This second in a series of vertical-market strategies examines how one public-sector agency is using a content-management system to protect constituent information. See the first article on Health Care here.

Given the high number of hurricanes that have reached Florida's shores in recent years, the 13th Judicial Circuit Court's decision to install an electronic content-management system may give new meaning to the term "jurisprudence."

The court, which serves about 1.2 million Floridians in and around Tampa, is rolling out Xerox's DocuShare content-management application as a key component in a disaster preparedness plan. The software works with multifunction products (MFPs) to digitize paper documents and manage electronic text, video, and audio files for efficient storage and retrieval. Eventually, the application will move the content through the court's workflow processes.

DocuShare, which presents end users with a familiar-looking Web interface, relies on industry standards like XML data formats to make it usable with MFPs and related software applications from a variety of vendors.

For solution providers the court's new application is an example of how organizations can use MFPs and content-management systems for their inherent benefits and as the foundation for larger systems. "DocuShare will act as a platform for additional automation and workflow programs," says Abdiel Ortiz, court technology officer for the 13th Judicial Circuit.

For day-to-day activities at the court, DocuShare stores digital recordings of court sessions, the court's scheduling calendar, and various types of multimedia files in a primary central repository. The content-management system keeps documents easily accessible and secure, while also allowing judges to store case notes and send them to authorized colleagues.

"We needed to accommodate multiple file types, ranging from video files to audio recordings of proceedings, to paper and electronic documents," Ortiz says. "Our challenge was to take all of those media types and put them into digital case jackets." The XML foundation of DocuShare helps the court to handle those diverse file types.

The court runs the application across six buildings and two courthouses equipped with multiple MFPs for scanning and printing documents. Integrated into the DocuShare implementation is Omtool's AccuRoute software for capturing, routing, and faxing content to the central repository and to a second one designed for disaster recoveries should a non-routine event occur, such as a large-scale natural or man-made disaster. The two repositories are about 50 miles apart, Ortiz says.

The document-driven court system is an ideal setting for an enterprise content-management tool, says Melissa Webster, program vice president, Content and Digital Media Technologies, IDC. "The flow of critical information among the various legal entities is made easier with enterprise content management offerings such as DocuShare, ultimately encouraging collaboration and information sharing."

Ortiz and his staff are now in the process of building workflow applications on top of the content-management system in an attempt to further reduce the court's reliance on paper documents. "Judges will be able to create electronic documents, sign them electronically, and then distribute them to others in the court," Ortiz explains. "That will replace the current process where documents are created sometimes two to three weeks after judges issue their decisions."