Today, the Filecoin Foundation (FF) and the Government of Bermuda announced an initiative to upload the Bermuda government's public data to the Filecoin network. This program, launched by the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Digital Innovation under the leadership of the Honorable Diallo V. Rabain (JP, MP), positions Bermuda at the forefront of digital public infrastructure by enhancing the resilience, transparency, and verifiability of critical public information, demonstrating how decentralized storage can protect public records for future generations.
The initiative to upload government data to Filecoin is being carried out in collaboration with the Internet Archive as part of the Democracy's Library project—a free, open online repository of government documents, research reports, and publications from around the world. The Filecoin Foundation and the Internet Archive have previously collaborated multiple times to preserve a wide range of public datasets through Democracy's Library. To date, over 1 petabyte (PB, equivalent to millions of photos or hundreds of thousands of high-definition movies) of government materials have been stored on Filecoin, including:
- End of Term Web Archive (https://eotarchive.org/): Preserves U.S. government websites during presidential transitions.
- The Aruba Collection / Coleccion Aruba (https://blog.archive.org/2024/04/08/aruba-launches-digital-heritage-portal-preserving-its-history-and-culture-for-global-access/): Contains over 100,000 items from Aruba's "memory institutions" (including the National Library and National Archives). This work reflects a shift toward public data that is permanently accessible, tamper-resistant, and verifiable for future generations.
The Honorable E. David Burt, JP, MP, Premier and Minister of Finance of Bermuda, stated: "Bermuda has long been committed to responsible innovation and forward-looking governance. Collaborating with the Filecoin Foundation and the Internet Archive enhances the resilience of our public archives and ensures that Bermudians and people worldwide can verify the integrity of our data. This initiative supports our grand vision of transparent public services built on trustworthy information."
The first datasets from the Bermuda government include the "Employment/Labour Publications," which document key trends in Bermuda's labor market, with plans to add more datasets in future phases. These records form a critical component of Bermuda's public archives and lay the groundwork for future digital governance initiatives.
"Today's internet is centralized. The vast majority of data is stored by just three companies, creating single points of failure," said Marta Belcher, President and Chair of the Filecoin Foundation. "In a decentralized version of the web, data remains accessible even if some devices fail, and the availability of information no longer depends on any single server or company. This creates a more robust platform for humanity's most important information. We are thrilled to partner with the Government of Bermuda to demonstrate how verifiable data can form the foundation of the next generation of digital public services."
Filecoin, as the world's largest decentralized storage network, distributes data across a global network of independent providers instead of relying on a single centralized vendor. Recent outages—including the recent Cloudflare outage that affected services for numerous state and local government agencies (https://www.govtech.com/gov-experience/state-local-governments-impacted-by-cloudflare-outage)—highlight the risks of centralized infrastructure. Filecoin's decentralized architecture offers governments, public institutions, and citizens a more resilient method to protect critical information, providing the following core advantages:
- Resilience: Data is backed up across multiple storage providers, eliminating single points of failure and protecting against service disruptions, cyberattacks, and other risks.
- Verifiability: Files have cryptographic content identifiers (CIDs); if data is tampered with, the CID changes, allowing immediate detection of tampering.
- Transparency: Files can be retrieved and independently verified, confirming data integrity.
- Long-term preservation: Trusted by leading organizations including the Internet Archive and Starling Lab, Filecoin ensures public data remains accessible, verifiable, and resilient over the long term.
Since 2018, Bermuda has set a global benchmark for digital asset regulation through the implementation of the Digital Asset Business Act (DABA) and the Bermuda Monetary Authority's (BMA) principles-based regulatory approach. DABA, in conjunction with Bermuda's well-defined regulatory standards, has made the jurisdiction a trusted hub for responsible digital asset innovation, attracting numerous leading companies.
