Innovatielabs Hackathon: Open Cultuurdata

What's the problem?

Because of the Covid-19 measures, the cultural sector had to improvise ways to continue serving the public and keep its head above water. There was a huge increase in the number of livestreams and recordings of debates, performances and concerts. Cultural institutions reached new audiences – sometimes to their own surprise. Livestreams provide an excellent source of recordings of performances and concerts that can then be permanently archived. However, there are currently some constraints on these new ways of working: 1. A lack of standards for searching and archiving productions. The content isn’t available on any single platform and is hardly searchable, and no thought has been given to long-term archiving. 2. A lack of suitable business models – livestreaming is often seen as an ‘extra job’. 3. The use of platforms that are not aligned with public values for important functions such as ticket sales, streaming, cloud storage and audience interaction. This diminishes the sector’s autonomy. 4. A lack of knowledge about the creation and distribution of livestreams, and the absence of an appropriate network.

What’s the solution?

The Living Lab Open Culture Data project will address the issues mentioned above, and work on long-term ways to make digital content easily accessible to a wide audience. NPO, Waag, Sound & Vision, PublicSpaces, Tetem, InScience, STRP, Pakhuis de Zwijger, ArchiXL and Dutch Composers Now have joined forces and, with thanks to the Innovationlabs grant, have been working together for a year and a half on this project in order to develop a ‘shared facility’ that will make live events easier to find, archive and search. During Dutch Design Week 2022, we will experiment with the preliminary results. In a two-day hackathon, six teams assisted by mentors will seek new ways to reach audiences with cultural content, using calendar data and video content pre-collected from the coalition partners. We are imagining concepts such as a new kind of what’s-on calendar devoted to specific topics, like artificial intelligence or experimental jazz; a science TV channel; or a livestream guide as an alternative to an evening of linear TV viewing.

Why is this interesting to YOU?

On the last evening of the two-day hackathon, on Friday 28 October, we will hold a public event in the form of a nightclub. In the spectacular Skybar at the Microlab, you can watch the pitches for the plans that the hackathon has generated, with a drink, a bite to eat and a view of the Eindhoven and Strijp-S skyline. A jury will choose the best projects jointly with the audience. Audience members (you?) can then subscribe to the plans, and participate as a partner or tester, or contribute to developing the plan as a sponsor or entrepreneur. Anyone interested is therefore welcome. The best projects will be developed further in the course of 2022 and 2023 in the Innovation Lab. The final results will then be presented at the DDW 2023. Do you see opportunities in this ‘shared facility’ we are building around cultural live events? As a hacker, builder, entrepreneur, cultural organisation or in any other capacity? Come to the club night on Friday 28 October and join us in building a resilient cultural industry.