UK: Government commits to finding a solution to preserving its digital information
From a statement on the National Archives (UK) site:

Vital government information is becoming increasingly fragile and could be lost forever unless something is done to keep up with the rapid pace of technological change. That was the stark warning as the government announced plans this week to address the need for digital preservation - making sure that information remains accessible for as long as it is needed, even after the format in which it was created has become obsolete.

“Making sure that information remains accessible despite the rapid pace of changes in technology is a significant issue for all government departments” said Natalie Ceeney, Chief Executive of The National Archives. “There is a real danger of losing critical knowledge vital for today´s government business. Effective digital preservation is essential to ensure government´s accountability, business continuity and efficiency.”

Sir Gus O’Donnell, Cabinet Secretary, said:

“It’s vital that government seizes the challenges that digital information creates. This initiative from The National Archives is a good example of how we are taking the Transformational Government agenda forward and demonstrates how we can work in a proactive and joined-up manner across all government departments to address this important issue.”

Source: National Archives

See Also: Full Text of 2006, Mind the Gap Report (40 pages; PDF) from the Digital Preservation Coalition.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 16th, 2007 at 12:59 am and is filed under Archives and Special Collections, Digital Preservation, Digital Repositories, Digitization Projects, Search News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.