Preservica Selected for New Jisc Research Data Service for UK Universities

Preservica today announced its digital preservation platform has been selected to be part of the framework for the pilot phase of the Jisc Research Data Shared Service (RDSS) for UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The new shared service, that will integrate the offerings of a number of providers, will allow UK universities and other HEIs to easily deposit data for publication, discovery, safe storage, and long term archiving and preservation. The ultimate aim is to ensure the long-term accessibility of valuable research data, allowing it to be re-used and shared amongst universities.

The unique project involves 17 higher education pilot institutions, from large, research intensive institutions to small and specialist. Preservica, who have also provided digital preservation to several universities in the US including Yale, as well as the University of Manchester in the UK, will collaborate with Jisc and the pilot universities to develop a new system that can be offered as a managed service, relieving burden from institutional IT and procurement staff.

Preservica’s digital preservation platform safeguards and future-proofs digital information, ensuring that file formats do not become obsolete and digital records are easily accessible to be used for research and knowledge re-use. Jisc’s main drivers for the project also included meeting funder policy compliance, enabling good practice in research data management, and pooling resources to achieve cost and resource efficiencies.

“We are delighted that Preservica are part of our Research Data Shared Service framework and pilot process,” says Rachel Bruce, Jisc Deputy Chief Innovation Officer. “Preservica bring years of experience in digital preservation to the programme, and will be a core part of the efforts to build a fully integrated system. Having already provided digital preservation functionality to several universities, they are used to meeting the unique requirements of higher education institutions, and we’re pleased they will be part of the pilot and collaborative journey together.”

Jisc will procure research data management services and consultancy to support institutions’ individual research data management requirements. The programme will focus on providing an intuitive user interface and to ensure research data is easily found, also supporting interoperability between institutional and external research systems.

“We look forward to working with Jisc and all the higher education institutions involved in the pilot to develop a truly valuable shared service for the UK university research community,” says Mike Quinn, Preservica CEO. “The new service will enable UK universities to share, store and collaborate using research data that will be future-proofed and protected for the long-term. The research data created by UK universities is of enormous value, and we’re pleased to be a part of ensuring its long-term accessibility for now and into the future.”