Giuliana DE FRANCESCO Ministero per i beni e le attività culturali

1. The Fifth SEEDI Conference – Sarajevo, 20 May 2010 DC-NET, Digital Cultural Heritage Network Giuliana DE FRANCESCO Ministero per i beni e le attività culturali Istituto centrale per il catalogo unico delle biblioteche italiane

2. Content • The project, aims and objectives • Organisation • Joining the network

3. DC-NET Project

4. The Project • ERA-NET - Coordination action contributing to the European Research Area Network • Research field: e-Infrastructure for the digital cultural heritage • Duration: 24 months • Start: December 2009

5. Main aims • Developing and strengthening the co-ordination of public research programmes in the sector of digital cultural heritage across Europe and beyond • Foster the involvement and use of e-Infrastructures • Integrating the research capacities of the participant countries • Preparing a plan of joint activities to deploy a federated European e-Infrastructure for digital cultural heritage

6. Current situation 1/2 The cultural sector demonstrates interest and capacity to engage with ICT in order to pursue the own mission: Communicating cultural information and content Making accessible, promoting and enhancing heritage collections Making research on cultural heritage Generating innovative educational products This results in projects, platforms, services for the digitisation, preservation, access, contextualisation, semantic interconnection, etc., of cultural and scientific resources. 6

7. Current situation 2/2 However: The technology in use is often limited and limiting There is little or no use of e-Infrastructures The solution adopted are frequently driven by the market offer rather than by the forefront results of the research activities 7

8. DC-NET Objectives 1/2 Dialogue: To create a ongoing forum for thedialogue between the community of the digital cultural heritage and the e-Infrastructures Coordination: To generate a common awareness of the reciprocal research focuses, identify communalities, valorise existing projects, harmonise national prorammes 8

9. DC-NET Objectives 2/2 Involvement: To involve all the relevant stakeholders,bringing together Cultural Ministries Research organisations e-Infrastructures Cultural institutions To enlarge the network to all the countries willing to join Commitment: To create a joint commitment among the participating countries to initiate the implementation of the joint activities plan 9

10. Project Partners • Italy:Ministero per i beni e le attività culturali - Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo Unico (coordinator) • Belgium:Politique scientifique fédéral/Federaal Wetenschapsbeleid - STIS • Estonia: Eesti Vabariigi Kultuuriministeerium • France: Ministère de la Culture e la Communication – Mission de la Recherce • Greece:Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού [Hellenic Ministry of Culture] • Hungary: Oktatási Kulturális Minisztérium • Slovenia: Ministrstvo za Kulturo Slovenia • Sweden: Riksarchivet

11. Project Activities 1/2 WP1 Network of common interest: Establish the network, define procedures and planning of the working groups, identify the initial set of research priorities WP2 e-Infrastructure awareness: Explore the e-Infrastructures available in each Member State, the policies, programmes and regulations which govern the access to the e-Infrastructures and the mechanisms and technical standards that need to be complied with Establish operative liaisons with National Research and Educational Networks (NREN) and GRID providers (Memorandum of Understanding) WP3 New service priorities: Review the research priorities of the cultural ministries in terms of the new services which they wish to deliver using the e-Infrastructures 11

12. Project Activities 2/2 WP4 Technical Validation Evaluate technical feasibility, cost and sustainabilityfor the implementation of the digital cultural heritage e-Infrastructure WP5 Dissemination: Technical and policy workshops Presidential conferences in Belgium and Hungary Publications, website WP6 Joint Activities Plan: To draw up a Joint Research Agenda for digital cultural heritage using e-Infrastructures To commit on the implementation of a Plan of Joint Activities, to be carried out after the EC project funding. Antonella Fresa, MiBAC EVA Moscow 30 November 2009 12

13. Joint Activities Plan The core of the Joint Activities Plan will be based on 3 main components: The development of a range of guidelines and recommendations for the exploitation of the e-Infrastructures in the digital cultural heritage, based on the successful approach of MINERVA The deployment of a data and services infrastructure. This e-infrastructure is an evolution of MICHAEL The creation of a Multidisciplinary Virtual Research Community 13

14. Organisation

15. Mechanism • The DC-NET aims to combine networking at international and at national level, and to complement a bottom-up with a top-down approach. • International WPs and National Working Groups are the engine of the network and the key asset to ensure the fulfilment of the project tasks • The mutual interaction of the two levels will ensure the engagement of the relevant stakeholders and the achievement of the coordination across the three main fields DC-NET is concerned with, while at the same time gathering a wide range ofinputs, issues, requirements, competences, demands, knowledge, etc

16. National Working Groups • The National Working Groups are the mesh of the network and the forum where the project activities take shape • National Working Groups are composed of representatives of institutions active in the field of digital technologies applied to CH: • Ministry or other national Agency responsible for the cultural policy, or institution mandated by them; • Local authorities dealing with cultural policies at local level; • Main cultural institutions engaged with digital services; • Research organisations (University Departments; Research Centres); • e-Infrastructures of interest for the cultural sector for their provision of technologies and networking and computing services; • Other outstanding cultural, scientific or technology organisations.

17. National Working Groups • Projects represented to date by DC-NET NWG members: • ATHENA, CHAIN, D4Science, DL.org, DRIVER, EFG, EUMedGrid, EUAsiaGrid, EuropeanaConnect, Europeana V.1.0,, HOPE, OpenAIRE, TELplus, TrebleClef. • MINERVA, MICHAEL, Caspar, Diligent, Delos, Bricks, Digital Preservation Europe, Imagination, Multimatch • National Research programmes and main initiatives such as CulturalItalia, CultureFrance, etc. • Regional programmes

18. National Working Groups • The interaction between National Working Groups and International Work Packages will provide the ongoing forum for coordination of European research in the field of digital technologies applied to cultural heritage • NWGs will offer the basis for the Virtual Research Community

19. National Referees • The National Referees are the junction between the national and the international level of the network • Each participating country appoints a National Referee with the task of carrying on the coordination of the network at national level, reporting to the international network on the outcome of the National Working Group activity • The National Referee establishes the National Working Group, takes care that all relevant stakeholders are represented, makes sure that the NWG provides feedback to the project WPs • The DC-NET WP leaders address to the National Referees for all the information and feedback required to fulfil the WP tasks

20. Joining the network

21. An open network • The Network of Common Interest is intended to be open to the participation of new countries in addition to the partners of DC-NET • DC-NET is currently gathering expressions of interest. Any country can participate (EU-27, Associated, Candidate, FP7 ICPC, and beyond) • A Cooperation Agreement is under preparation. It will cover: • Participation to international technical activities • Access and use of DC-NET produced materials • Participation to dissemination activities • Report on dissemination initiatives • Participation to the Advisory Body

22. Thank you for your kind attention! Giuliana De Francesco <defrancesco@beniculturali.it> http://www.dc-net.org Any questions?