Search to go global for digital archive of Government records

The Queensland Government will begin a global search for a provider to build the state’s first digital archive.

Minister for Science and Innovation Leeanne Enoch said a worldwide expression of interest to build the digital archive was a significant step towards government providing an innovative, flexible and sustainable solution to preserving and providing public access to digitally generated government records.

“Ensuring government information is accessible for future generations is a huge task,” Ms Enoch said

“Every day the Queensland Government creates an enormous amount of digital information, which has historically proven difficult to access.

“That is why we are calling on innovative companies to work with Queensland State Archives to supply the solutions we need to keep our records both safe and accessible.

“The digital archive will enable easy access to government records and support long-term management of our rapidly growing volume of digital public records.”   

Acting State Archivist Adrian Cunningham said the State Government currently held around 40 petabytes of data – some of which needed to be kept for up to 100 years – but that figure was doubling every 15 months.

“Printing just one petabyte would use enough paper to stretch from Brisbane to Emerald, while printing 40 petabytes of data would stretch approximately from Brisbane to London and back,” Mr Cunningham said.  

“The digital archive will be designed for an online, mobile and digitally enabled Queensland, and ensure that today’s government records will be available for the use of future generations.”  

Queensland State Archives will next month invite expressions of interest from companies to build a world-class Digital Archive – using an interactive procurement process.

“While the digital archive will be easy to use, the solution behind it will be more complex than simply building a massive data centre,” Ms Enoch said.

“The first computer was delivered to the Queensland Government in 1965, and since then manufacturers have come and gone. Systems, programs and file types used only five or ten years ago are no longer used today. 

“We want to hear from local and international companies that can provide long-term solutions to both preserving Queensland records and making them accessible.”

 [ENDS]

 Media Contacts:        Daniel Lato – 3719 7279, 0438 830 201 

                                  Tim Shipstone – 3719 7281, 0419 246 157