National Archives considers shared data service
Kablenet.com
Published: 15 Jun 2007 16:30 BST
The National Archives is to look at the possibility of a shared service for government departments to take, migrate and preserve digital data.
It said on Thursday that the move has come partly in response to last year's Mind the Gap report from the Digital Preservation Coalition. This focused on how changes in operating systems and software are making it increasingly difficult to access data that is just a few years old, and showed there is a serious risk of digital information being degraded or lost.
Most government information is now created in digital format, and many e-documents such as web pages can disappear within days of their creation.
"Without active preservation, those e-documents which do survive become obsolete, on average, within seven years," The National Archives (TNA) said. Yet departments need to be able to access information for much longer than this.
"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 TNA.
"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," said Ceeney.
Cabinet secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell said: "It's vital that government seizes the challenges that digital information creates. This initiative from TNA 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."
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