The challenges of preserving digital information for future generations will need greater cooperation across international borders, according to global experts who gathered in Canberra last week.

Hosted by the National Archives of Australia, the Digital Futures forum at Parliament House attracted archival experts from nine countries who shared their expertise in the hopes of finding joint solutions to global problems.

Speakers from the UK, USA, Malaysia, Germany, Sweden, New Zealand and Australia emphasised a common theme:  that world-wide challenges will be overcome only if organisations cooperate across borders and across sectors.

‘It is vital for archives and libraries across the world to collaborate with each other to get the most from emerging technology’, said Ross Gibbs, Director-General of the National Archives of Australia. ‘We are proud of the software we have created at the National Archives which we have made freely available to anyone who wishes to benefit from it’.

‘More importantly, archival organisations need to forge closer working partnerships with digital content creators such as e-researchers, e-government, e-publishing and e-business – both at the big end of town and at the grassroots community and regional levels’.

The forum also recognised that more work needs to be done to bridge the gap between the public and private sectors in the field of digital information management.

‘Both sectors stand to reap huge benefits by learning from and working with each other’, said Mr Gibbs.

The forum noted that substantial investment in the creation of digital content was not matched by proportional investments in preserving and providing appropriate access to it.

‘It is heartening to know there are so many top minds working on these challenges across the world’, said Mr Gibbs.  ‘By collaborating across sectors and across nations, and by sharing our findings we can ensure the citizens of the future are not left with a black hole in their history books’.