ISO 16363

Consultancy services

Audit and certification of trustworthy digital repositories

Trustworthy Digital Repositories

Consultancy services for the implementation of ISO 16363

Based on our experience and know-how in the field of digital preservation, we provide a set of consultancy services for the implementation of the ISO 16363 standard – Audit and Certification of Trustworthy Digital Repositories. Among these services are the assessment of compliance and maturity level of the repository, internal audits and counselling on the implementation of digital preservation services and solutions.

The implementation of the ISO 16363 standard enhances the confidence of all stakeholders (i.e., producers, consumers, system operators, administrators, etc.), as it determines if the repository meets the conditions to ensure that its mission can be carried out adequately.

Consultancy process

01. Diagnosis

Preliminary assessment to determine the level of compliance of the repository with the ISO 16363 standard.

02. Action plan

Development of an action plan resulting from the diagnosis phase and that aims to increase the compliance of the repository with the ISO 16363 standard.

03. Implementation of actions

Implementation of actions reported in the action plan.

04. Internal audit

Thorough audit to the repository processes to assess its maturity level and compliance with the standard.

05. Audit report

Final audit report where the detected non-conformities are reported, as well as suggestions for improvement.

Evidence-based digital preservation

Organisations responsible for maintaining a “trustworthy” preservation service should be able to demonstrate that they have the necessary processes in place to enable them, in a controlled and systematic way, to identify and prevent threats that jeopardise the safeguard and the continued access to digital information. These threats may be of different nature (e.g. organizational, financial, technological, social, physical, environmental, etc.), so monitoring the internal and external environment of the repository, proper planning, system maintenance and financial sustainability should be constant concerns for the ones responsible for a repository.

Evidences that the processes are being carried out in a predictable and systematic way are important to be able to assess the trustworthiness of a digital preservation service.