Peter Van Garderen

About

I am an AI researcher and consultant. My primary focus is on the implementation of AI provenance and governance frameworks, as well as the secure application of local, sovereign AI technologies to labour-intensive information management tasks.

Currently, much of this work is focussed on local model testing, C2PA implementation, and the development of the Arkrim platform, including the ATpix prototype. For my consulting clients I am focussing my skillset experience on using and enhancing Hermes Agent for multi-agent workflows and enterprise business process ownership.

I am also an archivist. I have been working with technology for archival collections since earning my Master's degree in Archival Science in 1997. I am a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of British Columbia's iSchool.

I am the founder of Artefactual Systems and the creator of the open-source Archivematica and AtoM (AccessToMemory) software applications, the most widely-deployed digital archives system worldwide.

I have worked with public sector institutions for three decades, ranging in size from municipal archives to global organizations such as the United Nations, World Bank, NATO; providing industry-standard record-keeping technology and digital archiving 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 also a decentralizationalist. I have been working with technology for decentralized systems since 2016 when I wrote my vision piece: Decentralized Autonomous Collections. This includes projects using ATProto, Arweave, IPFS, Cardano, and Polygon. See for example Landano and Orcfax.

Selected publications and presentations

Sovereign, Local AI for Records Management (2026) LinkedIn.com

Bridging the Evidence Gap for RWAs and AI Provenance: A Core Set of ISO-Based Digital Records Requirements (2026) LinkedIn.com

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)