The Ministry of Culture has completed a new Digital Action Plan for Cultural Heritage, which sets the goal of making 55% of the cultural heritage in memory institutions available digitally by 2029.
In total, the memory institutions managed by the state contain more than 900 million heritage objects that are important for Estonian culture, which deserve to be digitized so that they are as widely accessible and usable as possible and kept safe. The Digital Action Plan for Cultural Heritage 2024-2029 is a follow-up to the previous Action Plan for 2018, which digitised documents, printed matter, photographs, films and artifacts.
"Digitization is one of the best ways to make sure that the legacy is preserved for generations to come. It also opens up new opportunities for using heritage – the emergence of new cultural phenomena and creations," said Kristiin Meos, adviser on digital cultural heritage at the Ministry of Culture.
"While in 2018 we could only talk about 10% of digitised cultural heritage, by 2023 42% were already available digitally. However, by 2029, it is planned to make another significant and big leap, which will not only ensure that our heritage is conveniently available digitally and safely preserved for those interested, but will also strengthen the cooperation of memory institutions and the joint reflection in which direction the heritage sector should move," he added.
The focus of the newly launched action plan is on the user of digital cultural heritage, with more work than ever on improving accessibility and increasing usability. There is also a greater focus on the 3D digitisation of objects, immovable monuments or archaeological material, for which there has been no national coordination so far. They are also looking for ways to organise the long-term preservation of the digital heritage outside the Estonian state border in the European Union.
As a result of the Action Plan, by 2029, 55% of the cultural heritage in memory institutions will be available digitally and 21% of priority immovable monuments will be available digitally. The proposed budget of the action plan is €20.6 million, while projects to be implemented in 2024 and 2025 will be financed by the European Regional Development Fund.
The objectives and objectives of the new action plan were formulated by the Digital Cultural Heritage Council, which advises the Minister of Culture. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, the Ministry of Education and Research, the National Library of Estonia, Estonian Public Broadcasting, the National Heritage Board, the National Archives and memory institutions all over Estonia contributed to the development of the action plan.