Technical, cultural and creative sectors unite for EuropeanaTech 2015

Technical experts, developers and researchers will discuss the challenges around storing our digital cultural heritage at the 2nd EuropeanaTech Conference in Paris next month.

These experts will come together on 12 and 13 February as the EuropeanaTech community, which comprises operators from the cultural sector, developer and IT architecture communities, and the creative industries. Bringing together these sectors offers a unique opportunity for collaboration on key issues from data modelling, multilingualism, discovery, content re-use and open source development, to Cloud and workable funding models.

EuropeanaTech 2015, which will be held at the National Library of France, will showcase the developments that have taken place and open up more collaboration and advancement as experts try to predict the future relationship between technology and cultural heritage.

Key advances, challenges and opportunities in opening up digital cultural heritage will be presented and investigated. These include fueling content re-use by improving data quality, and developing new models of interaction to aid its discovery. The broadcast media, the digital humanities and the museum sectors will all showcase international cooperation on interoperability, exchange and digital library developments, while funding models from the creative industries will be examined, and the potential of Cloud for cultural heritage explored.

The ambition of the conference and the EuropeanaTech community  is reflected in the event’s  keynote speakers, with European and international figures from across the sectors including: Emma Mulqueeny, Founder and CEO of Rewired State & Young Rewired State; Chris Welty, Google Research; Andy Neale, Director of Digital NZ; Dan Cohen, the founding Executive Director of the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA); Seb Chan, Cooper Hewitt and Smithsonian Design Museum; and George Oates, Good, Form & Spectacle.

Antoine Isaac, research and development manager at Europeana, said: 'EuropeanaTech is the place where all our community meets. We’re going to share our experience as innovators and practitioners, and marvel at the most promising stuff we’re working on. We’re also going to look hard at our collective challenges - thinking together about where our priorities must be and how we should address them. The programme is packed with inspirational talks that represent the richness of what’s happening in the field and offers opportunities for some great alchemy at people level too'.