The world is overflowing with digital data; in fact the digital universe is doubling every two years according to IDC. A share of this digital universe has value in the long-term. This is for instance data that is considered part of our cultural heritage, strategic business information or data that must be preserved for legal reasons. In order to ensure long-term survival, these data need to be treated differently than short-lived information.

In our evaluation of the available data storage technologies we will in particular focus on the following aspects:

• How well is data security and integrity maintained?
• How easy will it be to access the data in the future?
• How cost-efficient is the technology in a long term perspective?