UNESCO aims to build an international policy agenda for digital preservation of documentary heritage through a policy dialogue on 27 October 2020.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the urgent need for universal access to documentary heritage as a knowledge resource, particularly as memory institutions seek to reopen their doors to the public on a more sustainable basis. Alongside this need is the near lack of enabling policies for preserving and giving access to documentary heritage items. This is further exacerbated by the dwindling of funds available to archives, libraries and museums, thereby increasing the risk of permanent loss of heritage.
Against this background, UNESCO is organizing an online policy dialogue among memory institutions and other stakeholders aimed at identifying policy gaps in the digital preservation of documentary heritage at risk. In so doing, the Organization is seeking to build an international policy agenda for digital preservation that will unpack the cultural, economic, technological and legal aspects around it.
The policy dialogue will take place on 27 October 2020 via ZOOM and will be split across two sessions at 8am CET and 5pm CET to accommodate an international audience across different time zones. The first session will address questions about cultural identity and sustainability, while the second will focus on technology and legal frameworks. Participants can use the same registration link for both sessions. The entire event will be livestreamed on UNESCO’s YouTube channel, and available for viewing at any time.
- Session 1: 8am CET | Register here
- Session 2: 5pm CET | Register here
The event is associated with the celebration of the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage and organized by UNESCO’s Memory of the World(MoW) Programme through the Preservation Sub-Committee of the Programme’s International Advisory Committee (IAC) and in partnership with the Information for All (IFAP) Information Preservation Working Group.