A new government policy is being drawn up for the storage of digital records.

Economic Development Minister Laurence Skelly said: ’There are currently no specific policies for the collating, preserving and storing digital archives.

’Nevertheless, general policies and guidance established for government records apply to all public records regardless of their format.’

He added digital records was a complex issue. ’The Public Records Office is therefore preparing a digital preservation strategy which sets out the context and drivers for a digital repository.’