OPEN Public consultation on digital for cultural heritage
Factual Summary Report on the open public consultation on digital for Cultural Heritage
Disclaimer: The views presented in this factual summary report are not the views of the European Commission but of the stakeholders that participated in this open public consultation. It cannot in any circumstances be regarded as the official position of the Commission or its services.
TEASER: The public consultation opened on 22 June 2020 and closed on 14 September 2020. The overall number of responses submitted was 565. The aim of the consultation was to gather stakeholders’opinions on digitisation and digital transformation in the cultural heritage sector, as well as on the Commission’s Recommendation on the digitisation and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation (2011/711/EU). The factual summary report provides some keybackground information and preliminary trends, focusing on quantitative aspects.
Objectives of the consultation
Advancements in technology are opening up fresh opportunities to digitise cultural heritage for preservation, conservation, restoration, research, as well as for broader online access and re-use by citizens and various sectors, such as tourism.
More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent measures taken across Member States have highlighted not only a practical need for virtually accessible cultural heritage, but also the advantages of having the necessary digital tools in place.
The consultation collected views from citizens, public administrations, cultural heritage institutions, international organisations and networks, the Europeana ecosystem, companies, research organisations, and academia.
The questions covered in the consultation were about:
a) the importance of digitisation and digital transformation in the cultural heritage sector and the ways of supporting such processes.
b) the relevance and future of the Commission’s Recommendation (2011/711/EU).
Who replied to the consultation?
There were 565 respondents, including 186 citizens, 145 academic/research institutions, 68 public authorities, 53 companies/business organisations, 37 NGOs, and 75 other interested parties.
About half of the respondents indicated that they are active in the culture sector (261 responses), followed by education or research (169), Technology/ICT (60), Creative arts/media (29), Tourism (3). 42 respondents indicated that they are active in another sector.
As shown by f
igure 1.1
, the replies came from all EU Member States. The majority of responses were submitted by individuals in Germany (98 responses), Italy (63), the Netherlands (49), Portugal (39), Spain (38). Around 9.2% of responses were from non-EU countries.
Figure 1.1 What is your country of origin?
Source: Open public consultation on digital access to European cultural heritage. N=564
Figure 1.2
Respondents by stakeholder group.
Source: Open public consultation on digital access to European cultural heritage. N=564
Figure 1.3. Q2. In which sector are you or your organisation active?
Source: Open public consultation on digital access to European cultural heritage. N=564
Preliminary findings observed in the replies
The main questions focused on contextual information, digitisation of cultural heritage, using and re-using digitised material, digital transformation and specific questions on the Recommendation. The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the sector was explored in each section.
Cultural heritage sector in the context of COVID-19 crisis
Respondents were asked how the COVID-19 crisis has affected their organisations. Almost half of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that their income had been affected; almost half strongly agreed or agreed having struggled with advanced digital skills needed to manage their online presence.
An overwhelming majority of respondents (~98%) considered that digital technologies will be important or very important to make their organisations more resilient in the future.
Digitising cultural heritage
Based on lessons learned from the COVID-19 crisis, 67% of respondents strongly agreed and 27% agreed that digital technologies can help in the reconstruction of damaged cultural heritage.
Also, almost 80% strongly agreed that digital technologies can help increase the number of people accessing cultural heritage through the Internet, and 81% strongly agreed that digitisation, online access and digital preservation of cultural heritage are important to society.
Almost 97% of respondents considered important or very important to digitise endangered cultural heritage objects, buildings or sites; 98% regarded very important and important to digitise collections from museums, libraries, archives (including audiovisual and sound archives). Similarly, 95% considered it to be very important or important to digitise historical buildings, monuments and archaeological sites, and 91% for intangible cultural heritage.
In addition, applications of 3D technologies in the area of cultural heritage were considered very valuable. For example, 92% considered 3D valuable or very valuable for creating digital twins of cultural heritage buildings, monuments and sites, 91% for museum objects, 93% for cultural heritage buildings, monuments and sites or museum object for online visualisation, and 88% for cultural heritage buildings, monuments and sites or museum object for immersive experiences.
Using and re-using digitised cultural heritage assets
Almost all respondents (98%) considered that improving online access to digital cultural heritage is very important or important.
Figure 1.4. Q14. How important is it to improve online access to digital cultural heritage?
Source: Open public consultation on digital access to European cultural heritage. N=559
There is broad support for having digitised cultural heritage content available for re-use in some activities and sectors. 85% considered it very important for research, same for education, 30% for tourism, 45% for creative industries and 43% for technology/ICT.
Moreover, 90% agreed or strongly agreed that digital technologies can empower and encourage people into more active and creative cultural participation such as blogging their own cultural content online or developing new content.
Digital transformation
Respondents were asked about the importance of and the need to support digital transformation in the cultural heritage sector in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis. 81% strongly agreed that the EU and Member States should intensify their actions to help cultural heritage institutions to address the challenges and seize the opportunities of the digital era.
Figure 1.5. Q24a. The EU and the Member States should intensify their actions to help cultural heritage institutions to address the challenges and seize the opportunities of the digital era
Source: Open public consultation on digital access to European cultural heritage. N=556
Moreover, 49% strongly agreed and 32% agreed that the digital transformation of European cultural heritage institutions should be addressed and coordinated at the EU level and almost 60% strongly agreed (in addition to 28% who agreed) that the EU’s support to Europeana is important.
Specific questions about Recommendation 2011/711/EU
Some 187 stakeholders responded to specific questions about the Recommendation, related to its effectiveness, coherence, EU-added value and proportionality.
Out of this group of respondents, almost 33% agreed and 8% strongy agreed that the Recommendation had been implemented effectively while almost 35% neither agreed nor disagreed (Figure 1.6).
Figure 1.6. Q26a. The provisions of the Recommendation have been implemented effectively and have achieved their objective to improve conditions in the areas addressed
Source: Open public consultation on digital access to European cultural heritage. N=187
A large proportion of respondents (70% of the 187) strongly agreed or agreed that the benefits of implementing the Recommendation are significant and justify the costs (proportionality). Similarly, almost 60% strongly agreed or agreed that the Recommendation has been coherent with other EU policies and initiatives.
80% strongly agreed or agreed that the Recommendation provides added value compared to the initiatives that the Member States would have taken in the absence of it. Furthermore, the vast majority (95%) strongly agreed or agreed that having such a Recommendation continues to be important although it should be updated to reflect better today’s needs in the area of digitised cultural heritage and increase the potential of Europe’s cultural heritage.
Next steps
The Commission is now carrying out a deeper analysis of the replies. The results, which are non-binding for the Commission, together with other consultation activities, will feed into the Commission's work on the evaluation and potential revision of Recommendation 2011/711/EU on the digitisation and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation, over the period 2020-2021.
