Anne Thurston

Dr. Anne Thurston, OBE, has been a pioneer in defining international solutions for managing public sector records for over three decades. As Director of the International Records Management Trust, which she founded in 1989, and as an academic at University College London, where she established a postgraduate international records studies programme, she has had extensive experience of working with many governments to help develop practical solutions for strengthening record-keeping systems in the transition to the digital environment, particularly in lower resource countries.  She has led numerous research projects aimed at defining the significance of records for effective governance, openness and transparency, as well as leading projects to develop and freely distribute capacity building materials, working with partners including the World Bank, the UK Department for International Development, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Canadian International Development Research Centre, national and international professional associations, and academic institutions.  She served as a member of the UK Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Council on Public Records between 1994 and 2000; and in 2000 she was awarded an OBE for services to public administration in Africa; in 2007 she received the Emmett Leahy Award, which recognises contributions and accomplishments with a major impact on the records and Information management professions.