The Role of Large Enterprises in Museum Digitization

• Main Author: Ying Wang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Bologna 2014-12-01
• Series: Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage
• Subjects: Japan; museum digitalization; collaboration among industry; government and academia
• Online Access: http://conservation-science.unibo.it/article/view/5443

By actively promoting museum digitalization, Japan finds an idiosyncratic way to museum digitalization. The mode of collaboration, in which the government plays a leading role while large enterprises’ R&D capabilities and museum’s cultural dynamics are both allowed to give full play, turns these powerful enterprises into the solid backing of museum digitalization, provides a concrete solution to the common financial and technical challenges museums face in the process. In the course of such collaboration, large enterprises succeed in cultivating a number of talents who understand both business world and museum operation. Thanks to their experiences in the business world, compared with museum professionals, they play a more vital role in marketing the potential commercial exploitation of related digital technologies. The benefits large enterprises could possibly gain from such mode of collaboration - realizing social values, enhancing corporate image, for instance - help to motivate their active involvement, thereby forming a positive cycle of sustainable development.