In the remote archipelago of Svalbard, positioned significantly high above the Arctic Circle, lies a groundbreaking establishment dedicated to the preservation of human culture and knowledge: The Arctic World Archive (AWA). Situated near Longyearbyen, regarded as the world’s northernmost town, the AWA operates within a repurposed coal mine, creating a unique underground vault designed to store important data for future generations. The initiative is a response to growing concerns about how advancements in technology could lead to a potential “digital Dark Age,” where current data formats may become obsolete.
The founder, Rune Bjerkestrand, emphasizes the AWA’s mission to safeguard information against the threats of time, technological changes, and unforeseen global disasters. The facility allows customers, which include institutions, individuals, and corporations from over thirty different countries, to store their data on specially coated film for potentially hundreds of years. As Bjerkestrand guides visitors inside the vault, he notes the vast array of memories and heritage encapsulated in the archive. The depth of selection includes digitized art, literature, music, and historic documents.
Inside the AWA, long corridors lead to a secured room housing metal containers filled with silver packets, each containing reels of exposed film that keep the data safe. Since its inception eight years ago, the archive has successfully accumulated more than 100 deposits, including extraordinary items such as 3D scans of the Taj Mahal, ancient manuscripts from the Vatican Library, and Norway’s famous painting, “The Scream,” by Edvard Munch.
Reliably positioned within an area that is deemed secure against catastrophes, the AWA offers peace of mind to those concerned about data corruption or loss due to factors such as war, cyberattacks, or natural disasters. The temperature within the vault remains sub-zero throughout the year, creating ideal conditions for preserving its delicate cargo. Moreover, in the face of climate change, even the permafrost that envelops the vault can potentially contribute to its integrity, further enhancing its ability to sustain the stored information.
Among the various adaptations that have made their way into the vault is the GitHub Code Vault, which secures hundreds of reels of open-source code. This sizeable repository contains the pivotal building blocks of everything from operating systems to mobile applications, ensuring that vital software can be retrieved in the future. GitHub’s COO, Kyle Daigle, underscores the necessity and critical nature of safeguarding software, reflecting on how integral these technologies are to contemporary life.
In addition to film and digital archiving, Piql, a Norwegian data preservation company led by Bjerkestrand, employs innovative methods to encode data onto photo-sensitive film. This cutting-edge technique involves converting data into images—a process that transforms sequences of bits and bytes into visual representations. Each image is akin to a QR code, which can easily be decoded back into its original data format.
As the Arctic World Archive continues to operate, it receives three deposits per year, with the most recent contributions including recordings of endangered languages and manuscripts of artistic significance. Photographers, such as Christian Clauwers, contribute their works documenting ecological changes in regions threatened by rising sea levels, ensuring historical records of their impact are conserved. Moreover, archivists contend with the challenges posed by evolving digital formats, necessitating the constant updating and migrating of data to preserve accessibility over decades.
This capacious vault stands as a testament to humankind’s desire to protect its culture, history, and legacy against the uncertainties of the technological future, thereby serving not only as an archive but also as a beacon of hope in facilitating the continuity of knowledge across generations.
