Digital Cultural Heritage Networks

In December 2002, representatives of European digital cultural heritage networks and projects met in Strasbourg at the Council of Europe to consult with council members on the most pressing issues related to the rapidly growing amount of digital cultural assets that should be further involved in the Council of Europe consultation process on digital cultural heritage. Salzburg Research, eCulture Group, was commissioned to conduct the survey which was made available in April 2003.

One of the major problems identified has to do with the fragmented and in many respects uncoordinated approach of networks and projects concerned with digital cultural heritage. Many initiatives work in parallel on the same or related problems with little exchange. Especially at the crossdomain level, information exchange and co-operation has not yet reached the desired degree to avoid double work and to ensure the most effective use of the anyway limited financial resources available to the cultural heritage sector. Therefore, the participants of the Strasbourg meeting decided to conduct a survey of networks to get a substantiated view on who is doing what and at which level in the European digital cultural heritage sector. The survey should finally help to identify those visionaries, opinion leaders and decision makers from digital cultural heritage networks that should be further involved in the Council of Europe consultation process on digital cultural heritage.