Due to the digitalization of administrative activities, e.g. the introduction of e-files and the use of specialist procedures, as well as the digitalization of society, e.g. digital estates of private individuals, organizations and companies, there are increasingly only digital documents from which digital archive material is formed. In order to take over, preserve and make this digital archive material usable, the city archive needs a solution for digital long-term archiving, a so-called digital repository.
The creation, maintenance and further development of such a repository is both very complex from an archival point of view and involves financial, technical and personnel costs. In order to overcome these challenges, joining together in cooperation networks has become established and proven successful.
The state of Brandenburg also decided to join a cooperation network, the Kooperationsverbund Digitale Archivierung Nord (DAN), with the Brandenburg State Main Archive (BLHA) in 2020. In addition to the state of Brandenburg, the federal states of Berlin, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Bremen are members of the DAN, each represented by their state archives.
The DAN magazine network in turn belongs to the largest cooperation network in the German-speaking world, the DIMAG cooperation network, which was founded in 2010. In addition to the members of the DAN, the state archives of the federal states of Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Lower Saxony and Bavaria also belong to the DIMAG magazine network. The municipalities and municipal archives located in these federal states can use digital storage space by concluding so-called magazine partnerships. The advantage for the municipalities is that they can access the existing technical infrastructure and expertise of the cooperation network.
Mayor Claus Junghanns: "Our city is in the midst of a digital transformation. To ensure that the history of the city in the digital age can be researched for posterity, it is essential that the digital archive material is preserved and made usable. By resolution of the city council on December 5, 2024, the city of Frankfurt (Oder) also entered into a storage partnership with the DAN cooperation network. The city archive can now archive the digital cultural heritage of our city cost-effectively and in compliance with all security requirements."