“Preserving digital materials creates opportunities – embrace them!”
These Opportunity statements are arranged by organization type so you could either select the relevant Opportunities within your type or, if you know that your organization is particularly concerned with ‘accountability’ for example, you could identify all of the statements associated with that Motivator.
Remember that some of the Opportunity statements for other organization types, with the same Motivator, might also hold significance in your organization.
Organization Type |
Digital Preservation can… |
Key Motivators |
demonstrate a commitment to transparency and accountability by sustaining an accurate digital record |
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an investment in distinctiveness, competence and competitiveness by providing access to legacy data and digital systems which are essential for innovation, research, development |
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protect investment by maintaining clear audit trails |
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capture potential by providing greater scope for innovation and reuse of data |
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transmit opportunities to future generations by ensuring the right data is available to the right people at the right time in the right format, for as long as necessary |
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provide efficiencies of scale through shared services, resources and systems |
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provide cost efficiencies through planned disposal and deletion which results in reduced storage requirements |
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provide cost and operational efficiencies by allowing the consolidation of legacy systems |
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provide cost efficiencies through the greater automation of processes |
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hold governments to account by maintaining a clear and permanent audit trail |
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make available a dynamic, powerful information asset which represents an accurate social and cultural record |
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demonstrate a commitment to core statutory function for collection, for present and future generations |
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enable better cooperation with regulatory bodies by sustaining access to reliable records as evidence of actions. |
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allow an organization to defend decisions and attribute responsibility by sustaining access to reliable records as evidence of actions for legal, regulatory and IPR cases |
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enable the organization to respond more efficiently to legal holds by sustaining access to reliable records |
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demonstrate increased transparency through improved access to records for stakeholders, |
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inspire brand evolution through an understanding of corporate history enabled by access to a complete set of reliable records |
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inform business initiatives today through an understanding of previous decisions and rationale enabled by access to a complete set of reliable records |
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protect against financial losses by enabling the provision of evidence for legal and regulatory cases |
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add value and create opportunities for the business by leveraging corporate memory as an asset |
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provide cost efficiencies through planned disposal and deletion according to specified retention schedules, which results in reduced storage requirements |
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demonstrate, to funders, a commitment to the sustainability of their investment and the cultural record |
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demonstrate compliance with institutional and funder policies on data management policies |
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create a pathway for smaller organizations to take advantage of enterprise level infrastructure through shared or cloud services |
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reduce duplication of infrastructure and effort by sharing services, systems and storage with other institutions |
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demonstrate long term vision and planning |
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provide opportunities for raising funds through the reuse of existing data |
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generate income and new service models through the reuse of existing data |
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provide opportunities for the reuse of historical research data for purposes not originally anticipated |
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make the right information is available at the right time, by using the most appropriate service |
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save on storage costs by enabling documented appraisal, disposal and deletion procedures |
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increase the potential for the re-use of digital material though established IPR |
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demonstrate greater transparency through documented audit trails |
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support business continuity through sustained access to key business records |
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avoid wasted expenditure and reduce long-term operational costs by considering access and reuse at the stage of data generation, creation and system design. |
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inform and educate the public by enabling access to diverse digital data and records |
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improve future policy formation by supporting robust strategy, processes and procedures |
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demonstrate, to the public purse, a commitment to maintaining the sustainability of the cultural record |
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inspire the trust and understanding of future users, by providing a complete digital record |
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improve knowledge transfer during staff turnover and exits by sustaining access to a complete digital record |
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enable informed and planned disposal as well as retention which mitigates the continuous increase in the volume of time-series data, as well as the cost of managing it |
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remove the need for expensive and time-consuming data rescue and digital archaeology work on legacy data through appropriate planning and initial investment |
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help retain the archival and historical value of rich and diverse collections, ensuring they continue to be accessible for the long-term |
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earn the trust of the public through sustained access to documentary heritage which guarantees the integrity of digital holdings |
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demonstrate a commitment to delivering on a public mandate, for present and future generations |
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maintain access to strategically important assets |
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demonstrate that the organization is meeting its obligations and mandate through documentary evidence of compliance to legislation |
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help ensure that cultural and creative data, including the outputs of industry remains accessible, reusable and understandable |
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create greater scope for innovation and reuse by using cultural and creative data at scale |
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maintain access to digital outputs of cultural and creative industries which are essential for innovation, research, development |
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transmit opportunities to future generations by ensuring the right cultural and creative data is available to the right people at the right time in the right format, for as long as necessary |
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instil trust in cultural and creative data by demonstrating a complete cultural record |
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demonstrate the fulfilment of a legal obligation to display and therefore preserve collection objects in perpetuity |
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prevent interruptions to service and loss of earnings through resilient processes and sustained access to information which enable hardware and software updates, upgrades, obsolescence, failures and stoppages |
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enable tracking of unauthorized changes, copies and access leading to greater trust and assurance |
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enable robust and trusted iterations and audit trails, review and update to remain in line with the latest standards and best practices, safeguarding organizational reputation. |
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create efficiencies in workflow and processes, as well as potentially creating income through data re-use |
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maintain the cultural and monetary value of the collection, by sustaining access to it |
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instil confidence in the ability to preserve digital collections |
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cut the costs of viewing rooms open to the public by moving some collections into deep storage |
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help visitors to gain a deeper understanding of our cultural heritage creating new learning experiences with existing data |
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reach new audiences by creating new learning experiences with existing data |
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ensure the collection remains relevant and accessible to generations to come by creating digital copies |
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be an investment in a high-quality service which enhances audience experience |