Hello
I also haven't read the report in depth but from a quick skim, it seems
that the headline findings are failing to pick up on a key issue:
The reason organisations are doing fewer digital activities, and in
particular doing less distribution of content/exhibitions and engaging
people with that content, is that these are the most expensive activities
and they have less money than before.
Organisations are likely to be doing less content production overall, and
not just digitally.
At the same time, they may be more pressured by funding requirements to do
more with local communities, to engage new/diverse audiences, and to work
in ways that they can demonstrate concrete social impacts. This can feel
harder to prove through online activity - mainly because of the way online
is used more by orgs as a channel for distribution than for interpersonal
dialogue and social change. (Though Culture24 is looking at that, which is
good!)
The report does acknowledge constraints on finances, but doesn't pick up on
it in the summary, and doesn't - as far as I can tell - go into this
particular systemic issue.
And, yes museums again suffer from being seen as a 'cultural form' akin to
an 'artform'. Museums don't just generate culture (although they do,
through commissions, experiences, events etc). Their stewardship role (as
collectors, protectors, researchers etc) always goes unrecognised in the
repeats of this study and in many others that conflate arts and museums.
Bridget
@bridgetmck
On 28 September 2017 at 10:50, Mia <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Last night Nesta launched their and Arts Council England's Digital Culture
> 2017 report: http://www.nesta.org.uk/publications/digital-culture-2017
>
> Their key findings
>
> - In 2013, arts and culture organisations averaged 9.2 types of
> digital activity each; in 2017 this has decreased to 7.8.
> - There have been increases in key activity areas related to business
> models, consistent with the rise in the perceived importance of digital –
> for example, organisations undertaking ticket sales online are up 10 per
> cent to 52 per cent since 2013.
> - Almost 70 per cent of organisations report a major positive impact
> from digital technology on their ability to deliver their mission.
> - There has been a significant increase in the proportion of
> organisations reporting a major positive impact in relation to audiences.
> - Organisations that say they experiment or take risks with digital
> technology are more likely to engage in complex activities and report
> higher levels of positive impact, particularly on their creative
> output, distribution and exhibition.
>
> And 'Five findings from the Digital Culture survey 2017'
> http://www.nesta.org.uk/blog/five-findings-digital-culture-survey-2017
>
> 1. Organisations do fewer digital activities, but are more confident about
> what works for them
> 2. Digital is now important for business models, but organisations may
> lack the skills to capitalise
> 3. Digitally-enabled audience development is on the rise
> 4. However, the potential of data remains under-exploited
> 5. Experimentation is less widespread
>
> Museums fact sheet (PDF) *http://www.nesta.org.uk/sites/default/files/dc2017_museums_factsheet.pdf
> <http://www.nesta.org.uk/sites/default/files/dc2017_museums_factsheet.pdf>*
>
> Data portal to explore the results: http://nesta2017.omnisis.co.uk/
>
> I have lots of questions (are museums really an artform? Do the large
> numbers of less digitally enabled small museums distort or reflect the
> picture of the sector? Can you meaningfully compare art galleries with
> history and science museums on every aspect of audience experience and
> collections?) but I haven't had a chance to dive into the data, and I'd
> love to know what you guys think!
>
> Cheers, Mia
>
> --------------------------------------------
> http://openobjects.org.uk/
> http://twitter.com/mia_out
> Check out my book! http://bit.ly/CrowdsourcingOurCulturalHeritage
> P.S. I mostly use this address for list mail and don't check it daily
> **************************************************************** website:
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Bridget McKenzie
www.flowassociates.com
aboutbridgetmckenzie.wordpress.com
@bridgetmck
07890 540178
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