About
I have been working with technology for archival collections since earning my Master's degree in Archival Science in 1997. I am a Distinguished Alumni of the University of British Columbia's iSchool.
My area of expertise is software development for archival systems as well as applying records management standards and archival science research to requirements for decentralized software architectures.
I am the creator of the open-source Archivematica and AtoM (AccessToMemory) software applications; together the most widely-deployed digital archives system across the globe.
I have worked with public sector institutions worldwide (including United Nations, World Bank, NATO) to provide industry-standard record-keeping technology and digital preservation services that range from writing strategy reports, analyzing system requirements, designing system architectures, developing software, and managing open-source projects. I have been a frequent conference speaker on these topics.
I am the founder of Artefactual Systems, Landano International, Orcfax, Arkly, and Iona Systems.
Iona is a Canadian based company that incubates R&D projects focussed on the technology intersection of digital archives systems, blockchain and AI. Iona Systems also makes my consulting services available to clients working in this same domain.
Iona Systems launched the Orcfax and Landano companies and is the lead developer of the Arkly.io system, an open-source, decentralized, next-generation digital archives platform. Iona is also conducting research into the secure and privacy-protecting application of AI technologies to labour-intensive records management tasks including retention scheduling, archival appraisal as well as PII and compliance scans.
Selected publications and presentations
The Ideal Digital Archives System (2024) Medium.com
Orcfax: the trust machine revisited (2023) Medium.com
Connecting the Real World to Blockchain (2023) Quantum Miami Conference
Why Cardano in 2023? (2023) Medium.com
Impact as an opportunity for Cardano: Introducing Landano (2022) Cardano Summit Switzerland
Improving Land Security in Mozambique (2022) Landano.io
Improving land records to fight poverty (2022) Landano.io
Implementing Landano in Ghana (2022) Landano.io
Ten web3 system requirements from Moxie Marlinspike’s post (2022) Medium.com
Archivematica's original design principles Archivematica architectural decision records (2021)
Archival requirements for the decentralized web Decentralized Web Summit. San Francisco, U.S.A. (2016)
Archives, technology, and innovation Association of Canadian Archivists conference. Montreal, Canada (2016) 
Decentralized autonomous collections (2016) 
Introduction to blockchain and recordkeeping Recordkeeping Rountable. Sidney, Australia (2016)
Archivatopia: the akashic record, what if? Association of Canadian Archivists conference. Victoria, Canada (2014)
Realizing the Archivematica vision: delivering a comprehensive and free OAIS implementation 10th International Conference on Preservation of Digital Objects (iPres) Lisbon, Portugal (2013) 
Archivematica and the Open Source Mindset for Digital Preservation Systems The Signal - Library of Congress (2012)
The community driven evolution of the Archivematica project 9th International Conference on Preservation of Digital Objects (iPres) Toronto, Canada (2012) 
Archivematica concept poster International Digital Curation Conference. Chicago, U.S.A. (2010) 
Using micro-services and open-source software to deliver a comprehensive digital curation solution 7th International Conference on Preservation of Digital Objects (iPres) Vienna, Austria (2010) 
Lowering the barrier to best practice digital preservation IS&T Archiving conference. The Hague, The Netherlands (2010) 
Creating a comprehensive digital preservation system (transcript) The National Archives Center for Advanced Systems and Technologies. Washington, U.S.A (2010)
The ICA-AtoM project and technology Association of Brazilian Archives. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2009) 
The anatomy of a digital information object (2007)
What is information anyway? (2007) 
Archival materials: a practical definition (2007) 
The information model to end all information models (2006)
Does my digital archives need a digital repository system? (2006)
Contact
petervg [at] iona [dot] ltd
