# OAIS and ISO 16363

The Reference Model for an **Open Archival Information System (OAIS)**, also known as ISO 14721:2012, is the "gold standard" guiding how digital preservation should be done. **The ISO16363 standard was designed to provide the basis of an ISO audit and certification process.**

In this section you can find:

* [A guide to understand OAIS and the ISO 16363](oais-and-iso-16363/understanding-oais-and-iso-16363): describes the key ideas of OAIS and ISO 16363 together with an explanation of what conformance requires.&#x20;
* [Flexible Intake support for OAIS/ISO 16363 Conformance](oais-and-iso-16363): This section describes how Flexible Intake can be used to support preservation. Although no piece of software can preserve information by itself, the wrong software can prevent one from carrying out preservation. On the other hand the right software can support and make it much easier for an archive to carry out preservation if properly configured.&#x20;
* [Planning for preservation](oais-and-iso-16363): as with any serious activity, digital preservation requires planning. This section describes what needs to be done.
* [ISO 16363 certification guide](oais-and-iso-16363): describes why certification is important, why an archive should be certified and what needs to be done.
