Reflection on the Fair of European innovators

We joined the Fair of European innovators in cultural heritage on 15th and 16th November 2018, in Brussels. The two-day event was organized by the European Commission DG RTD with EAC and DG CONNECT which which we have closely collaborated on several occasions. Aim of the event was to promote the connection between Community of Innovators and to discuss the next steps of the EU Action Plan on Cultural Heritage.

Key outtakes:
• There is a high EU commitment with Cultural Heritage, therefore support for innovation has increased. Especially for high risk innovators and participants who could be linked to linked with private investors.
• EU perceives Cultural Heritage as a force that supports jobs and growth of sustainable tourism
• The EU wants to get to know the creative industries to connect it with different sectors

Some of the challenges that were highlighted at the event, are the importance to understand the barriers of using tools for municipalities and governments. It is also vital to forge trust between creative organisations and governments. This can be done with new governance models. Another challenge that faces the creative community is how to commercialize the products that have been developed, since cultural heritage market is relatively small.

The event was concluded with the following remarks:
1. EU funding need for an extra push to enable market uptake
2. Training is desired in the existing tools and practitioners
3. There is a need for homogenous and comparable data
4. We should have an integrating approach to avoid a break down