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14

FFI-RAPPORT 16/00707

for handling in a fully automated storage system, called a

piqlVault

. The process is connected to

a web-based system for data ingest and retrieval [2].

The piqlFilm is a new type of photosensitive film. It consists of a base material made of

polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and a gelatine emulsion containing photo-active chemicals

such as silver halide crystals as coating. This unique coating will increase the data density on

the film, while preserving its longevity, making it possible to replace e.g. five hundred boxes of

paper with a single reel of piqlFilm.

The piqlBox is made of polypropylene (PP). The materials used were selected because they do

no harm to the piqlFilm or its longevity in any way, while at the same time guaranteeing over

500 years longevity for the piqlBox itself.

The piqlBin is a component of the piqlVault, which uses the automated AutoStore® system as

its storage system. The AutoStore® system is a unique Automated Storage and Retrieval

System (AS/RS), operated by multiple robots picking up the piqlBins from a specially designed

grid and transporting them to an operator port for retrieval by a human operator. The qualities

and features of the modified AutoStore® system used in the Piql Preservation Services and the

specific storage conditions under which the piqlFilm and –Box will be stored will be elaborated

upon in chapters 3 and 5.4 of this report.

In order to gain a proper appreciation for how the Piql Preservation Services works, it is useful

to go through the service journey or the service workflow step by step to understand how

analogue data ends up on a piqlFilm in a secured storage facility [3, 4]. This journey is depicted

in figure 2.1. First, though, it is necessary to understand Piql AS’s vision for the application of

the Piql Preservation Services. The system is delivered as a service to the market through

selected Piql partners. These partners shall function as hubs of activity across the globe, where

one such partner is responsible for delivering the service to multiple end users, i.e. data owners

in need of archival and preservation services across sectors and industries. Piql AS’ vision for

the application is, in other words, both global and universal.

The service journey starts when born digital data or digitised data is sent to a Piql partner by a

data owner. When the data is received, integrity checks are performed to make sure that, firstly,

none of the information was altered during the reception of the data, and, secondly, that no

viruses or other malware are transferred into the Piql system. The original data is then ingested

into the computer system where a data preparation process is automatically started. This process

serves two main purposes: to collect and store relevant metadata to enable future access to the

data; and to encode the data and metadata into the Piql system storage format, comprising a

single file.

Here the data owner has a choice between different ways to preserve the data: a digital, visual or

hybrid preservation of the data. The digital option encodes all the data into binary form, which

is not understandable to the human eye. The visual option maintains readability, where the data

is printed as text or pictures. Lastly, the hybrid option is a cross between the two former, where

some of the data is encoded into binary form and some is printed as text or pictures. The