Launch of the PERICLES project
A consortium led by the Centre for e-Research in the Department of Digital Humanities has been awarded 9,600,000 Euros as part of the EU’s FP7 Digital Preservation programme.
The PERICLES (Promoting and Enhancing Reuse of Information throughout the Content Lifecycle taking account of Evolving Semantics) project was funded to carry out research into novel approaches to preserving digital information, to ensure that it remains accessible and useful for future generations.
PERICLES will be looking at the preservation challenges raised by highly complex and dynamic digital material from two quite different areas: on the one hand, digital artworks, such as interactive software-based installations, and other digital media from Tate's collections and archives; on the other hand, experimental scientific data originating from the European Space Agency and International Space Station.
While on the surface very different, these two areas have in common an environment that evolves continually, not only in terms of the technologies used, but also as regards meaning, and the practices, attitudes and interests of “stakeholders”, whether these be curators, artists, scientists, or indeed a broader public, such as visitors to exhibitions. As Project Coordinator Dr Mark Hedges said, “The concept of a fixed and stable final version that needs to be preserved is less relevant to the needs of these communities. PERICLES will be researching ways of modelling changing environments and of allowing software to capture and use contextual information to ensure that digital content remains accessible and understandable in the long term."
An integral feature of the project will be its engagement with industry, to encourage the use of the project’s results in areas beyond those addressed directly by the project partners, and thus for developing the potential impact of the research.
The project consortium includes six academic institutions (King’s College London; the Universities of Borås, Göttingen, Liverpool and Edinburgh; the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas), a multinational corporation (Xerox), two SMEs (DOTSOFT in Greece and Space Applications Services in Belgium), and two non-academic public sector organisations (Tate and the Belgian User Service and Operation Centre).
The ISS COLUMBUS module on the International Space Station (image courtesy of NASA). The SOLAR payload, pictured here during installation, is one of the data sources for PERICLES. The SOLAR instruments monitor the sun's spectral variability to understand its effects on climate and atmospheric chemistry.
Further information: http://cordis.europa.eu/projects/rcn/106905_en.html