The ETHER Initiative was created in 2006, almost 20 years ago as this is being written. The initial goal was to serve the basis for eternal preservation of things worth preserving for the future.

Whereas there was an active heritage sector in those years, this has been compromised throughout the world due to lack of funding and facilities for this prexervation, resulting in a significant loss of this memory for future generations.

The digital revolution was seen as a way that everything could be saved, by digitising and then retaining these contents in digital archives and libraries, which were expected to outlast their physical counterparts. However, this is has not happened, and the phtysical, when maintained under good conditions, remain a safer option than the uncertainties of future digital technologies, and the political will to ensure this as a long term initiative.

ETHER has the vision of assisting the entire heritage sector in achieving this long-term goal.