Page 3 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report

Acción Cultural Española’s fourth edition of the AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report follows an editorial policy of familiarising professionals of the culture sector with the main digital trends they need to be aware of over the coming years. Since 2015, a committee has been advising us on the choice of subjects and authors for the rst part of the report. This year, a group of experts analyse issues such as content curation as a means of tackling digital overload, neuroscience applied to technology, the latest advances in arti cial intelligence, the Internet of Things and Big Data applied to culture, and the use of digital technology in music.Each year’s edition also includes a eld study: the Focus, which reports on cases of good prac- tice in digital technology in a speci c discipline. The rst edition examined the impact of digital in the world of the performing arts; the second focused on museums; and the third on the use of digital devices at fty Spanish and international culture festivals. This fourth edition surveysin depth the use of digital technology in the conservation, analysis and dissemination of our cultural heritage. This sector is rapidly growing, leading to a radical change in methodologies and formats which the author, David Ruiz Torres, analyses exhaustively.Since the publication of the rst edition of the Annual Report only a few years ago, we have seen how breakthroughs in the digital sector have now become everyday realities that are present in AC/E’s own exhibition activities, where we have turned to digital technologies to produce educational resources. Together with the Real Academia de Bellas Artes, we have taken part in a virtual reality experience for the exhibition Carlos III y la difusión de la antigüedad(Charles III and the dissemination of antiquity):a six-minute immersion in the archaeological excavations of the ancient cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii produced by the Spanish company Future Lighthouse. It was on show for three months at the Madrid, Naples and Mexico venues, where it was a great success with visitors, and is now available free of charge from the virtual games platform Steam.To present the results of the Annual Report, we rely on the collaboration and support of the Espacio Fundación Telefonica, which assists us enormously with its dissemination. Throughout the year, we will also present it at various inter- national centres and forums for digital culture. Last year these activities took us to the summit of the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies in Malta, the European Commission Working Group on the Promotion of Access to Culture via Digital Means, the MUSAC Encuentro sobre Redes en Museosy Centros de Arte in León and the Meteoriti Breaking Culture forum in Siena.Our Annual Report is the result of an in-house re ection begun four years ago on how to incorporate the digital dimension into AC/E’s goals and work in support of the culture sector. We want it to re ect the impact advances in technology are having on our society, in order to explore the changes in the culture sector and help its organisations and professionals create experiences that live up to the expectations of twenty- rst-century users.Elvira Marco Director general Acción Cultural Española (ACAC/E DIGITAL CULTURE ANNUAL REPORT 20173Smart culture. Analysis of digital trends