Keeping Digital Content Useable is a Complex and Ongoing Process

We’ve all experienced not being able to open digital files created years ago because the software or operating system needed to use the file is no longer supported. Updating computing and storage devices is a necessity as technologies evolve, but legacy digital content can become endangered in the process. 

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At Digital Bedrock, we monitor format obsolescence factors for our clients. Any of these vulnerabilities can impact a file’s long-term usability: format, codec, software, operating system, hardware and ownership.

If a format is flagged with obsolescence vulnerabilities, we notify our clients and work with them to dertermine the best course of actiont: migrate the file, apply an emulation environment, or only perform bit-level preservation until a solution is identified.

Digital Bedrock holds a US patent for an obsolescence algorithm: “Digital Obsolescence Avoidance Systems and Methods” is protected by US Patent number 10,592,674, issued March 2020.