A global survey of more than 1,000 chief information officers has prompted Deloitte & Touche to launch a corresponding Irish survey. The global findings indicate that integrated document management ranks highest as the most useful and necessary emerging technology for improving productivity. Now Deloitte & Touche is researching the extent to which document management systems are being used in Ireland. Anyone interested in participating in the survey can complete it on the website (www.deloitte.ie) or by contacting Mr David O'Connor at 01 417 2548.

Document management systems store and retrieve electronic documents and images, and provide references to documents archived outside the computer system. The software keeps track of multiple versions of documents, making them simple to access anywhere on a network. In the global survey, 18.9 per cent of major companies in Western Europe said they were using document management technology, and 62.7 per cent say they plan to be using it by early 2000.