Conclusions of the Budapest DC-NET Conference
2011-07-05
Download the PDF file (17 kb)In June 2011 at the Budapest DC-NET Conference of EU experts coming from the field of cultural heritage and e-Infrastructure the following issues were discussed:
the rapid development of information and communication technology (including the cloud) that opens a window of opportunity for e-Infrastructure to serve Cultural Heritage and at the same time raises e-infrastructure needs of the memory institutions to be met;
the global nature of the development of e-Infrastructure's tools and resources to support Digital Cultural Heritage (DCH) researchers' global endeavours;
long term preservation that is among the highest priorities of DCH researchers and users;
legal aspects of long term preservation that are to be brought in conformity with the requirements of the information society;
the launch of a Joint Activities Plan to promote coordinated effort for more tailored e-Infrastructure services for DCH sector.
The participants of the conference agreed upon:
the importance of cooperation between the digital cultural heritage community and e-Infrastructure providers;
the evidence of benefits of a common e-Infrastructure for cultural heritage researchers and users;
that e-infrastructures must develop to meet the evolving needs of the DCH sector, and the DCH and its users must engage actively in this process;
that collaboration between DCH sector and e-infrastructure providers should be actively supported at all levels, to their mutual benefit. This collaboration can be facilitated by the emerging focus on service-oriented delivery models that encourage the creation of well-defined services that can be exploited and developed at the same time;
the necessity to develop Virtual Research Communities for DCH to allow a group of geographically dispersed researchers to work together through the use of information and communications technologies.
The participants stressed the need to raise awareness of:
the need of stronger collaboration among computing service providers, researchers and cultural institutions;
liaison with other communities with similar needs for e-infrastructure services;
the improvement of national infrastructures and their alignment with agreed standard procedures for identity management and assurance;
the challenges of data infrastructures and persistent data storage;
the dependence of Europe's leading role and global contribution on the ability to provide DCH researchers and users with access to the very best scientific and research tools of e-Infrastructure.
The participants will be informed by the DC-NET ERA-NET about the implementation of these conclusions in the DC-NET Joint Activities Plan.
