National Archives scoops Queen’s Award for Enterprise

The National Archives has been awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise - the first public sector body to receive the gong in more than ten years.

The award, which recognises organisations that excel at international trade, innovation or sustainable development, was given to the National Archives and technology consultancy Tessella after they jointly developed a system to preserve digital information.

The Safety Deposit Box (SDB) enables digital information to be stored over long periods of time, regardless of changes in technology and has been sold to other countries.

The SDB is already sold in countries around the world and the National Archives recieves a licence fee for every sale.

Oliver Morley, CEO of The National Archives, said, "Preserving digital records is one of the biggest challenges facing archives in the twenty-first century. Unlike paper records, which can last for hundreds of years in the right conditions, digital records are extremely vulnerable to changing technology."

Kevin Gell, managing director at Tessella said, "Winning the Queen's Award, jointly with our client The National Archives, is a fantastic achievement and demonstrates the strength of collaboration forged between UK industry and UK government."