a general way The School of Applied Information Technology used to teach a 1-hour overview to A-100 and new-hire specialist classes but that practice stopped in 2013 due to time constraints Courses on Public Diplomacy The courses on public diplomacy do not include record email as part of its curriculum but discussion very occasionally touches on record email usually in the context of corresponding with Washington DC program offices from the field Courses on Political and Economic Tradecraft Political economic tradecraft includes a SMART overview class equivalent to PS 531 including record emails which an instructor from the School of Applied Information Technology teaches Courses Offered by the School of Applied Information Technology School of Applied Information Technology instructors teach four record email-related courses ISP-I-15-15 23 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED     PS 530 – SMART Messaging A course for users distance learning-Web This course is available to anyone on OpenNet and does not require formal enrollment Those with OpenNet access interested in taking the course can do so by going to the link http reg fsi state gov CourseCatalog aspx EventId PS530 scrolling down and clicking on the “FSI Web” link under “Enroll ” PS 531 – SMART End-User Training instructor-led and distance learning-Webinar PS 532 – SMART Messaging A Course for Systems Administrators distance learningLearnCenter YW 533 –SMART System Administrator Messaging Operations systems administrators only ISP-I-15-15 24 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED ABBREVIATIONS A GIS IPS Bureau of Administration Office of Global Information Services Office of Information Programs and Services BBG Broadcasting Board of Governors Department U S Department of State FAM Foreign Affairs Manual FSI Foreign Service Institute IRM Bureau of Information Resource Management SMART State Messaging and Archive Retrieval Toolset ISP-I-15-15 25 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED INSPECTION TEAM MEMBERS Richard D English team leader Terry A Breese Craig S Cheney Kris McMinn director of thematic inspections contributed to the preparation of this report ISP-I-15-15 26 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED HELP FIGHT FRAUD WASTE ABUSE 1-800-409-9926 OIG state gov HOTLINE If you fear reprisal contact the OIG Whistleblower Ombudsman to learn more about your rights OIGWPEAOmbuds@state gov oig state gov Office of Inspector General • U S Department of State • P O Box 9778 • Arlington VA 22219 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED