U.K. public sector wasting millions on document management.

According to research from U.K. document management specialist Danka, key public sector organizations in the United Kingdom are wasting 722 million euros a year because they are failing to control the production of printed documents.

On a European scale, the research indicates a loss amounting to 4.7 billion euros ($5.6 billion U.S.), and only 23 percent of European government organizations were found to have a document management strategy in place. Last year, Danka released a report analyzing the "documess" in the private sector, which revealed that European companies are hemorrhaging nearly 8.7 billion euros ($10.4 billion U.S.) each year. The research shows the extent to which document production is still uncontrolled in the public sector, with organizations frequently unaware of the waste occurring.

Analyzing the potential for cost savings by key U.K. public sector function, the study highlighted:

* The Social Protection sector (potential cost savings = 302 million euros/ $364 million U.S.)--Less than 20 percent of services currently have a document management strategy in place.

* Health (113 million curos/$136 million U.S.) and Education (83 million euros/$100 million U.S.)--These sectors are document-heavy and under pressure to achieve more with less.

* Defense (52 million euros/$63 million U.S.) and Economic Development (83 million euros--More than 25 percent of organizations in the Economic Development sector already have a formalized document control policy.

Law and Order, Social Protection, and Defense are the least effective at document production control.

Several smaller government functions are also among the best at controlling document production, including Recreation, Leisure and Sport, Environmental Management, and Housing.