We present an analytical review “Ways to Develop professional digital competencies in the cultural heritage sector“, prepared in the initiative of experts of the NGO Agency for European Innovation (WG4 UNP) in cooperation with a wide range of organizations representing the educational, artistic and technological environment of Ukraine, local level, as well as business from the IT environment.
We continue to share the results of initiatives supported by the UNP in 2021 under the project “Support to the Ukrainian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (UNP EaP CSF) in 2021-2023”, administered by the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting funded by the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum and the European Union.
Purpose of the initiative. Development of digital transformation processes in the cultural heritage sector by increasing the level of digital competencies of all stakeholders.
The following took part in the direct participation in the implementation of this initiative:
- NGO GraDeSvit, which includes representatives of the professional movement “Digital Heritage”, which provided access to its materials and involved in the survey of ICT experts in the cultural heritage and business environment IT;
- Department of Computer Science, Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts;
- Women’s Charitable Organization “Nashi Viziyi”, a member of WG4 UNP EaP;
- Zhytomyr Regional Non-Governmental Organization “Association of United Arts”, member of WG4 UNP EaP.
One of the systemic problems of digital backlog in the cultural heritage sector of Ukraine is outdated training programs in specialized Institutions of higher education, the practical lack of training programs for the management of memory institutions and the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy on the use of digital technologies, as well as the lack of training programs for interdisciplinary training of specialists of cultural institutions and IT specialists.
This situation leads to such negative consequences as the reduction of economic indicators of the cultural and tourism sector, which is a powerful promising economic resource of the country; loss of cultural values and national identity; increasing threats to national, territorial and state security.
In contrast to European and even post-Soviet Eastern European countries, Ukrainian education has virtually no practice of rapidly introducing topics related to the digitization of cultural heritage and new technologies into curricula and disciplines. And as a result there is a lack of systematic formation of digital competence of future professionals in the socio-cultural sphere.
The needs of the target audience were researched through questionnaires and online discussions with the participation of representatives of all regions of Ukraine.
The target audience survey aimed at three research goals:
- determining the general level of awareness in digital technologies of specialists working in the cultural heritage sector;
- determination of the state of digitalization of memory institutions;
- determining the needs of specialists of memory institutions in special knowledge of digital technologies and their needs for the development of professional digital competencies.
The survey was attended by 255 respondents: heads of departments and divisions, specialists of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, departments of culture of large cities and local communities, heads and specialists of memory institutions (libraries, museums, archives). faculty, students and graduates of the Institution of higher education, representatives of the IT sector who are interested in implementing projects in the field of cultural heritage. To a large extent, the results of the survey became the basis for a number of important conclusions and proposals of our initiative.
An Analytical Document has been prepared, which consists of 5 chapters of the main text and 6 appendices. For ease of use of the document in the electronic version, the main text includes only links to applications that can be downloaded or viewed separately from the main document.
Authors of the study:
Olha Barkova prepared Chapters 1 and 3, as well as Annexes A, F, G.
Olena Chaikovska prepared Chapters 2 and 4, as well as Annexes B, C, D, H.
Chapter 5 was prepared jointly by all authors.
Ivan Kulchytskyy performed the general editing of the final version of the analytical document. In the process of editing and discussing the materials, the members of WG4 UNP EaP provided significant assistance, and comments and remarks from Oksana Polivchak were especially useful.
Information campaign
Two large public events were held with the participation of stakeholders, and the materials of the initiative were presented at the meetings of WG4 UNP EaP and at the annual conference UNP EaP.
On November 5, 2021, the online event Digitization of Cultural Heritage: Competences and Projects was held. The event was attended by representatives of various organizations of the heritage sector, representatives of donors and central structures of Ukraine, representatives of the IT sector and educators. All this provided an opportunity to test the main hypotheses of our initiative and continue to prepare an analytical document in the right direction.
On December 9, 2021, a mixed round table was held in Kyiv to discuss proposals prepared under the initiative “Ways to develop professional digital competences in the cultural heritage sector.”
Advocacy campaign
The analytical document provides recommendations for digital education, training, training and retraining of specialists in the cultural heritage sector.
Among the presented conclusions and recommendations it is expedient to allocate the following offers:
- Develop a wide range of advanced training courses in the field of digital competence, as well as interdisciplinary educational and research programs;
- Introduce the organization of the dual form of education in higher education institutions on the basis of organizations, institutions, companies, enterprises of all forms of ownership that deal with the digitization of cultural heritage;
- Provide state support for the development of professional standards in the fields of knowledge “Information Technology” and “Culture and Art”;
- Provide state support for the development of standards for the digitization of cultural heritage;
- Create a platform for interaction between the cultural heritage sector and IT to find common ground between stakeholders and identify practical ways to benefit each other;
- Support the establishment of a system of Digital Competence Centers in the cultural heritage sector;
- Develop a Digital Competence Framework for cultural heritage workers.
Launch an annual exhibition-fair of digital technologies for culture and cultural heritage
Recommend the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy and the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation to analyze the experience of implemented digitization projects in order to make proposals on the technological basis of digitization and reuse of IT tools, as well as to identify groups of organizations and experts with experience in such projects. involvement of memory institutions in digitization processes.
Stakeholders were involved (heads of departments and divisions, specialists of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, departments of culture of large cities and local communities, heads and specialists of memory institutions (libraries, museums, archives), faculty, students and graduates of the Institutions of higher education, representatives of the IT sector who are interested in the implementation of projects in the field of cultural heritage) to respond to the questionnaire and to participate in activities. We received their reaction to the high level of interest in the results of our initiative.
The event was also attended by representatives of the UCF and other structures involved in the process of digitalization in the field of culture. Therefore, we hope that our further efforts to advance the recommendations of the initiative will be successful.
The initiative was implemented within the framework of the project “Support to the activities of the UNP EaP CSF in 2021-2023”, funded by the European Union, the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum and implemented by the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting.
