U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | KEEPING AMERICA INFORMED | OFFICIAL | DIGITAL | SECURE

732 North Capitol Street, NW, Washington, DC 20401-0001 | www.gpo.gov | www.fdsys.gov

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 15, 2019 No. 19-03

GPO MEDIA CONTACT: GARY SOMERSET 202.512.1957 | mb 202.355.3997 | gsomerset@gpo.gov

GPO’S GOVINFO MAKES HISTORY BY 

EARNING GLOBAL CERTIFICATION FOR 

TRUSTWORTHINESS

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) makes history by becoming the 

first organization in the United States and second organization in the world to achieve the highest 

global standard of excellence for digital repositories. The Primary Trustworthy Digital Repository 

Authorization Body Ltd. awarded GPO ISO 16363:2012 for govinfo, the one-stop site to authentic, 

published Government information. GPO achieved the certification by meeting official criteria for 

trustworthy repositories as defined by experts in the field.

ISO is the International Organization for Standardization and the world’s largest developer of 

international standards used by Government, business and new information technology companies. 

The standard achieved by GPO outlines the expectations for digital repositories to be certified as 

“trustworthy,” meaning that they are implementing digital preservation practices to ensure long-term 

preservation and access. Certification under ISO 16363 will provide assurance to the public that 

govinfo is a standards-compliant digital archive in which Government information will be preserved, 

accessible, and usable into the long-term future. The certification demonstrates that not only the 

documents themselves, but also the organizational structures and systems around those documents, 

maintain integrity. 

“This certification reconfirms GPO’s mission of providing the public authentic, published information 

on the three branches of the Federal Government,” said GPO Acting Deputy Director Herbert H. 

Jackson, Jr. “I am proud of our employees for attaining this certification, which emphasizes the 

important work GPO does for our country.” 

Certification has been a key GPO strategic initiative since 2015. GPO was evaluated against 109 

criteria that assessed GPO’s organizational infrastructure (adequate staffing, staff knowledge, policies 

and procedures), digital object management (content management and access), and security risk 

management (plans in case of a system failure).

GPO is the Federal Government's official, digital, secure resource for producing, procuring, 

cataloging, indexing, authenticating, disseminating, and preserving the official information products of 

the U.S. Government. The GPO is responsible for the production and distribution of information 
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | KEEPING AMERICA INFORMED | OFFICIAL | DIGITAL | SECURE

732 North Capitol Street, NW, Washington, DC 20401-0001 | www.gpo.gov | www.fdsys.gov

Follow GPO on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/USGPO, Twitter http://twitter.com/USGPO, Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/usgpo/, Pinterest http://pinterest.com/usgpo/, and on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/gpoprinter. 

products and services for all three branches of the Federal Government, including U.S. passports for 

the Department of State as well as the official publications of Congress, the White House, and other 

Federal agencies in digital and print formats. GPO provides for permanent public access to Federal 

Government information at no charge through www.govinfo.gov, partnerships with approximately 

1,150 libraries nationwide participating in the Federal Depository Library Program, and our secure 

online bookstore. For more information, please visit www.gpo.gov.

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