Industry Update: Free event to celebrate digital skills success in UK heritage

Arts Marketing Association has this month launched ‘Reflect, Share, Inspire — Digital Skills for Heritage’: a free event celebrating the wealth of resources created by The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Digital Skills for Heritage Initiative.

Delegates can attend either online or in-person at The British Museum in London on 18 October 2023. Heritage professionals and volunteers will come together from across the UK to gain from organisations whose approach to digital has been transformed by the initiative.

Reflecting on the achievements of Digital Skills for Heritage over the past three years, speakers from projects funded by the initiative will share the learning of their inspirational digital journeys and celebrate their digital successes.

Launched by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in February 2020, the Digital Skills for Heritage initiative has supported the heritage sector to get online and raised digital skills and confidence across the UK.

100 bursaries will be available to help assist with travel and accommodation expenses of attending the in-person event.

Josie Fraser, Head of Digital Policy at the Heritage Fund, said: “The initiative has provided a £4.1 million skills and training boost to the sector, ensuring the UK is making the most of digital, and enabling more people to connect to and benefit from our heritage. This includes £1 million of Cultural Recovery Funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport which has enabled thousands of organisations to get online and to establish new, more effective ways of working.

“The National Lottery Heritage Fund is proud to have delivered digital skills development for the heritage workforce, built organisations’ digital confidence, and ensured digital is being used to deliver inclusive access to heritage. The event will be a great way to celebrate the initiative – by bringing the UK’s diverse heritage sector together to share trailblazing work and world class resources.”

Cath Hume, CEO of the Arts Marketing Association, said: “Digital plays an essential role in opening up heritage to new and more diverse audiences. As an initiative partner, we’ve seen the digital skills of organisations grow – transforming their working practices, giving them confidence to try fresh approaches, and helping to connect more people with heritage across the UK.

“It’s a privilege to be able to bring the heritage sector together to celebrate the impact of Digital Skills for Heritage.”