DPC is delighted to announce the winners of the 2012 Digital Preservation Awards.

The Digital Preservation Awards celebrate the excellence and innovation that will help to ensure our digital memory is available tomorrow. It was first awarded in 2004 as one of the Conservation Awards and it has been presented on four occasions (2004, 2005, 2007 and 2010), sponsored by the Digital Preservation Coalition with the Institute for Conservation. Although based on the Conservation Awards the Digital Preservation Award has always been distinctive in how it implements the criteria and eligibility. 

At a prestigious ceremony, the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) celebrated its tenth anniversary by recognising initiatives and individuals from around the world that have made an outstanding contribution to safeguard digital resources for the future. Three agencies received awards for their exceptional contribution to ensuring the long-term security of digital collections: the University of London Computer Centre for their pioneering and popular ‘Digital Preservation Training Programme’; the PLANETS project for its ground-breaking and innovative technologies; and the Archaeology Data Service at the University of York for its outstanding work securing valuable but vulnerable research data.

The three awards were presented this year were:

1. The DPC Decennial Award for an outstanding contribution to digital preservation

2. The DPC Award for Teaching and Communications

3. The DPC Award for Research and Innovation

Meet the Winners:

Archaeology Data Service

The DPC Decennial Award for an outstanding contribution to digital preservation

Awarded specially to mark the tenth anniversary of the founding of the DPC, the Decennial award recognizes the most outstanding work over the decade that the DPC has existed.  An intense international competition followed and finalists from New York, Washington and London were selected after a painstaking assessment by an expert panel.  But when Dame Lynne Brindley announced the winner this evening, it was the Archaeology Data Service at the University of York that came out on top. The Archaeology Data Service is an innovative group based in the Archaeology Department of the University of York.  ADS has developed and thrived with an innovative business model that allows it to preserve an extraordinary range of data while providing free access to all comers.  It ensures the longevity of data that would rapidly be lost or obsolete, and it has an impressive track record of research and innovation. 

University of London Computer Centre Digital Preservation Training Programme (DPTP)

The Award for Teaching and Communications

Presented by Oliver Morley, Chief Executive of the National Archives, a small team from the University of London Computer Centre who run the Digital Preservation Training Programme (DPTP) - an entry-level, introductory course that develops critical thinking about digital preservation, received this award. The course is designed to help all working in information management to understand effective approaches to the challenges of digital preservation, and enables students to assess the models and examples in the context of their own organisations. 

PLANETS Project

The Award for Research and Innovation

Martyn Harrow, Chief Executive of JISC presented this award to the PLANETS project.  PLANETS brought together memory institutions, small businesses, major technology providers, and research institutions from across Europe to build practical services and tools to help ensure long-term access to digital cultural and scientific assets. It established the not-for-profit Open Planets Foundation to provide the digital preservation community with services, ongoing support, and a sustainable future for its Open Source results. It advanced the state-of-the-art in digital preservation and has permanently changed the digital preservation landscape by shifting the focus to practical, sustainable solutions that are soundly supported by practice-driven research.

William Kilbride, Executive Director of the DPC said:  “These awards are important in showcasing the creative solutions that have been developed towards digital preservation.  Digital preservation is critical.  We know that significant parts of the economy, industry, research, government and the public life depend on the opportunities information technology creates, but the rapid churn in technology means data is also surprisingly fragile. We are the first generation that’s had to think about handing on a digital legacy, so we need to act quickly to develop the skills and techniques that will ensure our legacy is protected.” 

The contributions of nine other exceptional finalists were also marked in the ceremony hosted by Richard Ovenden, Chair of the DPC and Deputy Director of the Bodleian Libraries at University of Oxford, one of the world’s premiere memory institutions.  It is one of many agencies that have joined the Digital Preservation Coalition to help develop the new skills necessary to preserve their growing digital collections.

Digital Preservation Awards 2012 Finalists

In different ways, the winners and finalists of the Digital Preservation Awards demonstrate an unassuming creativity that not only deserves to be better known and celebrated: it will be vital for the on-going exploitation of high value data.

The Digital Preservation Awards are sponsored by the Digital Preservation Coalition, which is an advocate and catalyst for digital preservation, enabling our members to deliver resilient long-term access to content and services, and helping them derive enduring value from digital collections. We raise awareness of the importance of the preservation of digital material and the attendant strategic, cultural and technological issues. The DPC is a not-for-profit membership organisation and we support our members through knowledge exchange, capacity building, assurance, advocacy and partnership.  Our vision is to make our digital memory accessible tomorrow. 

We thank our panel of Judges for their support and contributions to the DPA2012 process: 

2024 - Winner of the International Council on Archives Award for Collaboration and Cooperation
presented by Gustavo Castaner and April Miller
Collaborative models of care: preserving Australian First Nations digital cultural heritage 

2024 - Winner of the Digital Repository of Ireland Award for Research and Innovation
presented by Lisa Griffith and Arif Shaon
Improving access to and sustainability of the Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC) 

2024 - Winner of the Dutch Digital Heritage Network Award for Teaching and Communications
presented by Marjolein Steeman and Matt Burgess
Study group Bits and Bots for building digital skills

2024 - Winner of the CLOCKSS Award for the Most Distinguished Student Work in Digital Preservation
presented by Alicia Wise and Thomas Ledoux
Preservación de documentos digitales: el caso de Wikimedia México / Preservation of digital records: the case of Wikimedia Mexico 

2024 - Winner of the Research Data Alliance Award for the Most Outstanding Digital Preservation Initiative in Commerce, Industry and the Third Sector
presented by Hilary Hanahoe and Mihaiela Donisa
NHS research records: Reducing Risk 

2024 - Winner of The National Archives (UK) Award for Safeguarding the Digital Legacy
presented by Sonia Ranade and Jo Ana Morfin
DDLD – living archive 

2024 - The DPC Fellowship Award, presented by Barbara Sierman and Nathan Tallman
Gladys Kemboi

2022 - Winner of the International Council on Archives Award for Collaboration and Cooperation, presented by Meg Phillips and Neil Grindley
ARCHIVER Project 

2022 - Winner of the Software Sustainability Institute (SSI) Award for Research and Innovation, presented by Neil Chue Hong and Kirsty Lingstadt
The effective preservation of archaeological virtual reconstructions 

2022 - Winner of the Dutch Digital Heritage Network Award for Teaching and Communications, presented by Remco van Veenendaal and Roxana Maurer
Learning through doing: building digital preservation skills in Wales

2022 - Winner of the The National Archives (UK) Award for the Most Distinguished Student Work in Digital Preservation, presented by April Miller and Lotte Wijsman
sasha arden with 'Access to Artistic Content on CD-ROMs,' award accepted by Sarah Cook.

2022 - Winner of the Research Data Alliance Award for the Most Outstanding Digital Preservation Initiative in Commerce, Industry and the Third Sector, presented by Connie Clare and Karen Sampson
National Centre for Truth & Reconciliation Digital Preservation Program 

2022 - Winner of the Award for Safeguarding the Digital Legacy, presented by Kieran O'Leary and Patricia Sleeman
Archiving Reproductive Health 

2022 - Winner of the DPC 20^th Anniversary Award, presented by Kevin Ashley and Edith Halvarsson
PREMIS Data Dictionary and related resources 

2022 - The DPC Fellowship Award, presented by Micky Lindlar and Barbara Sierman
Left to right (top): Neil Beagrie, Adrian Brown, Dr. Denise de Vries

Left to right (bottom): Nancy Y McGovern, Prof. Zhang Xiaolin

2020 - Winner of the International Council on Archives Award for Collaboration and Cooperation, presented by Anthea Seles and Neil Grindley
NDSA Levels of Digital Preservation Revision Project  

2020 - Winner of the Software Sustainability Institute (SSI) Award for Research and Innovation, presented by Neil Chue Hong and Sally McInnes
Levels of Born Digital Access 

2020 - Winner of the Dutch Digital Heritage Network Award for Teaching and Communications, presented by Marcel Ras and Sheila Morrissey
Digital Records Curation Programme

2020 - Winner of the National Records of Scotland (NRS) Award for the Most Distinguished Student Work in Digital Preservation, presented by Susan Corrigall and Angela Beking
Lotte Wijsman with ‘The Significant Properties of Spreadsheets: Stakeholder Analysis’ 

2020 - Winner of the DPC Award for the Most Outstanding Digital Preservation Initiative in Commerce, Industry and the Third Sector, presented by Karen Sampson and Neil Jefferies
UNHCR Records and Archives 

2020 - Winner of The National Archives (UK) Award for Safeguarding the Digital Legacy, presented by John Sheridan and April Miller
UK Web Archive: celebrating 15 years 

2020 - The DPC Fellowship Award, presented by Richard Ovenden
Micky Lindlar

2018 - The Software Sustainability Institute (SSI) Award for Research and Innovation, presented by Neil Chue Hong, SSI and Natalie Harrower, Digital Repository of Ireland

Stanford University Libraries; ePADD

The DPC Award for Teaching and Communications, presented by Sally McInnes, National Library of Wales and Neil Grindley, Jisc

Jennifer Allen, Matthew Farrell, Shira Peltzman, Alice Prael and Dorothy Waugh; The Archivist’s Guide to Kryoflux

The National Records of Scotland (NRS) Award for the Most Distinguished Student Work in Digital Preservation, presented by Laura Mitchell, NRS and Laura Molloy, University of Oxford

Anna Oates; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The Open Data Institute (ODI) Award for the Most Outstanding Digital Preservation Initiative in Commerce, Industry and the Third Sector, presented by David Beardmore, ODI and Sheila Morrissey, Portico

Crossrail and Transport for London; Archiving Crossrail

The National Archives Award for Safeguarding the Digital Legacy, presented by Valerie Johnson, The National Archives and Neil Jefferies

IFI Irish Film Archive; IFI Loopline Project

The DPC Fellowship Award, presented by Richard Ovenden, Bodleian Libraries

Barbara Sierman

2016 - The Software Sustainability Institute (SSI) Award for Research and Innovation: NCDD and NDE, ‘Constructing a network of nationwide facilities together’ presented by Neil Chue Hong, SSI and Dave Tarrant, ODI

2016 - The NCDD Award for Teaching and Communications: The National Archives and The Scottish Council on Archives: ‘Transforming Archives/Opening Up Scotland’s Archives', presented by Marcel Ras, NCDD and Margriet van Gorsel, Dutch National Archives

2016 - The DPC Award for the Most Distinguished Student Work in Digital Preservation: Anthea Seles, University College London and ‘The Transferability of Trusted Digital Repository Standards to an East African context’ presented by Daniela Duca, Jisc and Steve Daly, BBC

2016 - The DPC Award for the Most Outstanding Digital Preservation Initiative in Industry: HSBC, ‘Global Digital Archive System (GDA)’presented by Tim Gollins, National Records of Scotland and Sharon McMeekin, DPC

2016 - The National Archives Award for Safeguarding the Digital Legacy: Amsterdam Museum and Partners, ‘The Digital City revives: A case study of web archaeology’ presented by John Sheridan, The National Archives and Louise Lawson, Tate

2016 - The DPC Fellowship Award: Brewster Kahle, Internet Archive presented to Chris Booth by Richard Ovenden

2014 - The University of Freiburg and partners with ‘bwFLA Functional Long Term Archiving and Access’ (The OPF Award for Research and Innovation presented by Ed Fay, OPF and Sandra Collins, Digital Repository of Ireland)

2014 - Alasdair Bachell from the University of Glasgow with ‘Game Preservation in the UK (The DPC Award for the Most Distinguished Student Work in Digital Preservation)

2014 - Adrian Brown for his ‘Practical Digital Preservation: a how to guide for organizations of any size’ (The NCDD Award for Teaching and Communications)

2014 - University of Manchester for their ‘Carcanet Press Email Archive (The DPC Award for Safeguarding the Digital Legacy)

2012 – Archaeology Data Service (Decennial Award for An Outstanding Contribution to Digital Preservation).

2012 – Digital Preservation Training Programme (Award for Teaching and Communications).

2012 – The PLANETS Project (Award for Research and Innovation).

2010 – The Los Alamos National Laboratory and Old Dominion University for the Memento Project.

2007 – The National Archives for the PRONOM and DROID projects.

2005 – PREMIS – the Preservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies Working Group.

2004 – The National Archives, The Digital Archive project.

Meet the winners

Four agencies walked away with awards for their exceptional contribution to ensuring the long-term security of digital collections: 

The University of Freiburg and partners with ‘bwFLA Functional Long Term Archiving and Access.’

2014 winner of the OPF Award for Research and Innovation presented by Ed Fay, OPF and Sandra Collins, Digital Repository of Ireland The bwFLA (Functional Long Term Archiving and Access) project provides distributed, scalable and cost-effective cloud-based ‘emulation as a service’ preservation framework. The judges were commended the project for its ability to enable convenient access to emulation technology for preservation of born-digital assets.

Alasdair Bachell from the University of Glasgow with ‘Game Preservation in the UK.’

2014 Winner of the DPC Award for the Most Distinguished Student Work in Digital Preservation presented by Dave Tarrant, ODI and and Tim Gollins, The National Archives Alasdair’s work builds on a report of preservation practices carried out by the video games industry, and examines the video game industry's attitudes towards preservation in the UK. The judges were impressed with the recommendations for the games archival community the report provided and that the work represented such a comprehensive study of records management practices in the games industry.

Adrian Brown for his ‘Practical Digital Preservation: a how to guide for organizations of any size.’  

2014 Winner of the NCDD Award for Teaching and Communications presented by Marcel Ras, KB/NCDD and Ingrid Dillo, DANS Based on his own experience of building operational digital preservation services in three different institutions, Adrian’s book ‘Practical Digital Preservation: a how-to guide for organisations of any size’ provides practical guidance tailored to smaller organizations. The judges said that this resource stood out for providing smaller organisation with the confidence, tools and knowledge to develop their own digital preservation capabilities.

University of Manchester for their ‘Carcanet Press Email Archive.’ 

2014 Winner of the DPC Award for Safeguarding the Digital Legacy presented by Maureen Pennock, British Library and Paul Wheatley The University of Manchester Library holds outstanding eighteenth and nineteenth-century literary correspondence collections, relating to Samuel Johnson, Elizabeth Gaskell and others; a testament to the golden age of letter-writing. Judges were delighted with the way the Carcanet Press Email Preservation Project has ensured that some of the fruits of email’s golden age are similarly safeguarded for future generations.

 The contributions of nine other exceptional finalists were also marked in the ceremony introduced by Robert Kiley, Head of Digital Services at the Wellcome Library, one of the world's major resources for the study of medical history. 

Digital Preservation Awards 2014 Finalists 

The DPC extends grateful thanks to our international panel of Judges who made DPA2014 a possibility: 

The Digital Preservation Awards celebrate the excellence and innovation that will help to secure our digital legacy.  

They were created in 2004 to raise awareness about digital preservation, providing a rare opportunity to engage in some high-profile advocacy, articulating nuanced messages about how and why one might engage in digital preservation. They enable the DPC to endorse and celebrate outstanding work which may go unrecognized by other communities and which may be little known among the senior managers of the agencies undertaking this work.

In its early iterations (2004, 2005, 2007 and 2010) the DPC sponsored a single award under the auspices of the Conservation Awards. In 2012, to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Coalition, the DPC organized the Digital Preservation Awards under its own mandate, offering 3 awards – an award for teaching and communications, an award for research and innovation, and a special tenth anniversary award for outstanding contribution to digital preservation. In 2014 a further 2 awards were offered and in 2016 the DPC Fellowship was offered for the first time.

In 2018 the DPC again offers awards in 5 categories, alongside a sixth - ‘Fellowship’ Award:

• The Software Sustainability Institute Award for Research and Innovation which recognizes excellence in practical research and innovation activities. The award includes a cash prize of £1000, a trophy and certificates.
• The DPC Award for Teaching and Communications, recognizing excellence in outreach, training and advocacy. The award includes a cash prize of £1000, a trophy and certificates.
• The National Records of Scotland Award for the Most Distinguished Student Work in Digital Preservation, encouraging and recognizing student work in digital preservation. The prize includes attendance at an international conference, a trophy and a certificate.
• The National Archives Award for Safeguarding the Digital Legacy, which celebrates the practical application of preservation tools to protect at-risk digital objects. The award includes a cash prize of £1000, a trophy and certificates.
• The Open Data Institute Award for the Most Outstanding Digital Preservation Initiative in Commerce, Industry and the Third sector, encouraging and recognizing the adoption of digital preservation tools and approaches in institutions which are not explicitly memory institutions. The award includes a cash prize of £1000, a trophy and certificates.

In addition, winners and finalists will receive a print quality logo for reproduction on websites or stationery. All applicants will receive practical commentary on their nomination including comments from the ‘public vote’. Informal feedback suggests that this feedback has been widely re-used by applicants in grant applications and curricula vitae.

The ceremony for the Digital Preservation Awards took place in Amsterdam on the evening of World Digital Preservation Day, Thursday 29th November 2018.

The Digital Preservation Awards winners have been revealed! 

The Digital Preservation Awards 2020 have been presented to our worthy winners on World Digital Preservation Day (WDPD20).

Watch the ceremony as congratulate the winners of the:

• The International Council on Archives Award for Collaboration and Cooperation
• The Software Sustainability Institute Award for Research and Innovation 
• The Dutch Digital Heritage Network Award for Teaching and Communications
• The National Records of Scotland Award for the Most Distinguished Student Work in Digital Preservation
• The National Archives (UK) Award for Safeguarding the Digital Legacy
• The DPC Award for the Most Outstanding Digital Preservation Initiative in Commerce, Industry and the Third sector
• The Digital Preservation Coalition Fellowship

Read about the Digital Preservation Awards winners

Watch the Live Stream of the Awards Presentations below:

Find out about the Digital Preservation Awards 2020 Finalists 

Drawing together the finalists' presentatations from the recent #WeMissiPRES event in September, hear our Digital Preservation Awards judges as they introduce and reflect on the excellent, inspiring and innovative people and projects they have encountered throughout the awards process.

Watch and learn about each of our incredible finalists as they tell us more about their work.

See all Digital Preservation Awards 2020 Finalists

The Digital Preservation Awards are made possible by the expertise and support provided by our international panel of Judges, and funding from our sponsors.

THE FINALISTS FOR THE DIGITAL PRESERVATION AWARDS 2026 HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED!

Organized by the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) every two years, the Digital Preservation Awards are the leading international celebration of achievement in digital preservation. The Awards recognize the people, projects, and organizations making outstanding contributions to securing our digital legacy.

The Awards celebrate the work of a global community committed to collaboration, innovation, and long-term access to digital content. This year's finalists were selected from initiatives, projects, and collaborations completed between August 2024 and July 2026.

DPC Members are now invited to help choose the winners through the DPC Member Vote. Winners will be announced at the Digital Preservation Awards ceremony on 15 October 2026.

The Digital Preservation Awards categories

 Click the listing to discover the great work of each of our 2026 Digital Preservation Awards Finalists! 

About the Digital Preservation Awards

Created in 2004 to raise awareness about digital preservation, the Digital Preservation Awards provide a rare opportunity to engage in high-profile advocacy, articulating nuanced messages about how and why one might engage in digital preservation. They enable the DPC, acting on behalf of the global digital preservation community, to endorse and celebrate outstanding work which may go unrecognized by others, and which may be little known among the senior managers of the agencies sponsoring this work. Therefore, nominations which have received recognition through other schemes such as the NDSA Excellence Awards are unlikely to be recognized again by the Digital Preservation Awards.

In its early iterations (2004, 2005, 2007 and 2010) the DPC sponsored a single award under the auspices of the Conservation Awards. In 2012, to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Coalition, the DPC organized the Digital Preservation Awards under its own mandate, offering 3 awards. In 2014, a further 2 awards were offered and, in 2016, the DPC Fellowship was introduced for the first time. And in 2020 a new category allowing for an explicit celebration of collaboration was added. In 2022, we marked the DPC’s 20^th Anniversary with another award which celebrates a continuing, substantial and impactful contribution to the digital preservation community in any form, over the preceding 20 years. In 2026, we are offering an exciting new category to recognize the vital work of maintaining the tools, services, and infrastructure that support digital preservation over time with the Award for Resilience, Maintenance and Continuity!

The exciting process will culminate in an awards ceremony on Thursday 15^th October 2026.

We are very grateful to our sponsors and DPC Supporters for their generous contributions which enable the Digital Preservation Awards to take place:

If your organization would like to sponsor the Digital Preservation Awards please email angela.puggioni@dpconline.org.