A digital archive consists of natively digital or dematerialized documents whose long-term preservation is of interest or required by its owner.
The following categories of archives can be identified:
- Technical: archive necessary for the proper functioning of an information system.
- Regulatory: archive whose retention is governed by law.
- Heritage: document whose preservation has historical or strategic value.
- Evidential: document that can be used before an authority and whose authenticity cannot be contested.