Press Release: The National Archives and Tessella win Queen’s Award for Enterprise
Unique public-private partnership recognised for innovation by UK’s most prestigious business awards
The National Archives is the only public sector organisation among this year’s winners of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise. In doing so it becomes the first winner from a government department since the awards were expanded in 2000.
An Innovation Award was made jointly to The National Archives and Tessella for developing a system for preserving digital information which has since been adopted by libraries and archives around the world.
The Safety Deposit Box (SDB) is capable of ensuring the survival of digital information over long periods of time, regardless of changes in technology. At a time when archives, libraries and other institutions are grappling with the complexities of ensuring the long-term survival of digital information, SDB has become the de-facto standard. Now available in its fourth version, it remains unique in the marketplace.
Oliver Morley, chief executive of The National Archives, said: “Preserving digital records is one of the biggest challenges facing archives in the twenty-first century. Unlike paper records, which can last for hundreds of years in the right conditions, digital records are extremely vulnerable to changing technology. The National Archives and Tessella have worked together to develop a best-in-class archiving solution which has since been adopted by archives and libraries all over the world. This innovative approach is one key step to ensure digital records remain accessible for good.”
Kevin Gell, managing director at Tessella said: “Winning the Queens Award, jointly with our client The National Archives, is a fantastic achievement and demonstrates the strength of collaboration forged between UK industry and UK Government, which has enabled a number of export successes for Tessella’s SDB technology.”
Gell continued: “I feel honoured that Tessella has been recognised with such a prestigious award and I should like to pay tribute to Tessella’s staff for their innovation and commitment over an extended period of time. This award will strengthen our resolve to see Tessella’s digital preservation technologies adopted on a global basis.”
The SDB provides users with the ability to store and preserve critical digital information in a reliable yet accessible manner. Most importantly, it contains an Active Preservation capability to ensure the information is trusted and remains usable long into the future.
The National Archives’ identification of an emerging business need in information management and its commissioning of Tessella as a private partner to solve this problem is a significant example of public-private partnership which has stimulated the UK high-tech economy and put Britain at the forefront of a new international business.
The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are highly prestigious awards for outstanding achievement by UK businesses in the categories of Innovation, International Trade and Sustainable Development. The awards are made annually on the Queen’s Birthday and are only given for the highest levels of excellence demonstrated in each category. HM The Queen will host a reception for the winners at Buckingham Palace in July 2011.
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Notes to editors:
About SDB
SDB is a comprehensive, flexible system that has been selected and installed at many advanced customers. Version 1 was delivered to the National Archives in 2003 and has since had a number of upgrades. Version 3 has been implemented widely and the latest release, Version 4, was delivered in mid-2010 and adds even more capabilities.
SDB is a fully functioned digital archival solution that has all the capabilities ready for immediate implementation.
The SDB system developed by Tessella and The National Archives has been adopted by libraries and archives all over the world including: Wellcome Trust Library, Arkib Negara (Malaysian Archives), Nationaal Archief (National Archives of the Netherlands), Gemeente Rotterdam (Rotterdam City Archive), Schweizerisches Bundesarchiv (Swiss Federal Archives), Rahvusarchiiv (National Archives of Estonia), Österreichisches Staatsarchiv (Austrian State Archives) and Arkistolaitos (Finnish National Archives Service) and the Finnish Archives.
Tessella also works FamilySearch International which has selected Tessella’s SDB to maintain the digital records that enable people to connect with their ancestors.
About Digital Archiving at Tessella
We are world leaders in the provision of Digital Archiving technologies, working with major governments in 7 countries across 3 continents. Tessella’s Digital Archiving offerings cover software, consulting, research and support and place us at the cutting edge of this emerging discipline. Our core technology, SDB, is now in its fourth generation and provides stable professionally supported platform with the flexibility to deliver individual customer needs.
For further information visit our dedicated microsite on http://www.digital-preservation.com
About Tessella
Founded in 1980, Tessella is the international provider of science powered technology and consulting services. World leading organizations choose our unique blend of science, engineering and sector expertise to deliver innovative and cost-effective solutions to complex real-world commercial and technical challenges. Our people are high achievers from leading universities and are passionate about delivering value to clients.
For further information visit http://www.tessella.com
About The National Archives
The National Archives, www.nationalarchives.gov.uk, is a non-ministerial government department and an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). As the official archive of the UK government, it preserves, protects and makes accessible one of the most significant historical collections of official records in the world, dating back over 1000 years.
As a leading advocate of the archive sector, The National Archives expertise touches every point in the lifecycle of information – from the early stages of planning processes and storage methods, through the creation, management, use and re-use of information in day-to-day business by government and citizens, right through to its eventual archiving and long-term preservation. This work helps inform government’s decisions and ensures that they become tomorrow’s permanent record.
Today The National Archives brings together the skills and specialisms needed in our digital world for managing and preserving government information past, present and future – and for making it accessible to its users.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Media Contacts
The National Archives
Tommy Norton, Press Officer
+44 (0) 208 392 5277 press@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk
Tessella
Christina Tealdi – Public and Analyst Relations Executive
+ 44 (0)7799346453 | + 44 (0) 1235 546 638 | teac@tessella.com
