European Heritage Hub partner Europeana delved into innovation, research and development in the data space at EuropeanaTech 2023
In mid-October, tech-minded professionals, developers, researchers and students working in and around digital cultural heritage across the globe convened in the Hague, the Netherlands, and online to attend EuropeanaTech 2023 – Engage, Explore, Experience: Cultural heritage in the data space and beyond. As the fourth edition of EuropeanaTech, the event offered participants opportunities to meet with, learn from and work with peers and explore the challenges and opportunities that topics like AI and 3D bring to the sector. The event focused particularly on the digital transformation of the cultural heritage sector, while addressing and duly considering its green and social implications, fully in line with the spirit, approach and objectives of the European Heritage Hub. The European Heritage Hub project was also represented at the event, including through attendance of project representatives.
Digital engagement, opportunities and innovation were in focus, with wide ranging discussions exploring topics from virtual reality and 3D digitisation, to community archives, to ethical cultural data and the environmental impact of advanced digitisation. Keynote speeches gave insight into AI and its applications in the heritage domain, working with heritage acoustics in the reconstruction of Notre Dame and the vision for the common European data space for cultural heritage.
Rehana Schwinninger-Ladak, Head of the Unit “Interactive technologies, Digital for Culture and Education”, European Commission, gave particular insight into the latter topic, highlighting the key role that 3D will plan in the common European data space for cultural heritage, deployed by the Europeana Initiative. In particular, she drew attention to the Twin it! 3D for Europe’s culture campaign, which is mobilising all 27 EU Member States to submit one 3D digitised heritage asset to the data space by the end of the campaign in 2024. The campaign was also in focus at the Spanish Presidency Europeana conference, which continued the momentum the week after EuropeanaTech to explore accelerating 3D in the common European data space for cultural heritage: Building capacity for 3D.
All recordings from EuropeanaTech are available here. If you would like to be the first to hear about Europeana’s conference in 2024, register your interest today!
Photo © Europeana
