The Center for Interdisciplinary Human Studies (CIHS) at the Institute for Intersectional Relational Studies (IIRS) is committed to a sustainable and secure future. Our digital strategy prioritizes not only the immediate dissemination of educational resources but also their long-term preservation, environmental sustainability, and robust data protection. Our technical infrastructure is a deliberate choice, reflecting our core values of responsibility, privacy, and durability in a digital age characterized by ephemerality and data insecurity.
A central pillar of our strategy is a commitment to a minimal carbon footprint. We consciously reject bloated, energy-intensive platforms that dominate much of the modern web. Our website is built to be highly efficient, dramatically reducing server-side energy consumption and, consequently, our environmental impact. This aligns our technical practices with our progressive educational mission, ensuring that our digital presence reflects our dedication to ecological responsibility.
The security and sovereignty of our data are paramount. The IIRS website is securely hosted through Infomaniak, a leading Swiss hosting provider renowned for its stringent data protection standards and commitment to sustainability. By partnering with Infomaniak, we ensure that our digital infrastructure operates within Switzerland’s robust legal framework for data privacy, which is fully compliant with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This provides a stable and secure environment for our public-facing platform, protecting it from common web vulnerabilities and ensuring a reliable experience for our learners.
Infomaniak’s infrastructure guarantees that our data is stored exclusively in highly secure data centers located in Switzerland, with no data transfers outside their proprietary network. This localized approach to data hosting ensures maximum sovereignty and protection against unauthorized access. Furthermore, Infomaniak’s commitment to green hosting, utilizing 100% renewable energy and maintaining rigorous environmental certifications, perfectly complements the IIRS’s own sustainability goals.
When it comes to the sensitive personal and academic data of our students, the IIRS employs an uncompromising approach to privacy and security. We recognize that true data protection often requires stepping away from the cloud. Therefore, all student data, including enrollment records, progress reports, and personal information, is stored entirely offline.
This critical information is maintained manually on secure, encrypted hard disks that are physically isolated from any internet connection. By air-gapping our student data, we make it virtually impossible for any online party, malicious actor, or automated system to access, intercept, or compromise this sensitive information. This rigorous offline storage protocol ensures the highest level of confidentiality and integrity for our learners’ records.
Student data is only accessed and processed when absolutely necessary, specifically when a learner decides to undertake the Professional of Intersectional Relationalities (PIRS) certification. At this juncture, the required information is retrieved from the secure offline storage solely for the purpose of verifying completion and issuing the certification. Once the certification process is finalized, the data is returned to its secure offline state. This intentional separation of our public educational platform from our private student records guarantees that the vital information of our community is not merely protected for the present but is securely and verifiably preserved for the duration of their educational journey with the IIRS.
To guarantee the long-term preservation of our published works against technological obsolescence or platform failure, all files are professionally archived in the Zenodo repository. Zenodo is a trusted, open-science platform operated by CERN in Switzerland, designed specifically for the long-term storage and citation of scientific and cultural data. Its robust infrastructure and institutional backing ensure that the data it holds will be preserved for decades to come.
This approach provides two critical benefits for scholarly integrity. First, every primary and secondary course material receives a persistent Digital Object Identifier (DOI) from Zenodo. This DOI is a permanent, globally unique link that will always resolve to the archived file, regardless of the status of our own website. It is the key to ensuring permanent, stable reference. Second, Zenodo’s archival process ensures the bit-level integrity of the files, protecting them from degradation or “bit rot” over time.