Recurrent reports and personal experiences of unaccessible digital information are making us painfully aware how short-lived the digital world is. Digitally encoded information often does not survive its originating environment. Digital Preservation, which aims to ensure digital longevity, has emerged as a key challenge to Information Systems. Yet, the discipline is held back by a lack of systematic approaches to assess, compare and improve methods, tools and processes to ensure digital longevity over time. There is no way to assess and compare information renderings, systems, processes and organisations with objective, quantified and standardised means. Such systematic benchmarking, however, is the fundamental enabler of systematic improvement. Benchmark DP proposes an innovative approach to advance the capacity for digital longevity by creating frameworks and quantitative benchmarks in the dimensions of information, IT processes, and engineering approaches.
