Greg Markus, Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision
The EuropeanaTech 2023 programme is full of innovative presentations, workshops and discussions touching on many of the diverse topics relevant to our community. Here are the sessions that I am looking forward to the most - if you're feeling a bit lost or have some gaps to fill in your schedule, maybe these suggestions will help you out!
IIIF workshop on developing shared tools - in person workshop, Tuesday 10 October
The International Image Interoperability Framework is one of the longest-standing EuropeanaTech collaborators, even presenting at EuropeanaTech 2015! Since then, IIIF has never stopped progressing, paving the way and providing countless new opportunities for institutions of all sizes to share and present their collections online. Much of this progress comes from IIIF’s vibrant and dedicated community, so for anyone looking to get involved, learn more and broaden their network, this workshop is a must. Especially since it will be given by IIIF’s long-standing technical community manager Glen Robson, who is an encyclopedia of IIIF related matters both technical and community.
Keynote by Brian Katz - hybrid, Thursday 12 October
No surprise here. Brian Katz was one of my suggestions for keynotes at EuropeanaTech 2023 and I’m elated he’s presenting. Brian will share his work related to the fascinating, interdisciplinary and versatile field of heritage acoustics, a field many in the heritage sector aren't wholly aware of. This is a pity, because of how important other domains are to acoustics research - from using paintings to identify architectural changes in historic spaces, using texts to acquire first-hand acoustics of how spaces sounded thousands of years ago and more. EuropeanaTech has been raising awareness on the topic of heritage acoustics for nearly a year now (explore our news posts and upcoming webinars), and after this keynote I expect many EuropeanaTech colleagues to be desperate to work on the topic!
Cosmina Berta, Advisor for Project Management, Tools and Workflows, German Digital Library
The Europeana Conference has always been an exciting melting pot of ideas – the enthusiasm is contagious! I wish I was able to attend everything and take everything in, but as long as I am not able to clone myself, I have chosen a few highlights.
Exploring the prompt: introduction to AI image and text generators, and hands-on workshop - in person workshop, Tuesday 10 October
AI is fascinating, and this workshop promises to be an exciting and enriching experience that aligns perfectly with my interests and goals. I cannot wait to find out more about how AI can generate both images and text, as this has the potential to revolutionise various sectors, from content creation to design. I believe this workshop will provide valuable insights - plus, the hands-on aspect is particularly appealing.
From people reading to machines learning - how Gaia-X enables digital cultural heritage: a field report - hybrid, Wednesday 11 October
This session holds the promise of shedding light on the intersection of technology, data, and cultural heritage (all one can wish for, right?), making it a must-attend event for me. Firstly, the topic itself is captivating. The transformation from traditional human-centric approaches to machine learning in the context of digital cultural heritage is a paradigm shift with many implications. I look forward to learning more about Gaia-X, and the way it acts in the realm of data spaces and cloud infrastructure, and facilitates this transition.
Andrija Sagic, Head of Digitisation Department, Milutin Bojić Library
The Europeana Tech Conference is always a great place to see how the cultural heritage sector follows Tech development and innovations. This year, the unstoppable expansion of AI will no doubt bring intensive discussion, alongside many other topics of key relevance to the sector, including a focus on small cultural heritage institutions! Two sessions I am particularly excited about are:
Community Collections - how to make local cultural heritage recognised and valued? - in person, Wednesday 11 October
As we follow the development of big digital collections and huge-scale tech progression, local cultural heritage can sometimes lack visibility. I am excited to hear whether - and how - this approach could fill the gap in presenting local heritage in the digital space, and what support is available to local cultural institutions.
Moderated discussion: from shelf to Europeana - hybrid, Thursday 12 October
What do smaller cultural heritage institutions have to offer to Europeana? Probably a lot! But in order to share their collections on Europeana.eu, they need to digitise and publish them online. This panel, composed of members from the EuropeanaTech Community Task Force From Shelf to Europeana and chaired by Henk Alkemade, will focus on small cultural heritage institutions, and how they can be supported to digitise and publish their collections on Europeana.eu.
Marloes Bontje, project manager Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision
Over the years, the Europeana Conference has offered us a high-quality cross-section of topics from the fascinating intersection between heritage, digital preservation and technological advances. In this year's carefully curated programme, my attention was drawn to many proposals, so highlighting a recommendation was challenging, but the following stood out for me!
Experiencing cultural heritage in digital games: possibilities and pitfalls - online, Thursday 12 October
I am generally passionate about the totaalbeleving (total experience) of history and heritage, and VR and games can serve this well. I think we can certainly consider games as a potential form for meaningful engagement with cultural heritage, but this also necessitates reflection. I am especially interested in the discussion around historical accuracy so am curious to see what Gabriele Aroni (Manchester Metropolitan University) has to say about it in the session.
Join us
Tickets to attend EuropeanaTech 2023 onsite in the Hague have sold out but never fear - you can still reserve your spot online for free and join many of the fantastic sessions highlighted by the Steering Group!
