After a year long design competition, in September 2005 the National Archives and Records Administration awarded to Lockheed Martin Corporation a contract valued at $308 million to develop and operate the Electronic Records Archives (ERA) system. The system will enable a comprehensive transition of NARA?s governmentwide management of the records of the U.S. Government into the realm of e-government. It will automate records management processes, such as scheduling and appraisal, transfer of records to NARA, and destruction of temporary records. These functions will be applicable to records of all types, and support NARA?s different lines of business in the National Archives, Presidential Libraries, and Federal Records Centers. The system will also enable NARA to realize its vision of preserving and providing continuing access to any type of electronic record, free from dependence on the hardware and software originally used to create and store it, for as long as the records need to be retain, which includes for the life of the republic. The speaker will describe the architecture and processes for digital preservation and access in the ERA system.