Digital Vellum

The original idea for Digital Vellum was developed by Vint Cerf, co-creator of the Internet.

2024-25: As media coverage has increased, discussion commenced to explore how to bring something into being.

'Father of the Internet' says he is worried about its future

Speaking as the Internet turns 50, its pioneers say AI could pose a profound risk

The Independent - July 18th, 2024

"We are becoming increasingly reliant on a technology that is more fragile than we realise and we could be plunged into a “digital dark ages” that will leave us unable to access our own history" 

The Problem

Digital data is inherently fragile, prone to loss, and reliant on rapidly changing technology. 

The Fragility of Digital Data

Digital data has become central to personal, societal, and institutional records. However, it faces significant threats to continuity and longevity due to:

The Risk of a Digital Dark Age

The lack of reliable solutions to preserve and ensure access to digital data risks the loss of invaluable knowledge, history, and culture:

Lack of Data Autonomy

Individuals, families, organizations, and governments increasingly seek greater control over their digital data:

The Need for Ethical and Meaningful Curation

The sheer volume of digital data creates challenges in identifying and preserving the most meaningful or relevant artifacts:

Gaps in Existing Solutions

Despite a growing awareness of these challenges, the world lacks a unified, comprehensive approach to address them:

Societal and Environmental Factors

Emerging global trends further exacerbate the challenges of digital preservation:

Shortage of Institutional Anchors

Efforts to address digital preservation often lack stable, long-term institutional backing:

Digital Vellum: A Five-Fold Approach to Preservation and Interaction


Preserving our history and heritage requires more than tools and techniques; it's a cooperative effort, requiring the involvement of the entire community: institutions, individuals and companies. Below is a draft of our suggested approach.


We want to explore and support the development of:

• Hardware to preserve data for longer time periods than current formats.

• Tools to rescue data, develop stories, and help present and future generations to access the data.

• Preservation protocols to ensure data integrity 

• Intellectual property laws that allow institutions and individuals to curate data with confidence.

• Business and governance models that incentivize and support the four areas above and ensure choice around what will be preserved (freedom of curation).


We are seeking to help build this ecosystem because we are fundamentally optimistic about humanity’s capacity to learn from the past. Accordingly, we want to help preserve knowledge and culture for the distant future.

Video: Vint Cerf on Digital Dark Ages (2018)

CONTACT

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