I’m delighted to announce the launch of a 1 year project with the South East Museum Development Programme. My colleagues and I will be working with museums in the Hampshire Solent region to develop a framework that offers audiences new digital pathways to discover cultural heritage.

The 3 elements in any Digital Identity project

If you’ve been following the Digital Identity journey over the past four years, you may have noticed that all projects have three elements in common – they are about digital, they are about change and they are rooted in a sense of place. Whether it is young entrepreneurs in Moscow, graduate students in Portland or multinational executives in Berlin, everyone who participates in Digital Identity begins by reflecting on these three elements. This creates a process that brings clarity and takes people from defining a problem to finding a solution.

About this project

This project commences in Spring 2014 and finishes early next year. It starts with ideas and ends with results. We will develop a range of storytelling techniques that will enable participating museums to build engaging narratives using social and digital media. There is also scope to look at new and emerging trends in digital. This includes pioneering work being done with 3D printing, open data and digitisation to open up and increase access to collections.

The project will be delivered in four phases that include a focus on discovery and skills-training; building storytelling campaigns; building participation in physical and virtual events and finally, building sustainability. One of the goals is to build a peer leaning network. Whilst we will provide intensive support to 5 museums, we will identify and share best practice with the 70 organisations in the region.

The Team

This is a Digital Identity project and I’m the lead consultant. We also have a range of experts who will be running workshops and offering support throughout the year. The team includes practitioners I’ve met whilst running Digital Identity workshops in 9 countries. I’m proud to say we are a truly international bunch.

The first intervention will be by Kajsa Hartig who is based in Sweden and works at the Nordiska Museet in. In 2012, Kajsa and I had a 2 hour Skype discussion about social media, critical reflection and communication. Since then we’ve run a regular seminar series in Stockholm. We’ve had participants from all across Sweden and Norway. We’ve also worked together on a change management programme. Kajsa will focus on developing content and creating a multi-channel approach to engagement. I’ll share the details of my other colleagues soon.

That’s it for now. Let me know if you have any questions. You can leave a comment below or get in touch with me via Twitter. The official announcement of the programme is available here.