TeLearn - DigiCult

ICT Work Programmes before 2011

The Work Programme 2009-10

In the second ICT Work Programme under FP7, defining the targets for 2009-2010, ICT research related to cultural resources was addressed under Challenge 4, Objective 4.1: 'Digital Libraries and Preservation'.

The current page provides a summary. The full text is available as PDF file.

For additional information, please consult also the presentations given at the information day in October 2009 and the background notes.

Proposals could be submitted until 13 April 2010 under ICT Call 6.

Target outcomes

• Scalable systems and services for preserving digital content, handling end-to-end workflows for different types of digital resources, including demonstration in large scale testbeds;
• Advanced preservation scenarios: methods, models and tools for managing digital memory, focusing on challenging preservation problems which cannot be adequately handled by current models; This research should either explore the preservation of complex objects or generate intelligent systems that can support decision-making related to the appraisal, selection and long-term management of digital resources.
• Innovative solutions for assembling multimedia digital libraries for collaborative use in specific contexts and communities, enhancing scholarly understanding and experiences of digital cultural heritage;
• Adaptive cultural experiences exploring the potential of ICT for creating personalised views of various forms of cultural expression;
• Interdisciplinary research networks bridging technological domains (e.g. computing models, knowledge representation, visualisation and graphics), information and archival sciences, and social and cognitive sciences;
• Promoting the uptake of EC-funded research, enabling the deployment of new ICT-based cultural and memory preservation services, and leveraging the impact of associated national initiatives; identification of future Grand Challenges; establishment of a pan-European network of living 'memory centres'.

Expected impact

• Significant advances in the ability to offer customisable access services to scientific and cultural digital resources, improving their use, experiencing and understandings;
• Reinforced capacity of organisations to preserve digital content in a more effective and cost-efficient manner, safeguarding the authenticity and integrity of these records;
• Significant reduction in the loss of irreplaceable information and new opportunities for its re-use, contributing to efficient knowledge production;
• Leading edge research in Europe strengthened through restructuring of the digital libraries and digital preservation research landscape. Leveraged impact of research results.

The Work Programme 2007-08

In the first ICT Work Programme under FP7, which described the research priorities for 2007-2008, digital libraries and digital preservation research was part of Challenge 4, 'Digital Libraries and Content'. One objective under Challenge 4 was 'Digital libraries and technology-enhanced learning'.

Target outcomes

Large-scale European-wide digital libraries of cultural and scientific multi-format and multi-source digital objects, assisting communities of practice in the creative use of content in multilingual and multidisciplinary contexts, and based on:

• robust and scalable environments;
• cost-effective digitisation processes;
• semantic-based search facilities;
• tools for preservation of digital content.

New approaches to digital preservation, where advanced ICTs would support:

• acting on high volumes of dynamic and volatile digital content (notably web content);
• safeguarding integrity, authenticity and accessibility over time;
• keeping track of contexts (evolving meaning and usage);
• enabling automatic and self-organising preservation.

Expected impact

• Unlock organisations' and people's ability to access digital content and to preserve it over time;
• EU-wide massive digitisation and long term preservation of digital resources.

Background

As part of the preparation of the work programme, the European Commission organised on 14 November 2006 a workshop on centres of competence for digitisation and digital preservation. The report ( 408KB) is available for download.