![Filmrolle [Symbolbild] (Foto: ÖFM © Eszter Kondor)](/jart/prj3/filmmuseum/images/cache/b09e6eafe493dd61262205dc919c0c40/0xA12C9DC0647A29DB0A0267A65F77DE8F.jpeg "Filmrolle [Symbolbild] (Foto: ÖFM © Eszter Kondor)")
The AVCloud project will integrate Europe's massive, underexplored AV heritage into the ECCCH through 15 real-life AV use cases.
We will test and improve the ECCCH and its functionalities and services in close collaboration between AV professionals and researchers, computer scientists and software developers. Based on our cumulative experience with advanced digitisation, preservation, exhibition, publication, curation, research and reuse of AV heritage, we will perform testing in two stages:
- First-stage testing will focus on the ECCCH's Collection Ingestion Tool (CIT) and any ECCCH AV functionalities and services that already exist or are planned by other ECCCH projects. The AVCloud Consortium will provide extensive sets of state-of-the-art AV data and perform a multilevel gap analysis and requirements elicitation (data model, vocabulary, functionalities and services) in close collaboration with the ECHOES consortium and fellow ECCCH projects. We will fill detected gaps through ECCCH AV extensions.
- Second-stage testing will again test the ECCCH, this time through multidisciplinary user trials and including the AV extensions provided by us.
What is the Cultural Heritage Cloud (ECCCH)?
The Cultural Heritage Cloud or European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage (ECCCH) is a European Union initiative to create a shared digital infrastructure that connects cultural heritage institutions and professionals across the EU. It will provide specific digital collaboration tools for the sector while removing barriers for smaller and more remote institutions.The Cultural Heritage Cloud aims to add a digital dimension to cultural heritage preservation, conservation, restoration, and enhancement by providing cutting-edge technology for artefact digitisation and artwork research. The goal is to assist cultural heritage institutions and research organisations of all sizes, and both professionals and non-professionals, in managing their digital objects more effectively.
The Cultural Heritage Cloud will facilitate this through enhanced visibility, interconnectivity, and access to scientific resources, training, and advanced digital tools. These tools will help them navigate the challenges posed by the digital transition in the cultural heritage sector.
The Cultural Heritage Cloud is being developed by the European Cloud for Heritage OpEn Science (ECHOES), a project funded by the European Commission and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), bringing together fragmented communities in the Cultural Heritage field to form a new, unified community.
ECHOES is responsible for coordinating and integrating the outcomes from all projects funded under ECCCH-related calls, including AVCloud. By adopting a holistic approach, ECHOES will establish a collaborative digital environment for all cultural heritage sector participants, fostering knowledge creation across tangible and intangible heritage assets.
The digital environment created by ECHOES will enable digitising existing knowledge and collaboratively analysing cultural heritage assets, facts, and phenomena. In this context, actors – whether human or Artificial Intelligence – can develop interpretations that enrich the understanding of cultural heritage and its surrounding context.
A core objective is to develop 'Digital Twins' of heritage objects within the Cultural Heritage Cloud. These Digital Twins will integrate multidisciplinary information, enabling users to interact with, explore, and enhance cultural heritage objects in new ways, thus encouraging collaborative, scientifically-informed knowledge creation across the sector.
By 2028, ECHOES will deliver a unified platform integrating the outputs of both EU and national cultural heritage projects. To ensure the Cultural Heritage Cloud's long-term sustainability, the project will also establish a dedicated legal entity to oversee its continuity and support the sector's evolving digital needs.
