Make sure your development of components or end-to-end solutions preserve data safely and in line with European standards, so your clients can trust your applications.
1. Get familiar with legislation and standards
Since there is no European Union Directive that governs digital archiving, you should start by checking how local legal obligations are regulating archiving activities in our Member State. What we provide are documentation and support services based on international standards to help you describe, transmit and preserve digital information. The main standard for digital archiving is the Reference Model for an Open Archival Information System (OAIS): ISO 14721:2012.
2. Gather market needs and requirements
In addition to requirements from legal obligations, gather needs from your market or target user group and translate them into further requirements for your eArchiving application.
The E-ARK Knowledge Centre provides a comprehensive set of services that allow users to understand, contribute and validate good practices relating to information governance.
3. Develop your software with the help of our services
CEF eArchiving documentation and support services are available to help you design your digital archiving software and components in line with international standards. Our sample software components demonstrate how standards-based technical specifications can be applied to the various phases of the archival workflow (ingestion, preservation and access).
eArchiving offers both mix and match components, as well as end-to-end solutions, simply pick the components that suit your needs. You can also use our E-ARK General Model to find the best components and technologies to put together your solution.
Join our developers community to learn more and take part in discussions about the latest in archiving technologies. Consider benefits of going digital with eArchiving and assess eligibility for CEF Funding.
4. Promote your archiving software
You are now ready to promote your new digital archiving software or component.
The eArchiving Service Desk is open for your questions, comments, incidents and change requests at any point before, during or after implementation.
Related Content
Big Picture
The eArchiving Initiative provides core specifications, software, training and knowledge to help people store information for longer.
See Also
Lists of archives, repositories, and digital preservation solutions that have demonstrated conformance according to the E-ARK specifications.
The four projects that were funded under the CEF-TC-2020-2: eArchiving call released by the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) under the Telecom Work Programme.
eArchiving support desk provides users information on the eArchiving specifications.
The eArchiving Glossary gives an overview about the main terms used in the context of the eArchiving initiative including the specifications and tools.
The eArchiving initiative counts on organisations and institutions to share knowledge and build the eArchiving community.
The eArchiving Conformance Seal is a sign of quality of digital archiving, long term preservation, and data management following standards and best practices.
History of eArchiving starting with the original E-ARK project (2014-2017) through the eArchiving Building Block (2018-2021) to the current eArchiving initiative.
We are building on the synergies of relevant projects within the Digital Europe programme.
eArchiving offers training resources to promote understanding of eArchiving services and simplify long-term access to information.
The eArchiving Knowledge Centre aims to provide easy access to information on eArchiving tools.
In order to create and adapt your archive, or develop your own application, you can refer to our technical specifications to ensure it conforms with the eArchiving standards.