Together with a consortium of highly reputed companies and institutions supported by the EUROSTAR program and the Norwegian Research Council, Norner is dedicating its world leading competence in polymers and additives to protect data of high value to companies and mankind.
The writing is on the wall – or the tablet or the laptop: the amount of data we’re producing and need to keep safe for future generations is increasing daily. The digital data we store is arguably the “DNA” of our modern civilisation and represents our thinking, our creativity, our problem-solving ability and our discoveries. It holds the key to sustaining modern life. Keeping this data tamper-proof and retrievable in its original form,whenever needed, is extremely important.
Current storage media and related hardware and software need updating at least every 5-10 years and require more and more investment. The integrity of data is at risk every time it’s retrieved and re-stored. With the recent natural disasters all over the world and expectations to an increasingly tougher climate, traditional digital data storage solutions and paper files are not safe.
Cinevation AS (Drammen, Norway) has developed technology to store digital information on photosensitive film, and their Archivator® will provide solutions to the challenges at hand.Cinevation is the lead partner of the collaborative project and Norner is the main material technology provider, securing longevity of the total solution.“The US Library of Congress is required to retain some of its data for the lifetime of the Republic plus 4,000 years”, says Lars H. Evensen, Business Development Manager at Norner.
“Our ambitions does not stretch that far, but we want to secure that the materials involved in our solution can protect the data for 500 years plus”.Norner is working closely together with all stakeholders from manufacturers of film stock, film processing equipment, film recording and printing and providers of physical storage solution, mapping all potential sources having negative impact on longevity performance of the system. In addition, Norner is responsible for the development of a complete packaging solution for the film stock, capable of protecting the data medium for the required lifetime.
In addition to expert knowledge in degradation mechanisms for polymers and state of the art test methods for longevity and lifetime estimations, new highly accelerated methods must be developed. On top of in-house capabilities, Norner is building on competence at IPI – Image Permanence Institute (USA) and the University in Oslo.“With the complexity of materials involved and the extreme time horizon where even trace molecules can play a role in relevant degradation mechanisms, we have to cooperate with the best brains”, says Svein H. Jamtvedt, Project Manager at Norner.
Svein H. Jamtvedt has been working with the development of stabilisation systems for polymers since early 80’ies where solutions for water pressure pipes in PE requiring life time of ~100 years is the most relevant reference for this work. “We see an increasing interest for our capabilities within additives and stabilisation of polymers”, says Lars H.
Evensen. “Large clients all over the world are now benefitting from our experience whether for optimisation of cost-performance, introduction of high purity additives for the foodand pharmaceutical sector, development of new additive solutions or training in petrochemical industry for better customer satisfaction”.Norner is taking on the role as the neutral, world leading testing body and technology partner where additive manufacturers can benchmark their products and petrochemical companies can get support to their challenges in polymer stabilisation.
About Norner – www.norner.no
