The South Australian public sector continues to shift and evolve as new technologies enable more efficiently delivered services. Agencies are now managing a large amount of information digitally by default with the majority of active government information made up of digital records.
Many digital records need to remain accessible for longer than the systems, software or file formats used to create and manage them. Without planned preservation measures, agencies risk losing access to records that document rights, legal obligations, public accountability and the State’s archival collection.
The Digital Preservation Guideline provides practical advice to help South Australian state and local government agencies and universities protect long-term temporary and permanent digital official records. It does this through the establishment of four digital preservation principles:
- Preserve digital records in context, and their content and essential characteristics remain unchanged
- Migrate digital records as systems, software and media are upgraded, decommissioned or become obsolete
- Plan and document digital preservation processes
- Secure and track digital records throughout the preservation process to maintain their authenticity and integrity
The guideline discusses what your agencies Digital Preservation Program might look like and includes a Digital Preservation Maturity Model to help agencies assess their current preservation capability and identify practical next steps.
By using the model and adopting incremental preservation measures, agencies can reduce the risk of digital loss and ensure important government information remains authentic, reliable and accessible for as long as required and help support business needs and community expectations.