TIB – Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology, in its capacity as a research facility from Lower Saxony, is contributing to this year’s Deutscher Frühling in Estonia with a symposium on the topic of the “Digitalisation of cultural heritage and its innovative use”.
The Deutscher Frühling – the country’s largest foreign culture festival – has been organised by the German Embassy and the Goethe-Institut every year since 2010. Over the course of four weeks, Germany puts on an extensive programme to present itself as a modern, diverse and creative country of the European Union. A different partner federal state is chosen to help represent Germany each time – a role being played by Lower Saxony this year.
The TIB symposium, which will take place in the National Library of Estonia in Tallinn on 12 March 2020, addresses the topic of digitalisation projects in Lower Saxony and Estonia, as well as innovative services provided by memory institutions such as museums, archives, libraries and universities. The aim of the event is for Estonia and Lower Saxony to share innovative ideas and experience, and to create new networks.
Lower Saxony’s Minister of Science and Culture, Björn Thümler, welcomes the commitment of TIB and his partners in stepping up cooperation with Estonia: “Having gained an insight into this country’s impressive achievements in the area of digitalisation during a delegation visit to Estonia with representatives from politics and science in September 2018, I am delighted that we can further develop this cooperation between Estonia and Lower Saxony. Thanks to TIB and its outstanding expertise in digital data processing for science, research and culture, we in Lower Saxony can make an important contribution to the possibilities of digitalisation in Europe. Our digital portal for cultural heritage is an excellent example of how cultural and research institutions can team up to take advantage of the opportunities of the digital world for culture enthusiasts.”
Professor Dr. Sören Auer, Director of TIB, is looking forward to exciting discussions and impetus: “Estonia plays a pioneering role in the EU in terms of digitalisation. As a research facility that seeks to digitalise science, we are delighted to team up with the Ministry for Science and Culture of Lower Saxony (MWK) to help promote European cultural exchange.”
TIB will present the TIB AV-Portal, an innovative platform for scientific videos, and the Coding da Vinci project, which helps bring together cultural heritage institutions and the hacker and designer community.
The symposium is being held with €11,800 in funding from the MWK’s Europe Programme, financed by the “Niedersächsisches Vorab” initiative of the Volkswagen Foundation (VolkswagenStiftung). Björn Thümler, Minister of Science and Culture, will contribute to the event with a welcome speech.
The MWK is building on its Europe Programme, which seeks to promote networking between local and regional initiatives from Lower Saxony and other European regions. At the same time, contributions by higher education institutions and research facilities from Lower Saxony seek to provide important impetus for the European science and research landscape, helping to reshape Europe in the process.
More information about the event and the entire programme can be found on the symposium and festival websites.
