Automated eCH-0160 Based Data Archiving Tool

To fulfill the legal requirements according to eCH-0160, the Cantonal Building Department Thurgau and the Office for Informatics Thurgau have developed an automated archiving tool in collaboration with ioLabs AG. This solution enables efficient and legally compliant archiving of construction-related documents from Microsoft SharePoint according to current standards. Parts of the solution are now available as open-source code.

Authorities and public agencies in Switzerland are legally required to structure their data according to the e-government standard eCH-0160 and hand it over to the state archive. The Cantonal Building Department of Thurgau and the Office for Informatics Thurgau faced the task of efficiently and standard-compliantly archiving their construction-related documentation from Microsoft SharePoint.

Involved Authorities

Office for Informatics, Building Department, State Archive

SIP-valid Archivable Files

51+

Tested file format conversions into the required formats

Productivity Increase

95%

Enormous increase in productivity and quality.

To meet the strict requirements of the eCH-0160 standard, ioLabs AG developed an advanced automated archiving tool with comprehensive features.

The tool allows importing files from various sources and attaching metadata to these files, ensuring a complete and detailed capture of information. While Microsoft SharePoint serves as the main source, additional data providers can be easily integrated through various connectors. This modular approach enables organizations to tailor data inputs to their specific needs. See ioSync

Beyond the pure data, the tool excels in metadata extraction by carefully reading and processing metadata associated with each file or document. This comprehensive metadata processing is crucial for maintaining data integrity, efficient search and retrieval, and ensuring compliance with archiving standards.

To support long-term archiving and meet the requirements of the Swiss State Archive, the tool performs format conversion, converting data into defined and supported formats.

Thurgau - graph.png

Key Features Include:

PDF/A-2U Conversion for PDFs: Converts PDFs into a format suitable for long-term archiving, with support for custom font embedding to maintain document fidelity.
Comprehensive Office Document Support: Handles almost all office document files, including Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, and Apple Office formats, ensuring seamless archiving of various document types.
Conversion of Image and Video Files: Supports conversion of almost all image and video file formats, preserving multimedia content in accessible and standardized formats.
Support for CAD Files: Provides conversion support for common CAD files, addressing the needs of technical and engineering departments.
Directory-Based Conversions: Processes scenarios where a single document is represented by an entire folder, ensuring complex documents with multiple components are correctly archived.
Extensible Converter Framework: Additional converters can be easily added by implementing a simple interface, allowing the system to adapt to new formats and technologies over time.

Complete List of Supported File Conversions:

Source File Extension	Target File Extension(s)
csv	csv
dwg	dwg
crbx	e1s/01s
crbx	pdf
e1s	e1s/01s
ifc	ifc
indd	indd
jp2	jp2
jpeg	jpeg
jpg	jpg
avi	mp4
flv
mkv
mov
mp4
mpg
webm
wmv
png	png
svg
webp
rvt	rvt
tif	tiff
bmp
gif
ico
tiff
txt	txt
xml	xml

Source File Extension	Target File Extension(s)
01s	PDF/A-2U
ai
doc
docm
docx
eml
eps
key
msg
numbers
pages
pdf
pps
ppt
pptm
pptx
psd
rtf
rtfd
xls
xlsm
xlsx

The tool generates Submission Information Packages (SIP) in strict accordance with eCH-0160 specifications and supports multiple output files from a single input. This ensures that all relevant information is preserved and properly structured for submission to the state archive, accommodating complex documents and datasets.

After processing, the archived data is automatically uploaded to the designated target location through automated upload to target locations. While a SharePoint collection serves as the basic target, the system architecture allows for different data providers to be defined by implementing various target connectors. This flexibility enables integration with a variety of storage solutions and archiving systems.

Featuring a user-friendly administration interface, the tool facilitates:

Intuitive Project Management: Simplifies the setup and monitoring of archiving projects, making it accessible even to users without technical expertise.
Detailed Archiving Reports: Provides comprehensive reports on the archiving process, offering insights into status, success rates, and any issues that may require attention.
Configurable Notifications and Archiving Process Triggers: Allows administrators to set up automatic notifications and triggers for the archiving process, enhancing workflow efficiency and ensuring timely data archiving.
Easy Addition of New Extensions and Features: Designed for extensibility, the interface enables seamless integration of new functionalities and customizations as organizational needs evolve.

By integrating these robust features, the automated archiving tool offers a comprehensive solution that not only meets but exceeds the stringent requirements of the eCH-0160 standard. It empowers authorities and organizations to efficiently manage their data archiving processes, ensuring compliance, enhancing data integrity, and facilitating the long-term preservation of important information.

Result

By implementing this solution, the Cantonal Building Department Thurgau and the Office for Informatics Thurgau were able to significantly optimize their archiving processes. The automated, structured data archiving now fully meets the requirements of the eCH-0160 standard and facilitates the submission to the state archive.

Open Source and Collaboration

Parts of the project have been released as open-source code on GitHub and are available for the community to collaborate:

Screenshot 2024-10-02 at 23.30.38.png

GitHub Repository: https://github.com/iolabs-ag/IoLabs.ECH0160

Collaboration with GRAF FORM GmbH

The project was successfully realized with the professional and coordinated support of Nicolas Graf, owner and managing director of GRAF FORM GmbH. Nicolas Graf accompanies the Canton of Thurgau in its digital transformation and implements the necessary measures. As an innovative technology partner, ioLabs AG played a pivotal role. GRAF FORM GmbH made a significant contribution to the successful development of the interface by coordinating development and implementation as a link between client and contractor. Thanks to their clear understanding of customer requirements, GRAF FORM GmbH significantly contributed to the project fully meeting the client's needs.

The collaboration between GRAF FORM GmbH as coordinator and ioLabs as development partner proved to be particularly fruitful and played a decisive role in meeting all technical requirements.

Conclusion

With this solution, we are making a significant contribution to the digital future of Swiss authorities. We warmly invite the open-source community to participate in the further development of this important project. Together, we can further improve the efficiency and standard compliance of data archiving.