Digital meets Culture

Brussels, 12-13 March 2015

Beyond 3D Digitisation: Applications of 3D Technology in Cultural Heritage

As a new stage of the Digital Museum Expo, this colloquium and workshop focuses on the impact of 3D digital assets for cultural heritage. Digitisation of museum objects is not a final stage, but only a start for research, conservation and interpretation. 3D offers us a new set of tools and methodologies that will change the cultural heritage domain significantly. New visualisation technologies, both online and in the museum, and new interaction technologies open a wide range of opportunities for museum curators and cultural heritage experts to share the results of their work and the value and beauty of their collection.

Royal Museum for Art and History, venue of the meeting

This event contains three parts. In the colloquium on the first day, digital heritage experts from Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy will present different applications of 3D digitisation and virtual reconstruction in research, collection management, publication, education and public presentation. In the second day, several applications are elaborated through a series of workshops. During the colloquium and workshop, a Digital Museum Expo will take place. This is a series of hands-on demonstrations of innovative applications, such as the museum installations that have been developed in the V-MusT project for the multi-museum exhibition Keys2Rome or the online visualisation of 3D digital assets in Europeana, developed in the 3D-ICONS project. Other heritage institutions and companies will be present also.

You can register for the colloquium, the workshop or both.

Please fill and send the registration form, the payment will take place on site before the beginning of the event. It will be possible to have a receipt of your payment.

Download the full programme of the event here

Download the registration form here

VENUE: Brussels, Royal Museum for Art and History

At school children should be taught digital literacy alongside English and maths, UK report says

Digital skills have the same importance as English and Maths

by Raffaele Pavoni

Children should be taught “digital literacy” as a core skill alongside maths and English, a report by a Committee on Digital Skills says. The Select Committee was appointed by the House of Lords on 12 June 2014 “to consider and report on information and communications technology, competitiveness and skills in the United Kingdom”. Computer technology brings “huge opportunities for the UK, but also significant risks”, the Committee warns. The internet should be viewed as a utility service, alongside water and electricity, it says. But without action, the UK may fall behind in the new digital era.

Among the key topics are the following:

No child should leave school without basic digital literacy. Everyday activities—such as shopping, using a telephone and banking— increasingly require interaction with technology. Digital skills (the skills needed to interact with digital technologies) are now necessary life skills. Individuals and businesses alike will need skills to protect themselves online. It is not acceptable for any group to be excluded from access to digital technologies. UK must aspire for the vast majority of the population to achieve the level of digital literacy needed to fully participate in society.
Universities should ensure all graduates are “digitally competent”. There is widespread support for the expansion of apprenticeship programmes, but the UK’s interests and ambitions need increased scale. There are not enough apprenticeships in digital subjects or apprenticeship schemes with digital featuring as an important element of content. Apprenticeships need to be seen as a viable alternative to higher education and the more traditional education routes.
Apprenticeships should have a greater emphasis on digital skills. Apprenticeships can help plug the short- and medium-term skills gap. The Committee believe 16–19 year-olds must be targeted by employers, teachers, and careers guidance professionals to enable them to choose and take up good apprenticeships. There is also a need to tackle negative perceptions of vocational education among schools, teachers, head teachers and parents.
The “paucity” of women in digital careers and in science, technology, engineering and mathematics generally risks holding back UK competitiveness. “Girls have to be engaged earlier and across all education levels” and the perception of these jobs as “male-oriented” must be addressed, the report says. The paucity of women in digital and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) is holding back UK competitiveness. Girls have to be engaged earlier and across all education levels. The perception of digital and STEM jobs and subjects as male-orientated must be addressed.

The report says 35% of current jobs in the UK could be automated within 20 years. It urges an ambitious approach to secure the UK’s digital economy, with the government acting as the “conductor of the orchestra”, focusing on business and education. “We are at a tipping point,” it says. “Digital businesses can locate anywhere in the world, and if we fail to provide the right conditions for them to flourish in the UK, we will become a branch economy, much less prosperous and influential than we could be.” The impact of new digital technology is all encompassing—from public transport to agriculture and from household goods to financial services. Analysis of ‘Big Data’ is transforming healthcare and medicine, as well as consumer and public services. The 3D printing of organs assists surgeons, whilst robotic arms can be controlled by the mind. “We are becoming more reliant on technologies for personal use, from social media and entertainment, to older people and those with long-term conditions now able to monitor their health from home”, the report says.

A digital divide persists in the UK, with some six million citizens never having used the internet and 9.5 million lacking adequate digital skills, partly because they have been “poorly served at school”, the report warns. In particular, it says, a shortage of medium and high-level digital skills “needs immediate attention” if the UK is to remain globally competitive. It urges action at all levels of the “talent pipeline – primary, secondary, further and higher education”. “The combination of poor connectivity and limited ICT skills can lead to digital exclusion for many people. It can also (…) reduce access to public services and inhibit business growth”, the report says. In turn, rural areas may “lose their competitive advantage and be seen as less attractive places to do business”, it adds. The recent “Speak Up for Rural Scotland” consultation, after all, already highlighted broadband as the key issue, recognising broadband as a vital measure to support economic growth in rural areas.

Download the “Make or Break: The UK’s Digital Future” report here.

Tirana, 13 March 2015

‘Aerial photogrammetry with drones’ Workshop

The workshop “Aerial photogrammetry surveys with drones” was held at Tirana’s National Museum on Friday, 13^th of March 2015.

Antigonea, © photo: GeoInformatiX&DroneSense-Univ. Macerata

Antigonea: dense cloud snapshot from 3D Model
© photo: GeoInformatiX&DroneSense-Univ. Macerata

It presented examples of aerial photogrammetry surveys conducted by means of drones in the Albanian Drino Valley, Valona Region, in the Hellenistic sites of Hadrianopolis, Jergucat, Frashtan and Antigonea. The surveys were carried out in the framework of the project ReBeD of Macerata’s University – organiser of the workshop together with the Italian Institute of Culture – for the documentation and promotion of the Drino valley’s cultural heritage.

The frames were elaborated with the Structure from Motion (SfM) method in order to obtain high-resolution 3D models.

Hereafter the workshop programme:

Coordinated by: Roberto Perna

9.30 – Greetings

M. Kumbaro
(Ministry of Culture)
S.E.M. Gaiani
(Ambassador of Italy)
A. Frisenna
(Head of the Italian Institutes of Culture in Tirana)
C. Pesaresi
(Adriatic Project, Marche Region)
L. Perzhita
(Head of the Albanian Archaeological Institute)

10.30 – Interventions

R. Perna
(University of Macerata)
D. Condi
(Head of the Albanian Archaeological Institute)
A. Antinori
(Geoinformatix, University of Macerata)
A. Kasi, M. Kocollari
(Regional Management Gjirokaster’s Cultural Monument)
M. Sargolini, C. Gamberoni, R. Caprodossi (Terrepuntoit, University of Camerino)

Download the programme in Italian language (PDF)

For more information visit GeoInformatiX of Alberto Antinori

http://www.digitalmeetsculture.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/rch_flyer_IPR_exe.pdf

RICHES IPR FLYER

The video of the RICHES First International Conference is online!

The RICHES International Conference held in Pisa (4-5 December 2014) concluded successfully the first year of activities of the project. Inspiring presentations delighted the audience with interesting reflections and best practice examples around the conference topic “Cultural Heritage: Recalibrating relationships”.

Speakers from within the project itself but also drawn from across the world shared their experiences with over 150 participants that attended the event.

Check the best moments and the interviews to the event speakers at the conference video!

EUDAT teams up with PRACE to support science

EUDAT News bullettin – January / February 2015

EUDAT teams up with PRACE to support science

The 11th PRACE Call for Proposals for Project Access includes a pilot with EUDAT offering the possibility to couple EUDAT storage capacity to PRACE HPC resources. EUDAT will guarantee data storage, up to 1PB (approx 150TB per pilot) for at least 24 months after the end of the PRACE grant, free of charge. Data deposited onto EUDAT resources will be available through different interfaces, including GridFTP, and maintained close to PRACE facilities to support further usage and transmission.

The deadline for applications is 18 March 2015. Read more about this exciting new collaboration on the EUDAT website.

Europe needs trust between researchers and e-infrastructure providers – Kimmo Koski

In this article, Kimmo Koski, Managing Director of CSC – IT Center for Science and EUDAT Coordinator, warns of the potentially enormous waste of resources should different research infrastructures each develop their own information and communication technology (ICT) systems. To avoid this, he emphasizes the need for trust between researchers and e-infrastructure providers and provides practical advice on how they can work together for their mutual benefit. Read the full article in the news section of the EUDAT website.

To B2SHARE or not to B2SHARE? Everything you need to get you started

Last month, EUDAT’s roving reporter caught up with B2SHARE product manager Carl Johan Håkansson to find out about B2SHARE. In this interview he explains B2SHARE’s importance for researchers wishing to share data, sets out what kinds of data it might be used for and at what stage, and demonstrates why it offers a reliable, sustainable solution for data sharing. An essential introduction to B2SHARE, as well as the purpose and principles behind sharing research data, the interview is available to read on the EUDAT website.

Augusto Burgueño sets out his vision for e-infrastructures in Europe

A year ago, Augusto Burgueño Arjona was appointed e-Infrastructures Head of Unit within DG CONNECT at the European Commission. This unit is responsible for funding ICT-based infrastructures and services that cut across a broad range of user disciplines, including EUDAT. In December 2014, Augusto launched a personal blog where he shares his personal views on research e-Infrastructures to encourage discussion, stimulate debate and receive feedback. Find out more on the EUDAT website.

The RICHES Digital Copyright Framework is available online!

RICHES Intellectual Property Rights strategy: the move from analogue to digital and new forms of IPR

The firsts outcomes of the IPR research conducted in the framework of the RICHES project are available on the project website. The project addresses the challenges that digital cultural practices pose to existing copyright law and argues for new perspectives on Intellectual Property Rights. RICHES is at the forefront of re-thinking the intersections between cultural heritage, copyright and human (cultural) rights in the digitised era. How should we re-think the IPR framework that supports our cultural heritage system in order to respond to the changing and challenging times?

The RICHES Digital Copyright Framework – Re-thinking Intellectual Property Relationships within the Cultural Heritage Sector. This is a foundation strategy and a legal framework for understanding the relationship between IPR, copyright and Human Rights in the digital economy and its importance for: digital cultural heritage; cultural heritage that is transformed from analogue to digital and cultural working practices that embrace co-creation as the norm.

Available to download at: www.riches-project.eu/deliverables.html

For a quick overview on the project IPR Strategy, check the RICHES IPR flyer.

Abstract submission deadline: 31st March 2015

CALL FOR BOOK CHAPTERS “Cultural Heritage in a Changing World”

In the 21st century the world faces epochal changes which affect every part of society, including the arenas in which Cultural Heritage is made, held, collected, curated, exhibited, or simply exists. The RICHES project is preparing a publication about these changes, and has opened a call for contributions to the book.

RICHES is a research project funded by the European Commission within the 7th Framework Programme in the domain of Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities. Its main objective is to reduce the distance between people and culture, recalibrating the relationship between heritage professionals and heritage users in order to maximise cultural creativity and ensure that the whole European community can benefit from the social and economic potential of Cultural Heritage.

The book will focus on the decentring of culture and cultural heritage away from institutional structures towards the individual. With the advent of digital technologies what questions do we need to ask and answer in relation to how we understand, collect and make available Europe’s cultural heritage. How do we migrate from the analogue to the digital? In what ways is the individual forcing a rethinking of the institution? What hierarchies of knowledge, expertise and authority in cultural heritage are being disrupted, transformed or undermined by the digital?

To submit your proposals for book chapters, check the full information about the call here.

The proposed contributions must be sent by the 31^st March 2015 to book@riches-project.eu using the template available here.

The portal is conformed for use on home computers, cell phones, tablets, and even Smart TVs.

Museums in Israel,
the National Portal: Beta version is available online

by our referent Ram Shimony

Museums in Israel – the National Portal is the first project of its kind to showcase Israel’s development in the preservation and nurturing of culture and heritage in the digital age.

The portal is a gateway, by means of which the collections of Israel’s museums are revealed and displayed to the general public throughout the world. The museums’ collections, which are visually outstanding, can be located and retrieved on any computer, Tablet or Smartphone, simply, easily and quickly.

Not only are Internet users able to enjoy the richness of the collections, they also have access to many millions of entries relating to culture, stored in “Europeana,” the European digital cultural library.

The establishment of the Israeli Museums Portal is a milestone in the digital preservation and empowerment project, a joint venture of the Ministry of Culture and Sport, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Heritage Division and Israel’s dozens of officially recognized museums.

[Show as slideshow]

The Collections of the Museums of Israel

Dozens of museums in Israel mount permanent and temporary exhibitions throughout the year, for their audiences to enjoy. However, the pieces placed on exhibit represent but a fraction of the collections of each, and they are accompanied by other, complementary items on loan from other museums and other public and private collections in Israel and overseas.

Museum warehouses store many additional items, which are not usually available for view by researchers or others interested in using the collections in their entirety, to learn about Israel’s heritage.

All told, about 1.5 million items in any number of fields are stored in Israel’s museums: Art; Judaica; History; Archaeology; World Cultures; Nature and Science.

The Portal

The portal is the digital gateway to a wealth of content and information on the museums of Israel, their permanent and temporary exhibitions and the items in the museums’ collections. The portal is open and freely accessible to the general public in Israel and elsewhere and has been developed to meet the needs of a number of audiences: researchers, students, teachers, tourists (domestic and incoming), families, visitors to museums on a regular basis, and new or walk-in visitors.

Functionalities include:

Comparison of items retrieved from different collections and/or museums
360 degrees view of 3D items
PDF output
Sharing
Geographic orientation

These features enhance the usability of the portal to students and researchers.

Internet surfers are treated to a visual experience, along with rich content and user-friendly tools for inquiry, retrieval, comparison and saving. The portal offers the public an interactive approach to three primary levels – museums, items and exhibitions.

Museum Level

This level is represented via a collection of museum pages. Each museum has a page in which it lists general and specific details regarding its purpose, activities, opening hours, contact and travel information, a selected assortment of all its collections, and more.

This is the first time such rich visual data on dozens of Israeli museums, have been consolidated under one roof.

A system of filters helps surfers find a specific museum based on area of specialization or region, and how to reach it using Google Maps or Waze.

Items Level

Hundreds of thousands of items worthy of public attention have been chosen from among the vast collections, to be exhibited via the museum portal. Photographs of them appear on the portal, along with much information about them, such as: artist/creator; period; style; description; history; technique; origin, etc.

The portal features world-renowned items alongside little-known pieces that are now revealed to the public for the first time. Taken together, they create an impressive, unique mosaic of culture and heritage.

In addition, as the result of cooperation between Israel and Europe, the portal can be used to access Europeana, the pan-European digital library, for surfers to find, retrieve, watch and research material. The portal also features advanced tools for retrieving items and comparing between them.

Exhibitions Level

The portal offers sample works from many of the exhibitions currently on show, as well as from those mounted previously in the museums. Surfers can locate the exhibition they seek, using search tools and filters, based on a wide range of criteria: museum; field; range of dates; exhibition name; curator, etc.

Past exhibitions are featured together with information regarding their theme, images of selected items shown on them and even a downloadable catalogue.

Conformed for the New Era

The portal is conformed for use on home computers, cell phones, tablets, and even Smart TVs. It is a lively, dynamic site that is continuously renewed with new content.

We welcome you and invite you to surf, experience and enjoy the portal at: www.museumsinisrael.gov.il/en

Atlanta (USA), 29 March – 1 April 2015

Personalized Access to Cultural Heritage (PATCH 2015) @ IUI Conference

Personalized Access to Cultural Heritage (PATCH 2015) @ IUI Conference

call for papers deadline January 16th 2015

http://patch2015.wordpress.com/

8th International Workshop on Personalized Access to Cultural Heritage (PATCH 2015) is co-located with the ACM Intelligent User Interfaces 2015 Conference in Atlanta, GA, USA, 29 March – 1 April 2015. The primary goal of this workshop is to bring together researchers & practitioners who are working on various aspects of cultural heritage and are interested in exploring the potential of state of the art technology (onsite as well as online) to enhance the CH visit experience. The expected result of the workshop is a multidisciplinary research agenda that will inform future research directions and hopefully, forge some research collaborations.

PATCH workshop series are the meeting point between state of the art cultural heritage research and personalization using technology to enhance the personal experience in cultural heritage sites. We aim at building a research agenda for personalization in CH in order to make the individual CH experience a link in a chain of a lifelong CH experience which builds on past experience, is linked to daily life and provides the foundation for future experiences. The workshop aims to be multi-disciplinary. It is intended for researchers, practitioners, and students of information and communication technologies (ICT), cultural heritage domains (museums, archives, libraries, and more), and personalization.

Submission:

Deadline for submissions is 16 January, 2015.

Paper submissions should follow the general <http://iui.acm.org/2015/authors.html> ACM SigCHI format (i.e. the same as the IUI paper format) <http://iui.acm.org/2015/authors.html> submission guidelines and must comply with the formatting instructions:
§ Full papers: max. 10 pages
§ Position papers: max. 4 pages
§ Short papers: max. 4 pages
§ Demo papers: max. 4 pages

All papers should be submitted in PDF format via the <https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=patchiui2015> online submission
system. An international panel of experts will review all submissions.

Demos need to provide links to the systems presented. Work that has already
been published should not be submitted unless it introduces a significant
addition to the previously published work.

For more information:

Spread the news: #patch2015