Digital meets Culture

GLAMURS investigates the complex issues involved with sustainable development and green economy

A Cooperation Agreement was recently signed between RICHES and FP7 project GLAMURS. Coordinated by University of A Coruna, GLAMURS started in January 2014 and will support policymakers, businesses, and citizens to make the right decisions on the way towards a sustainable future. GLAMURS will create communicative contexts on European and regional levels to investi
gate how such transitions are possible. Methods such as knowledge co-production, agent based modelling, macro and micro economic modelling along with the highly integrated view of the interdisciplinary GLAMURS team will help to find greater insights into the complex issues involved with sustainable development.

Between January 2014 and December 2016 GLAMURS will focus on six lifestyle domains: energy use, housing, work-leisure-balance, food-consumption, mobility and the consumption of manufactured products. Seven case studies will help understanding of how transition to sustainable lifestyles and green economies are possible. GLAMURS will point out how lifestyles of sustainability pioneers could inspire regional actors to change political settings so that transitions to sustainable regions will become reality. At the same time, the regional and case study analyses will provide an insight into the upscaling to transitions beyond the regional levels.

The cooperation with RICHES, next to cross-dissemination and cross participation to events and initiatives, is particularly interesting for synergies, collaboration and exchanges between researchers in different domains.

Learn more: http://www.glamurs.eu/

Warsaw (Poland), 3-4 December 2015

EUscreen Conference Content in Motion: Curating Europe’s Audiovisual Heritage

The EUscreenXL project is holding an international conference on curation of audiovisual heritage. The conference takes place on December 3 and 4 in Warsaw at the National Audiovisual Institute (NInA). It is organised by the best practice network for Europe’s audiovisual heritage, EUscreen. The network is delighted to announce that the full programme for the conference, titled Content in Motion: Curating Europe’s Audiovisual Heritage, is now available.

During the 2015 international EUscreen conference, we want to discuss the benefits and challenges of memory institutions in making available online their AV collections. In six plenary sessions and three workshops, we will present various forms and models of collaboration between archives and users. In order to outline the importance of reaching audiences with digital archival collections we will start the event with a session on impact with Harry Verwayen from Europeana, Liam Wylie from RTÉ Archives and Alicja Knast representing Muzeum Śląskie in Katowice.

During the two days of discussions we will highlight experiments and projects from various collection holders, academics and researchers. We will discuss topics such as online engagement and draw into focus the topic of curating and reusing content – including the Warsaw Uprising which is probably the world’s first war documentary film made entirely from original archive materials. We will also take you on a brief tour through a 1000-year history at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews to show how the use of tools and strategies can enable visitors to come into intimate contact with the exhibition.

One of the sessions will discuss the role of AV material in scholarly research and education, other, with case studies from James Davis Google Cultural Institute and Casey E. Davis from American Archive of Public Broadcasting, will focus on contextualized and innovative forms of presentation.

In a special VIEW Journal session researchers will confront their findings on the way archives have been and are used in fresh productions and for what purpose.

The closing keynote from Dean Jansen at Amara – the world’s most popular crowdsourcing platform for subtitling video, will look at some of the benefits and challenges of bringing together individuals, communities, and organizations in the name of greater accessibility.

The aim of the conference is to identify shared goals and necessary ingredients. These should enable efficient and long-lasting partnerships within the audiovisual sector and between archives and users – be they scholars, educators or creative industry partners. We want to improve the online presence and user interaction of our audiovisual collections, detail policy making processes and identify the most efficient dissemination channels and tools for reaching audiences across Europe and the web.

The full conference programme is available under the link.

Registration for the event is still open and free of charge. Places will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information and registration for the conference please visit www.euscreenxl2015.eu and follow on Twitter: @EUscreen #EUscreen15.

Open source tool that makes it easy to use Amazon’s cloud - and Google’s

Netflix’s new Spinnaker tool

NETFLIX STREAMS TV shows and movies to more than 60 million people worldwide. It’s one of the most popular Internet video operations on earth, delivering about 10 billion hours of the stuff each month. And for the most part, it delivers all that video from hundreds of computers that belong to someone else. It runs the Netflix video empire atop Amazon’s cloud computing service—a service that lets anyone rent nearly unlimited amounts of computing power over the Internet.

The world of cloud computing is a complicated one, both technically and politically, and today, Netflix showed just how complex—and how intriguing—this new world order can be.

Over the past year, the company has built a new tool for quickly and continuously deploying its latest software code to machines running in the Amazon cloud, and this morning, it open sourced that tool, known as Spinnaker, sharing it with the world at large, so that anyone else can use it. Netflix has done something similar in the past. But Spinnaker is a little different. Netflix built the tool in tandem with Google, one of Amazon’s biggest competitors in the cloud computing market. And Spinnaker is specifically designed to deploy software to not only the Amazon cloud, but, yes, to Google’s cloud as well. Google spent a year working with Netflix to ensure this was the case.

Netflix’s Andrew Glover, who oversaw the development of Spinnaker, says that the company has no intention of moving its online empire off of the Amazon cloud and on to Google’s—even in part. Inside Netflix, engineers only use Spinnaker in delivering code to Amazon. But it’s telling that Netflix has worked closely with Google in creating Spinnaker—and that it’s publicly joining hands with Google in open sourcing it. It highlights the seemingly strange but enormously effective way that open source software helps drive the world of cloud computing. And though Netflix says it’s completely committed to running its empire on Amazon, the partnership also shows that cloud computing provides a certain freedom to move operations from place to place, and from vendor to vendor. Today, Amazon dominates the cloud computing market, pulling in an enormous $6 billion a year from cloud computing, but there’s always room for competition. No online business is stuck on one cloud, including Netflix.

Joining Forces

Google joined forces with Netflix on Spinnaker because it wants businesses to use the tool with the Google cloud. And Netflix joined forces with Google because it wants to ensure that it can take advantage of any improvements Google makes to the tool. According to Glover, Netflix has also worked with engineers at cloud computing company Pivotal to make sure that Spinnaker can also deploy code to Pivotal’s Cloud Foundry software. And Netflix plans to work with Microsoft engineers so that the tool will dovetail with the Microsoft Azure cloud service. All of this, Glover says, will help ensure that Netflix can benefit from the work of the wider community.

It’s worth remembering, however, that Amazon also offers a service called Amazon Prime Video, now a significant competitor to Netflix. Yes, that’s right: Netflix runs its empire on machine that belong to one of its biggest competitors. The modern Internet is a place where this kind of thing happens quite often, particularly in the world of cloud computing. Sure, an arrangement like this comes with risks. But it also comes with ways of mitigating those risks. Glover is still adamant that Netflix isn’t planning to use Spinnaker to spread its empire across services other than Amazon. But at the very least, Spinnaker shows that doing so is a possibility.

Would Amazon somehow mistreat Netflix for competitive reasons? There are so many reasons it wouldn’t. This would hurt Amazon’s reputation with other customers, for one. And in the long run, Netflix, one of its biggest customers, would leave its cloud entirely. But consider how Amazon has treated competing products that show up on its online store. The world’s largest online retailer recently nixed Apple TV and Google Chromecast hardware from being sold on its site. Amazon, you see, sells its own Fire TV video hardware—hardware that helps deliver the Amazon video service that directly competes with Netflix.

“This certainly makes sure that Amazon treats them well,” Rob Mee, the CEO of Pivotal, says of Spinnaker and Netflix. “Over time, this gives them a really great migration strategy, the ability to mix and max clouds, and arbitrage one against the other.”

Source: Wired – Read the full article here

The RICHES associate partner project MEMOLA just produced an interesting document

MEMOLA – European Policy Brief ” The impact of European Water Policy on the Water Cultural Heritage”

This document summarises MEMOLA project findings with regard to the impact of the European Water Policy on the cultural heritage associated with historical irrigation systems and presents suggestions for policy interventions.

MEMOLA is associated partner of RICHES project for a nice collaboration and cross dissemination of the respective areas of research, which insist on different, yet connected aspects of Cultural Heritage.

The document is available on the new RICHES RESOURCES website.

Since antiquity, irrigated agriculture has had a significant impact on ecosystems in the
Mediterranean basin, where water resources are limited and irregular in time. Furthermore, the ‘historical irrigation systems’ (HIS) have played a particular role in the ecological history of landscape, not only in southern Europe, but also in very different environmental regions across Europe.

The HIS should be understood as complex land and water management systems, which use the water gravitational potential through distribution networks with simple structures, operated on a small scale and managed by local farmer communities. They work as a socio-ecological constructs which have been able to survive during centuries, thanks to a relevant resilience capacity and a sustainable use of the natural resources. The water cultural heritage associated with these systems relates not only to the technology, items and architecture developed, but also to practices, based on traditional environmental knowledge, which have generated intangible heritage values.

In this policy brief, the impact of the EU water policy on the HIS, as well as on the values
associated with them, are analysed and some policy implications and recommendations are derived. All the findings presented here were drawn from meetings with stakeholders and from the detailed assessment of water policy documentation corresponding to the study area of MEMOLA, ‘Sierra Nevada’.

Casablanca, Morocco, 7-8 December 2015

e-AGE 2015: Revealing and Harvesting Knowledge

Integrating Arab e-infrastructure in a Global Environment, e-AGE, is an annual international event organised by the Arab States Research and Education Network, ASREN. This year, the event is being held in Casablanca, Morocco, on 07-08 December 2015, under the title “Revealing and Harvesting Knowledge”
Since its launch in December 2010, at the League of Arab States, it was decided to move every year the forum from one Arab country to another.

e-AGE 2015 is about “Revealing and Harvesting Knowledge”; it offers an Intensive program with rich sessions on various interesting topics:

Research collaboration in energy, environment, health, climate, water, agriculture, biology, economy, medicine and other pressing global issues and problems.
Perspectives on NRENs, including challenges, operation, sustainability, funding, governance, business models, security and services.
Access to research and education resources, repositories, libraries and contents, clouds, grids and HPCs.
Connectivity options including technologies, services, cables, circuits and equipment.
Internet developments and impact on R&E networks.
e-Services like e-Science, e-Government, e-Libraries, e-Learning, e*…
Virtual Research Environments, Science Gateways, Federation of Identities, eduroam, eduGAIN …

e-AGE, which intends to be the launching pad for R&E (Research and Education) connectivity and cooperation, is in line with ASREN’s major objectives, related to creating awareness, promoting R&E collaboration and joint activities and establishing human networks in order to facilitate cooperation among researchers and academicians of the Arab region and the rest of the world. The event brings together stakeholders representing regional e-Infrastructures, R&E networks and National/Regional/International organisations in order to discuss and debate new models of innovation, integration of R&E networks, policies for sustainable development in education, means of knowledge sharing and dissemination, capacity building programmes, region-wide e-infrastructure deployment to tackle today’s issues pertaining climate change, global economy, food, water scarcity, alternative energy and environmental matters.

The forum aims to fulfil the dream of a global e-infrastructure for R&E, based on real life inclusiveness beyond any political protocols.

The e-AGE platform has established itself as an important venue for networking among experts and scientists from all over the world. e-AGE 2015 will keep the focus on Intercontinental Connectivity of the Pan Arab Network. e-Infrastructures now evolving in the Arab region at both national and regional level (in more than 15 Arab countries) created or are creating important National Research and Education Networks (NRENs). At a regional level, ASREN announced the operation by the Arabian Global Educational Open PoP (AGE-OP) in London, carried out in cooperation with GEANT Association; Ankabut announced the operation by the first Arab Global Educational Open Exchange (AGE-OX) in Fujairah, carried out in cooperation with Internet2.

It is now time for e-AGE 2015 to pay more attention to users, applications, services and involvement of stakeholders in development of R&E services fostering growth and knowledge sharing. The forum, providing several sessions, panels, meetings and workshops, will be an important occasion for exchange and debate. During the conference, attendees will have moreover the possibility to personally test existing applications and services.

Following on the success of e-AGE in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, e-AGE 2015 will include events, workshops and meetings focusing on:

8th Event on Euro-Mediterranean e-Infrastructure
5th annual meeting of ASREN
AROQA 7th Annual Conference
EUMEDCONNECT3 and AfricaConnect2 Project Meetings
Technical Workshops on R&E networking on Clouds, Science Gateways and more

Language

English will be the event language; the opening ceremony will be in Arabic and English.

About ASREN

Arab States Research and Education Network (ASREN) is the association of the Arab region National Research and Education Networks (NRENs), as well as their strategic partners. It aims to implement, manage and extend sustainable Pan-Arab e-Infrastructures dedicated to Research and Education communities and to boost scientific research and cooperation in member countries, through the provision of world-class e-infrastructures and e-services.
The goal is to connect institutions in Arabia and worldwide through high-speed data-communications networks. Such networks will enable sharing of and access to a variety of research services and applications in addition to utilisation of highly sophisticated and technologically advanced computing resources, available only to very few institutions in the world. ASREN aims to foster pan-Arab collaborative research and education projects and activities and to promote scientific research, innovation and education across the Arab region.

For further info visit asrenorg.net/eage2015

The TV and Photography pilots presented at Jerusalem Conference on the Digitisation of Cultural Heritage

E-Space at EVA/Minerva 2015

On 8 and 9 November 2015 the EVA / MINERVA 12th annual international conference for professionals in cultural heritage took place at the Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem. At the event, focused on the preservation and dissemination of cultural heritage through education and training in advanced information and communication technologies (ICT), colleague Marco Rendina presented, also on behalf of Fred Truyen, the Europeana Space project and in particular the Photo and TV pilot, in a panel together with other audiovisual related projects such as EUscreenXL, presented by Maria Drabczyk of the Polish National Audiovisual Archive, Europeana Sounds, presented by David Haskiya of the Europeana Foundation, and Forward, presented by Kerstin Herlt of the European Association of Cinematheques.

The presentation raised the attention of some Israeli memory institutions, including the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, that expressed their interest in joining the photography hackathon event in Leuven next February.

For more information about the conference and the program you can visit http://www.digital-heritage.org.il/digital-heritage/

E-Space Pilot on Open & Hybrid Publishing is organizing an exhibition of still and moving image works

Photomediations: a call for creative works

The editors of Photomediations: An Open Book are working with the Europeana Space Best Practice Network to curate an exhibition (both online and physical), and recently were calling out to the photographic community to submit works for consideration.

We were looking for still and/or moving image works (as well as post-digital collages, installations and sculptures), that creatively reuse – in the form of mashups, collages, montages, tributes or pastiches – one or more original image files taken from the Europeana repository of cultural artefacts. Europeana contains millions of items from a range of Europe’s leading galleries, libraries, archives and museums: books and manuscripts, photos and paintings, television and film, sculpture and crafts, diaries and maps, sheet music and recordings. Renowned names such as the British Library in London, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Louvre in Paris are featured alongside smaller organisations across Europe. Whether you find a celebrated piece or a lesser-known work, Europeana connects you directly to the original source material.

For further information about the exhibition please visit Photomediations website.

Should you have any questions, please contact us.

This exhibition is part of Europeana Space, a project funded by the European Union’s ICT Policy Support Programme under GA n° 621037.

Visit this new website to access to the complete set of results made available by the project!

Launched the RICHES Resources website

The RICHES Consortium launched in November 2015 a new website dedicated to the RICHES resources, where all the main outcomes of the project (reports, publications, toolkits, links, etc.) are made available for any interested users.

The results of RICHES’ research fields and activities can be classified in the following two main areas:

Resources related to RESEARCH, which include: scientific publications; co-creation practices and toolkits; a taxonomy aimed at outlining the conceptual field of digital technologies applied to cultural heritage; an interactive showcase presenting case studies related to the status of digital heritage mediated by memory institutions, such as libraries and museums, allowing interested users to contribute other relevant suggestions; other case study reports such as virtual performances.
Resources related to POLICIES, which include: policy reports and recommendations to support the development of new policy for enhancing cultural heritage; foresight studies to support the development of strategic agendas and joint programming in Europe; reports of the Policy Seminars organised by the project; information about the networking activities and how to join the RICHES network; list of useful links to European, National and International policies on cultural heritage.

Visit the RICHES resources website to access to the complete set of results made available by the project!

Next meeting of the Group is scheduled in September 2016. The Call for Papers closes on 15 January 2016.

ICOM-CC Photographic Materials Working Group / Call for Papers

The Rijksmuseum Amsterdam and the Photographic Materials Working Group of ICOM-CC are pleased to announce a Call for Papers for the 2016 Photographic Materials Working Group Interim Meeting, scheduled for 21 – 24 September 2016 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Meeting theme: Uniques & Multiples. This meeting is an important gathering of photograph conservators and historians from all over the world. Past meetings have been held in Wellington, Athens, Rochester, and Paris, among other locations. The 2016 meeting will be comprised of two days of workshops and tours (21-22 September, optional) followed by two days of lectures and a poster display (23-24 September).

The Call for Paper is available here and the deadline is 15 January 2016.

Photo, anonymous, 1884 – 1892

We’re looking for short stories related to the inscriptions featured in the EAGLE Collections

EAGLE 1st Short Storytelling Contest

A touch reading of a partially-faded inscription in the catacombs of St. Alexander on via Nomentana in Rome. Picture by Giorgio Crimi.

Deadline: January 26, 2016

We’re looking for short stories! Think you can write a winning story in 2500 words or less? Enter the 1st EAGLE Short Story Contest for your chance to win Euro Amazon Voucher for up to 200 Euross, get published in EAGLE Portal and Storytelling Application and participate in the EAGLE 2016 Conference! Stories must be related to one (or more) of the inscriptions featured in one (or more) of the EAGLE Collections. Stories can be in English or any other European language, as long as you provide a 250 word abstract in English. Stories must be accessible to the public and must make use of as much multimedia (music, videos, interactive presentations, linked open data) as possible. Authors are strongly encouraged to make use of the Storytelling App. Examples can be found here.

Prizes

One First Place Winner will receive:

200 Euro Amazon Voucher
Publication of the short story title on the EAGLE portal and featured in the EAGLE Storytelling application.
A digital copy of the 2nd EAGLE International Conference Proceedings.

One Second Place Winner will receive:

100 Euro Amazon Voucher
Publication of the short story title on the EAGLE portal and featured in the EAGLE Storytelling application.
A digital copy of the 2nd EAGLE International Conference Proceedings.

How to Enter

Enter online through the EAGLE Storytelling App or submit your entry via regular email to: info@eagle-network.eu.
All entries must be accompanied by an Entry Form.
You may enter more than one story.
Your entry must be original, in English or any other European language but accompanied by an 250 word abstract in English.
Your story must be unpublished at the time of submission.
CHECK YOUR WORD COUNT! Entries exceeding the word limit will be disqualified.
For more information on the Storytelling App visit our Tutorial Center.
Click here for a Entry form. It is to be used for entries submitted via regular email.