Richard,
Did I trace the faintest note of sarcasm here?
I think that it will take a few days for the buzz about Digital Britain to die down, and thereafter it will begin to become apparent what the real opportunities and deficiencies are. I will say, though, that I am pleased to see museums not only mentioned, but mentioned in several places and in a positive light. This in itself gives us a valuable 'foot in the door' for conversations with people like Ben Bradshaw.
On a first reading, a few thoughts do present themselves:
1. The culture sector doesn't yet have a meaningful relationship with the Technology Strategy Board. This is clearly one of the organs through which the Government intends to pursue Digital Britain, and I would suggest and important place for us to start building relationships.
2. The inclusion of the UK Research Councils was both surprising and positive. Museums already have relationships, particularly with AHRC, but increasingly with EPSRC and others. These relationships are likely to be an important conduit for any Government spend which falls out of Digital Britain, and are something which we ought to be strengthening.
3. Tim Berners-Lee's appointment as 'linked data czar' is interesting - the mission to liberate publicly-funded data is something of a cause celebre in Whitehall and it seems likely to continue in spite of Tom Watson's recent - ahem - retirement. I would suggest that we bring our much-vaunted 'goldmine of content' to this party and use the opportunity to have a serious conversation about opening up cultural data in the broadest possible sense (which might include your semantic tech Richard!).
Looking forward to more discussion via the list. Or is everyone feeling a bit 'meh' about DB now?
Nick
-----Original Message-----
From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Richard Light
Sent: 17 June 2009 06:35
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Digital Britain - Final Report
In message
<[log in to unmask]>,
"Parry, R.D." <[log in to unmask]> writes
>
>As you may already be aware, 'Digital Britain: The Final Report' was
>published this afternoon and is available from:
>http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/broadcasting/6216.aspx
URLs don't lie ;-)
what we do - broadcasting
(Actually they do: a search for the "Building Britain's Future"
initiative, of which this is a part, yielded the plausible:
http://www.buildingbritainsfuture.co.uk/
which provided a few seconds' entertainment.)
>I look forward to hearing your thoughts on what you think it might mean
>for you, your institution and the sector as a whole.
A search through the document for the following words drew a blank:
semantic
RDF
linked data
So I'm very encouraged: they might just leave us to get on with things.
Richard
--
Richard Light
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