The National Archives will preserve billions of gigabytes of government data after it signed a memorandum of understanding with software giant Microsoft.

The deal will involve the donation of Virtual PC 2007 software, which will allow historians to read old electronic documents regardless of which software package they were created in, says National Archives chief executive Natalie Ceeney.

‘The ephemeral nature of digital information, resulting from the rapid evolution of technology, is a major challenge for government and society,’ she said.

‘Unless we take action, we face the certainty of losing years of critical knowledge. That is why it is essential that the National Archives, together with the IT industry, address the challenge now.’

As the government’s official archive, the organisation holds 900 years of the nation’s history, including everything from census information to parliamentary records, but the growth of digital information means it now holds more than 580 terabytes of data.

The ongoing collaboration will see the National Archives contribute its expertise in digital preservation towards development of future releases of Microsoft products.

‘Microsoft took the step to implement XML-based file formats that unlock data in documents, allowing them to be archived, restructured, aggregated and re-used in new and dynamic ways,’ said Microsoft UK managing director Gordon Frazer.

‘Our deal with the National Archives will go beyond this and ensure that decisions we make in future will meet the rigorous requirements of digital preservation.’