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The Digital Imperative: Envisioning The Path To Sustaining Our Collective Digital Heritage

“This report is the product of a study conducted by the International Center for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) that aims to understand the challenges, needs, and goals of heritage professionals working to sustain digital heritage.

 

The objective of this project is to understand the possible scope of a proposed Sustaining Digital Heritage programme at ICCROM, and how it could fill existing gaps rather than duplicate efforts of other professional groups.

 

The research effort aims to identify:

● A prospective market for such a programme

● Constituent needs and goals

● Current capacity development offerings

● Opportunities for a future programme at ICCROM

● Key players and prospective partners

 

In this report, we share the findings from interviews with over 30 heritage professionals from around the world, and what concerns them about the sustainability of digital heritage. We then propose a model for sustaining digital heritage that responds directly to these needs. Next, we look at the current landscape of professional development training, to learn what opportunities there are for heritage professionals to gain digital skills that will help them with sustainability. Finally, we touch on ways ICCROM may be able to provide support for capacity development in this evolving and dynamic domain.“ (p.6)