The aim of the project is to establish a research and development centre for digital information management in Mikkeli. This two-year project is the first phase of the establishment of the Centre. The project is based on the research and development work of the Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences (Mamk) and the Digitalisation and Conservation Centre of the National Library of the University of Helsinki. In addition, cooperation has been carried out with, for example, the Mikkeli University Centre and the Central Business Archives. The Research and Development Centre supports both the goals of the operators and the smart specialisation strategy of the South Savo Regional Programme. The Centre to be established will be of national and international importance, representing digital excellence in the region. The Research and Development Centre deepens knowledge in digital data management and preservation. The project has two research areas: 1) data for information and use of data, and 2) methods and tools for digital preservation. In addition, the project involves (3) cooperation between networks and partners. Mamk implements all three entities. The National Library’s Digitalisation and Conservation Centre participates in the first research area and network cooperation. The first research area produces methods and tools for data management and collection for different types of actors. For example, data generated by an organisation’s activities can be transformed into an intelligible and well-described information whose origin, characteristics and meaning are known. In this way, large amounts of data will be exposed to essential and important issues — and data will be changed for information. The amounts of data that cannot be processed by human force can be managed and made usable by the smart and learning digital solutions developed by the project. The solutions to be developed are based, among other things, on automated data collection, classification and enrichment. Research and development supports the digitalisation of the organisation’s operations, by using processed data by sharing, visualising and analysing for example. In addition, the research area will explore ways for citizens and small businesses to manage their own and their digital data.The National Library’s Digitalisation and Conservation Centre will provide research data and applications for the processing of large amounts of data. The research is led by Professor of Digital Data Research at the National Library and the University of Helsinki. The project uses machine learning in statistics to process and refine large-scale materials and develops the collection of articles from digitised, millions of pages of newspaper material. The results also generate pilots for references to articles or translation technology, text mining research, teaching content and thesis for Mamki. In addition, research will make it easier for citizens and researchers to access digitised materials and increase search opportunities for them.2) The second research area ensures that the information produced and made available is kept available and reliable. In particular, long-term digital preservation requires research and testing of storage media, file formats and storage platforms. The research area explores, for example, the transfer of digital data from obsolete platforms and media to subsequent storage solutions, i.e. migration research. The topical research focus is on the use of cloud computing and other decentralised solutions in preservation and risk management. The research area provides studies and research data on file formats and media management, migration processes and strategy, and various long-term electronic storage platforms. 3) The third area covers piloting, national and international network cooperation, increased effectiveness and project management. Partner, development and research networks enable the results to be piloted, exploitable and are an integral part of the exchange of research data with, for example, the University of Helsinki and Aalto University, the FIN-CLARIN consortium in the field of language technology, the Mikkeli University Centre and universities of applied sciences. Project actors participate in international events where the project and its research and development activities are presented. In addition, the project will ensure participation in international digital data management projects. International events related to the field are also organised in South Savo. The research and development centre to be established in the project brings together the expertise, experts and research of the Digitalisation and Conservation Centre of Mamki and the National Library. The Centre will develop the region’s strengths and joint coordination of activities. After the project, the Centre’s objective is to create new and joint project and innovation activities.