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Introduction: Digital Transformation

Understanding the ramifications of Digital Transformation

Coordinated efforts on digitisation started in the 21st century with programmes such as E-TEN and eContentplus, in which the first Europeana project would see the light as successor to EDLNet as well as the setup of the Michael Culture network. The main stimulus for digitisation, however, came with the European Commission recommendation of 27 October 2011 on the digitisation and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation, where a very ambitious plan was laid out to digitise Europe’s heritage collections. Subsequent funding calls were issued such as the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) and the Connecting Europe Facilities (CEF), as well as the Creative Europe Programme. In the 2015-2017, the progress report "on Cultural Heritage: digitisation, Online Accessibility and Digital Preservation", it was stated that most member states had deployed a national digital strategy. 

However, as noted in the Europeana Common Culture recommendations, not all member states and regions have such a policy, let alone the required funding to actually reach the set digitisation goals, and since 2015, when it was estimated that only about 10% of Europe’s relevant heritage collections could be considered “digitised”, not much progress has been made. 

But what really has changed, is the notion of what we consider “digitisation”. That is no longer simply considered to be the scanning of heritage collections. More and more, the concept “digitalisation” is used to denote a much broader activity, which encompasses a digital approach to the whole digital workflow and the transformation of core CHI processes to adapt them to the digital world. 

These guidelines are the result of work in the different work packages of inDICEs, bringing together experts from various networks, institutions and service providers in the CH sector. It covers areas such as digital strategies, assessment, social media integration, Intellectual Property Rights, networking and collaboration, value chains and participatory practices. It relies as well on existing literature, previous expertise and best practices, as on new data collection and research. 

The goal of these guidelines and the Self-Assessment Tool (that is being created as part of the inDICEs project) is to support CHIs in assessing their readiness-to-market and their potential in the new digital era, allowing them to estimate benefits, challenges and advantages of such development, by taking into account insights on Digital Trends & Participatory Culture, IPR for Cultural Heritage, Strategic Skills, Collaborations and organisation growth and Innovation.

With this document, we aim to reach the following objectives:

  • Help decision-makers at CHIs to understand the many meanings and ramifications of Digital Transformation;
  • Explain the need for better digitalisation performance data in the CH sector and argue for the value of assessing trends, self-monitoring and assessment;
  • Discuss the concept of the inDICEs Self-Assessment Tool which is designed to support CHIs in such self-assessment and monitoring activities;
  • Provide guidelines for defining digitalisation strategies in CHIs on the basis of research done by inDICEs project partners in the first half of the project, combining expertise on participatory digital culture, legal and policy frameworks, impact assessment, and innovation. Additionally, further input was gathered during two inDICEs consultation workshops with CH professionals, policy-makers and researchers. 


This document provides the first version of the guidelines for CHIs digital transformation. The final version will be available at the end of the project after further consultation with CHIs, and made available via the self-assessment tool and the inDICEs online course.


References