PERICLES: (Promoting and Enhancing Reuse of Information throughout the Content Lifecycle taking account of Evolving Semantics) is an Integrated Project funded by the European Union under its Seventh Framework Programme (ICT Call 9). PERICLES is a four-year project that aims to address the challenge of ensuring that digital content remains accessible in an environment that is subject to continual change. This can encompass not only technological change, but also changes in semantics, academic or professional practice, or society itself, which can affect the attitudes and interests of the various stakeholders that interact with the content. PERICLES will take a ‘preservation by design’ approach that involves modelling, capturing and maintaining detailed and complex information about digital content, the environment in which it exists, and the processes and policies to which it is subject.

PERICLES will address these preservation challenges in two domains: digital artworks, such as interactive software-based installations, and other digital media from Tate's collections and archives; and experimental scientific data originating from the European Space Agency and International Space Station. The project will deliver two preservation prototypes, one for each of these domains, as well as a portfolio of models, services, tools and best practice for the support of preservation ecosystem and lifecycle management. Broader take-up of the project’s results will be encouraged through Communities of Practice and engagement with industry.

PERICLES is funded under FP7 ICT Call 9, and addresses work programme objective ICT-2011.4.3 Digital Preservation.