images from TF report on Europeana Pro.
In a 6-month period (1 Nov. 2022 – 31 Aug. 2023), various Europeana Aggregators and partners were involved in a research in the context of a new Task Force within the EAF Europeana Aggregators Forum, aiming at discussing new approaches to sharing cultural data.
The main focus of the TF was on exploring innovation based on decentralising metadata storage and accessibility, looking at the fundamental ideas related to decentralisation as well as technological implementations and the issues accompanying a possible transition to a new form of aggregation making use of technologies like the SOLID protocol, which – among other decentralised approaches to data sharing – is rising interest in the digital cultural heritage sector.
The work unfolded as a wide and intensive consultation process including interviews to Europeana Aggregators as Photoconsortium, technology experts, providers, institutions and other stakeholders, in order to:
- Familiarise aggregators (individually and as a forum) with the broad span of innovation on decentralisation (in heritage and other domains);
- Reach out to other relevant business and technology stakeholders for information and knowledge;
- Assess the feasibility of transitioning to decentralisation from the perspective of an aggregator
- Recommend to the Europeana Initiative next steps on exploring and implementing decentralisation approaches.
Recently published, the Task Force’s final report includes a high-level introduction into decentralised technologies and approaches, an overview of challenges presented to the current aggregation landscape and opportunities how these could be addressed from the perspective of a decentralised approach, as well as a set of recommendations for next steps in the transition towards the Data Space.
Read more on the Europeana Pro blog
This action and blog are part of the European Data Space for Cultural Heritage activities, financed by the Digital Europe Programme of the European Union.
