diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index ec70f75560773b1b4dc68dfd565d8308fb17bedc..070cf249531efbf6da1f28ba226d221b1a21aeaf 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.6.6
+1.7.0-beta2
diff --git a/arkindex/system_workers.yml b/arkindex/system_workers.yml
index 3d146aa7f65e41a0773b812f00393966ffc70e21..76e85cb08adeee8315787ff07ce25fcadae40b32 100644
--- a/arkindex/system_workers.yml
+++ b/arkindex/system_workers.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # When releasing Arkindex, check that the Docker images set here are up to date,
 # then update the `version` to the current Arkindex version as set in the `VERSION` file
 # to confirm that the images have been manually checked.
-version: 1.6.6
+version: 1.7.0-beta2
 
 features:
     file_import: