OMB/NARA Memorandum M-23-07 (M-23-07)

OMB/NARA Memorandum M-23-07 is a joint directive that updated and extended earlier federal electronic-records targets, instructing agencies to manage all records electronically to the fullest extent possible and to stop creating new analog records where feasible. It reinforces that NARA will no longer accept permanent records in non-electronic (paper) form after established deadlines, and that permanent electronic records must be transferred with prescribed metadata and in acceptable digital formats. This matters for recordkeeping because it shifts the baseline from optional digitization to electronic-by-default lifecycle management, forcing agencies to align capture, retention scheduling, and disposition around born-digital and digitized records. A concrete distinction: rather than endorsing a single prescriptive product standard, NARA’s broader modernization effort moved away from its prior DoD 5015.2 endorsement (revoked in 2022) toward outcome-based Universal Electronic Records Management Requirements and the Federal ERM Initiative (FERMI). M-23-07 thus operationalizes that posture, tying agency compliance to electronic transfer and accession rather than to a certified system checklist.