Today, the Filecoin Foundation (FF) and the Government of Bermuda announced an initiative to upload Bermuda's public data onto the Filecoin network. The program is led by the Office of the Cabinet and the Department of Digital Innovation under the leadership of Hon. Diallo V. Rabain (JP, MP). By enhancing the resilience, transparency, and verifiability of key public information, this collaboration positions Bermuda at the forefront of digital public infrastructure and demonstrates how decentralized storage can preserve public records for future generations.
The initiative to upload government data to Filecoin is being conducted in collaboration with the Internet Archive as part of the "Democracy's Library" project—a free, open online library that aggregates government documents, research reports, and publications from around the world. The Filecoin Foundation has previously collaborated multiple times with the Internet Archive to preserve a wide range of public datasets. To date, more than 1 petabyte (PB) of government data—equivalent to millions of photos or hundreds of thousands of high-definition movies—has been stored on Filecoin, including:
- End of Term Web Archive (https://eotarchive.org/): Preserves data from U.S. government websites during government transitions in the United States.
- The Aruba Collection (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 the National Archives. This initiative reflects a shift toward making public data permanently accessible, tamper-proof, and verifiable for future generations.
His Excellency E. David Burt, JP, MP, Premier and Minister of Finance of Bermuda, stated, "Bermuda has long been committed to responsible innovation and forward-thinking governance. Our collaboration with the Filecoin Foundation and the Internet Archive enhances the resilience of our public archives and ensures that both Bermudians and the global community can verify the integrity of our data. This initiative supports our grand vision of transparent public services built on trusted information."
The first set of datasets from the Bermuda government includes "Employment/Labor Publications," which document key trends in Bermuda's labor market, with more datasets planned for inclusion in future phases. These records constitute a key component of Bermuda's public archives and lay the foundation 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, Chair and President of the Filecoin Foundation. "In a decentralized version of the network, 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 for the next generation of digital public services."
As the world's largest decentralized storage network, Filecoin distributes data across a global network of independent providers, rather than relying on a single centralized vendor. Recent disruptions—including the recent Cloudflare outage that affected numerous state and local government agencies (https://www.govtech.com/gov-experience/state-local-governments-impacted-by-cloudflare-outage)—have highlighted the risks of centralized infrastructure. Filecoin's decentralized architecture offers governments, public institutions, and citizens a more resilient way to protect critical information, bringing the following core advantages:
- Resilience: Data is backed up across multiple storage providers, eliminating single points of failure and enabling protection against service disruptions, network attacks, and other risks.
- Verifiability: Files have cryptographic content identifiers (CIDs). If data is tampered with, the CID will change accordingly, allowing tampering to be detected immediately.
- Transparency: Files can be retrieved and independently verified to confirm data integrity.
- Long-term preservation: Trusted by leading organizations such as the Internet Archive and the Starling Lab, Filecoin ensures that public data remains accessible, verifiable, and resilient over the long term.
Since 2018, Bermuda has set a benchmark for global digital asset regulation by implementing the Digital Asset Business Act (DABA) and the Bermuda Monetary Authority's (BMA) principle-based regulatory approach. DABA works in conjunction with Bermuda's clearly defined regulatory standards, positioning the jurisdiction as a trusted hub for responsible digital asset innovation and attracting numerous leading companies.