Jason Simons: In the shadow of digital dark ages

IT winner Jason Simons at WDC. Photo Stuart Munro. Wangnui Chronicle WGP 05Dec14 - FROM THE FRONT: Jason Simons and his reward for excellence in leadership. PHOTO/STUART MUNRO 04121

IF YOU have got a VHS tape that you cannot play, or a floppy disc that you cannot read, you have officially entered the digital dark ages.

Remember WordStar for word processing in the 1980s? Many of us remember using WordPerfect and Lotus 123 - but do you have these applications in your workplace now?

Information stored in these formats can no longer be accessed (or at least, not without much difficulty) and, because of this, is now lost. Are there any guarantees that Microsoft Word or cloud-based software will be "readable" in 50 years' time or will the file formats be obsolete?

The "digital dark ages" is a trendy term that draws a parallel between the lack of written literature and contemporary writing in the early Middle Ages, after the fall of the Roman Empire around the 5th and 6th centuries, and the precariousness of digital information in the 21st century.

It is such a worrying situation that Vint Cerf (father of the internet and Google vice-president) has begun warning businesses to protect themselves against it.

Cerf says that if we do not find a solution, our 21st century will be an information "black hole" for future generations.

Wanganui District Council is aware of the issue and has specialist staff already addressing how we store and archive important information.

The problem is that anything on computers - photos, documents, presentations, software, video games - is all just data. People look at photos and don't realise that, without the software to decode it, those images don't exist. As technology advances, various methods of accessing data may be lost.

In the age of the internet, Facebook and other social media, it is hard to imagine that future generations may not be able to access data about us, and " like the Middle Ages " they may not know much about us.

For businesses and councils, where some information needs to stored and be able to be accessed forever, it is a worrying thought that in 50 years' time, we cannot access anything we are storing today. But is it a real problem or just digital doom and gloom?

-Next week: Is the digital dark ages real and is there a solution?

-Wanganui District Council information technology manager Jason Simons has worked around the world delivering IT solutions, including providing encrypted systems for governments, banks and corporates. Follow his blog at jasonsimons.nz