Although the .be domain was introduced in June 1988, the Belgian web is currently not systematically archived. Currently around 1.6 million domains are registered by DNS Belgium. Without a Belgian web archive, the content of these websites will not be preserved for future generations and a significant portion of Belgian history will be lost forever. The PROMISE (PReserving Online Multiple Information: towards a Belgian StratEgy) project, funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office, will help to prevent this from happening. The aim of the PROMISE is to (i) identify current best practices in web-archiving and apply them to the Belgian context, (ii) pilot Belgian web-archiving, (iii) pilot access (and use) of the pilot Belgian web archive for scientific research, and (iv) make recommendations for a sustainable web-archiving service for Belgium. PROMISE is a first step towards implementing a long-term web archiving strategy for Belgium. Ghent University's role in the project is related to the provision of research access and use of the pilot Belgian web-archive.
Chambers, S., Mechant, P., Vandepontseele, S., Isbergue, N., & Depoortere, R. (2016). Towards a national web in a federated country: a Belgian case study. http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8511255
