Many research projects are currently struggling to preserve their data and associated products (metadata, software, documentation, etc.), as the current archiving and preservation capabilities are inadequate and fall below expectations, while data stewardship costs are frequently underestimated during the planning phase.
The ARCHIVER project goal is to address these data management challenges in a multi-disciplinary environment, allowing each research group to retain stewardship of their data whilst leveraging best practices, standards and economies of scale. ARCHIVER will combine multiple ICT technologies, including extreme data-scaling, network connectivity, service interoperability and business models, in a hybrid cloud environment to deliver end-to-end archival and preservation services that cover the full research lifecycle. By acting as a collective of procurers, ARCHIVER creates an eco-system for specialist ICT companies active in archiving, who would like to introduce new services capable of supporting the expanding needs of research communities.