We believe DOORS incubation program is a future-proof framework for building digital transformation capacities in small and medium sized museums and an important steppingstone for these practitioners who are disproportionally affected by the digital gap and urgently need access to technologies and expertise. Up to today, DOORS provided a unique opportunity for museums to reflect and challenge themselves. The enthusiasm for and success of the incubation process manifested in the way that many projects built on learnings from it to become more focused, more audience-centric and define clear objectives. Many practitioners stepped out of their comfort zone and contributed to what has become an ecosystem of possibilities in terms of digital content, impact, engagement and business models. Further, DOORS brings together a fantastic range of projects across a large variety of cultural institutions, including nature, art, science, social history, and historic houses.
Also, the DOORS team deems the examination of the status-quo and the assessment of the needs of museums as an extraordinarily insightful result from the assessment phase of the project and essential for developing an Incubation Programme that responded to the current needs of small and medium-sized museums. While desk-research and targeted qualitative interviews were foreseen from the beginning on, the consortium decided to go beyond the DoA and conduct a survey on the digital maturity, status-quo and needs of the museum sector - specifically designed for small and medium sized museums. This led to a tremendously important understanding of the challenges these practitioners face and how they can be supported in their digital transformation journeys.
All the changes require a long-term commitment rather than a one-off effort. Just as well, because digital is here to stay, making the sustainability of any digital transformation a must. We acknowledge that programmes geared toward individual digital projects are important to build confidence of practitioners in small and medium size museums and bridging the existing digital gap. Programs like DOORS provide funding not only directed towards the implementation of the projects, but also for their support in necessary training and upskilling activities. For the existing digital gap to be overcome, partnerships and collaborations must be fostered, and a culture of collaboration that enables knowledge exchange and peer-to-peer learning must be embedded in the sector at large.
In addition to that, the rapid development of digital tools and the costs involved in integrating and maintaining them as part of the day-to-day activities of cultural institutions cannot be neglected. Now that museums have started doing the groundwork and are preparing for the digital transformation, it is time for policymakers and society at large to recognise the importance of keeping up the momentum and support the work done in the sector.
