Interactive platform for digitalization of museums

The epidemiological situation caused by Covid19 has put on the agenda the need for digital transformation in Europe. The pandemic affected all sectors badly, but the world of culture was hit hardest, earliest and perhaps most visible. The fact is that the cultural sector in Eastern Europe faced more serious consequences than the countries in the West. Weaker social security systems in countries such as Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia further complicated situation in the cultural sector - the unprecedented situation was a blow to both employees and consumers. This raised the question of access to cultural content and the degree of digital skills and competencies of people. Cultural figures needed to rethink their activities and competencies and focus on digitalisation, which was a way out of the crisis. Following the current changes in the labor market in the field of cultural heritage, by implementing the set activities InterDIGImuseum supported the digital readiness of the cultural sector and responded to the needs of the target groups of trainings to increase digital competences, acquire skills for digitisation of artifacts and creation new products that attract new audiences and diversify the services of cultural organisations.

The project overall objective was to help the digital transformation in the cultural heritage sector through improving the digital skills of the employed. Following the current changes in the labor market in the heritage sector, in response to the needs of the target groups, InterDIGImuseum aimed to provide new digital skills and knowledge to the adults worked in the cultural sector, thereby increasing the degree of implementation of digital technologies in the activities of the heritage organizations and increase their competitiveness. InterDIGImuseum aimed to facilitate the reaching of potential audiences and enhance the delivery and effectiveness of the proposed services of heritage organizations through presenting and advertising through digital tools. In addition, the project aimed to support the development of business models in the directly involved cultural organizations like a good practice for everyone in the sector. With the development of the intellectual products, the Project aimed to support the documentation of the collections of the associated partner museums from Vidin, Knjaževac and Korabia. This will, in the long term, improve access and help promote cultural heritage and preserve it for future generations.

With aim improvement of the existing and acquisition of new technological skills by the target groups, in order digitalization and promotion of cultural heritage and diversification of proposed services and products we implemented within the project the following activities: - Conducted 3 partnership meetings; - Conducted 3 trainings with the target groups; - Conducted Research and analysis about the degree of digitalization in European museums; - Digitalized 520 museum artifacts; - Developed Virtual tour of the three associated museums (this includes 360' filming of the museums); – Elaborated 3 films for museum exhibits of the museums -associated partners in the project (1 film for each museum); - Developed Interactive system for digitalization of museums, developed in 3 variants (1 for each of the partners); - Developed Video guide "InterDIGImuseum" with educational content about digitalization with 3 modules; - Conducted 3multiplier events for project promotion - Created and updated regularly 3 Facebook pages (for the three countries) with information about the platform and project activities.

The project aimed to improve the digital skills of adults working in the field of cultural heritage. Improving "digital skills" can be seen even more globally, in particular in the context of improving key digital competences and skills, which have a key place in EU policies to make economies more competitive, improve the well-being and prosperity of EU citizens. Thanks to the project, some of those working in the field of culture managed to improve their digitalization skills, learned how they can diversify the services offered, which will lead to a better presentation and promotion of cultural heritage in the future. All products are freely available online, enabling all representatives of the cultural sphere to benefit from our products. The project categorically addresses the problems of skills mismatch and offers tools to deal with these problems. The new situation, after the Covid - 19 crises, the rapid technological development, the single market and globalization require continuous development and complementing of personal knowledge and skills. In this dynamic labor market, working adults must have a set of knowledge, skills and habits to compete in labor market opportunities. With this project, the partners were able to motivate the target group to use new innovative technologies and incorporate digitalization into their daily work in order to reach new audiences through an innovative and attractive presentation of cultural heritage. All this as a lasting effect leads to the establishment of a digital transformation in the cultural sector. The current "InterDIGImuseum" project provides new innovative solutions for the digitization and promotion of cultural heritage. Within two years, it managed to achieve the following results: - improved existing and acquired new technological skills of the target groups, with the aim of digitization and popularization of the cultural heritage and diversification of the offered services and products; - exchange of experience between partner organizations and integration of innovative technologies and creative tools to support the sustainable development of the cultural heritage sector; - better positioning of cultural organizations in the modern digital world by integrating marketing techniques and tools, incl. developing one's own identity and brand - increased awareness among the local population about the opportunities offered by new technologies and the opportunity to experience cultural heritage; - improved cooperation and networking between various stakeholders working in the field of cultural heritage and citizens in general; - created opportunities for future partnerships, multiplication activities and upgrading of projects between partners. The concrete results achieved during the implementation of the project are in accordance with the pre-planned phases of the project as follows: 1. Results of the preparatory phase of the project: - Established a risk and quality management plan for implementation and monitoring of activities and financial resources. It regulates the obligations of each of the partner organizations in impllementtaion of activities and achievement of project indicators and was extremely useful in monitoring the quality of the performed activities and in the self-assessment of each of the partners. - Developed communication strategy of the project, which regulates the obligations of each of the partner organizations in carrying out information and publicity activities, as well as internal and external communication with the target groups, key messages, communication with the target groups and other interested parties; 2. Results of the implementation of the activities: - Held 3 partner meetings; - Conducted Surveys and analyzes on the degree of digitization in European museums - prepared two reports - Digitized in 3D and 2D format 520 museum artefacts, - Made three Virtual tours of the three connected museums (this includes 360 VR filming of the museums) - created 3 films for museum exhibits; - Developed Interactive system for digitalization of museums, developed in 3 variants for each of the partners; - Developed Video guide "InterDIGImuseum" with educational content about digitization; - Held 3 multiplication events, Held three trainings - Created 3 Facebook pages.