Dear MCG'ers,
I thought the Digital Britain-watchers amongst you might be interested in an event which took place at NESTA this morning at which Stephen Carter gave his first public comments on the review process. I have blogged the event at http://openculture.collectionstrustblogs.org.uk (with thanks to Bridget Mackenzie at Flow Associates for the heads-up about the event) and will continue to update with further Digital Britain information as it becomes available.
Although Digital Britain isn't explicitly about museums, as I have mentioned before it is likely to set the overall priorities within which our digital development takes place in the next few years. Stephen Carter's view of the need to address 'poetry, plumbing and proficiency' is particularly interesting, as is the emphasis being placed on digital access to public services (which include museums in case you were wondering..)
There is an interesting challenge too about the economics of all this - basically, no media-based industry knows where its money will be coming from in 10 years time and this includes museums. If we are genuinely expected to make a contribution to a Digital Economy, we are going to have to look at what a meaningful return on investment for all of our Digital work looks like (and whether it is a dividend in terms of cash money or public benefit).
Thinking back to the OfCOM criticism of our sector's online offering as fragmented and of variable quality, there is an opportunity for us to create a coordinated and coherent vision of what UK museums, collectively, can contribute to Digital Britain. This is a theme to which we will be returning over the next couple of months and I'd welcome any and all thoughts from the list as to how this could be achieved!
All best,
Nick
Nick Poole
Chief Executive
Collections Trust
Registered offices: 22 Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 1JP
Registered Charity no. 273984
Telephone (switchboard): 01223 316 028
www.collectionstrust.org.uk
www.collectionslink.org.uk
www.culturalpropertyadvice.gov.uk
www.discs-uk.info
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