Collaboration forms a central role in many of the activities of the DPC and is one of the core objectives in our current Strategic Plan. We work to facilitate collaboration, knowledge sharing and development between the members of the Coalition and also the wider world.
There are compelling reasons and, in some cases, political pressure, to engage in greater collaboration within and between organisations in order effectively to confront and overcome the challenges of digital preservation. The range of skills required to do this demands flexibility within organisational structures to facilitate working in multi-disciplinary teams. There is a significant overlap in the digital preservation issues being faced by all organisations and across all sectors so it makes sense to pool expertise and experience. Communication with key stakeholders, using terms and language understood by them (see Advocacy) will play a major part in building and maintaining collaborations.
Read more about collaboration and how to get involved, in the Digital Preservation Handbook.
DPC Projects
Where our members will derive a direct benefit, the DPC contributes to project consortia with other specialist organisations from across the world in order to further research and insight into the field of digital preservation.
Find out more about our projects.
Partnerships and Alliances
Allied Organisations are organisations who collaborate with the Coalition on specific activities and goals and participate by invitation in selected activities. They can include individual commercial organisations who work with the Coalition to promote a dialogue with industry on digital preservation issues, and developing solutions and standards, or other national and international organisations.
Partnership with an allied organisation may be for a finite period of time and/or for specific activities as agreed between the Coalition and the allied organisation. Where appropriate it may be open-ended and termination of partnership would be by six months' written notice on either side. Allied organisations may be expected to contribute agreed levels of funding and/or staff resources for shared activities and/or access to Coalition events or resources. Depending on the nature of the partnership, this may involve the payment of a subscription. The level of subscription, where applicable, will be determined by the Board of Directors.
Allied Individuals are individuals with specific expertise and experience invited by the Coalition to contribute to the Advisory Council and/or other selected activities. Appointment as an allied individual is for a period of 12 months and is renewed automatically annually unless written notice is given on either side.
Meet our Allied Organisations.
Working Groups
From time to time the we bring small groups together to work on specific issues shared between members, and the DPC is frequently invited to contribute to working parties organised by other groups. Details of these working parties and task forces are published here.
- Web Archiving and Preservation Task Force (DPC-WAPTF)
- Public Records Act (Scotland) Implementation Group
- Capacity Enhancement and Peer Review Task Force (DPC-CERT)
- Editorial Board for the DPC Technology Watch Reports
- Career Development and Training Task Force (DPC-CDT)
- Bedern Group - Digital Preservation and the Historic Environment (Bedern Group) (login required)
Connecting the Bits
Connecting the Bits is a day-long networking and planning event designed to help members keep in touch with each other and with the state of the art in digital preservation. It's a chance for the members of our coalition to set the agenda for the DPC's work for the coming year. The event is an "unconference style" day of knowledge exchange on digital preservation challenges. The unconference format is like a conference except there is no pre-determined theme or programme: the agenda is generated by participants in the morning, then delivered in the afternoon. This format privileges debate and discussion, and it ensures that anyone with a burning issue or success story has a chance to share it.
The next Connecting the Bits will be held in the last week of June 2017. Watch this space for more information...