Mr James Lowry BA, MA (Hons.)

Lecturer History

About

Personal Statement

James Lowry is a lecturer in the Liverpool University Centre for Archive Studies. He led the development of the UK government's commitment on records management in its Open Government Partnership National Action Plan (2013-15).

James has led records and archives management projects in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Russia Trinidad and Tobago, and Tunisia as the Deputy Director of the International Records Management Trust. He was the lead researcher for the Trust’s Aligning Records Management with ICT, e-Government and Freedom of Information in East Africa research project, which examined public sector records management capacity across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi in relation to government priorities for computerisation and access to information.

He is Chair of the Association of Commonwealth Archivists and Records Managers, Secretary to the International Council on Archives (ICA) Africa Programme, an ex-officio member of the ICA’s Programme Commission, and a trustee of the International Records Management Trust. He was a member of the Home Office Access to Police Records Working Group (2014/15).

His work is aimed at supporting transparent governance, particularly in the developing world. His research interests include the development of national capacities for government record-keeping (regulatory frameworks, role of national archives, convergence) and access to information (Commonwealth administrative traditions, cultures of secrecy, displaced / migrated archives, Freedom of Information and open data). His recent publications Integrity in Government through Records Management, which he edited with Justus Wamukoya, published by Ashgate in 2014.