£1/2 million research fund to stimulate digital innovation in arts and culture

7/6/2011

Arts Council England, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) today (Tuesday 7 June) announced the Digital R&D Fund for Arts and Culture, a new £500,000 fund for projects that will harness digital technologies to connect with wider audiences and explore new ways of working. This follows a speech by Culture Minister Ed Vaizey at the National Theatre in January, calling for cultural organisations to embrace new technologies and the opportunities they offer.

Arts and cultural organisations are being asked to work with those with digital expertise to help them understand the potential offered by new technologies and together develop innovative project proposals for submission to the new research fund

It is hoped that the research and development projects, supported by the Digital R&D Fund for Arts and Culture, will have the potential to produce new data and research insights that can be shared with, and benefit, other organisations in the arts and culture sector.

Hasan Bakhshi, director of creative industries in NESTA's policy and research unit, says: 'The rapid development of digital technologies opens up exciting new opportunities for the UK's world-renowned arts and culture sector. Through this programme we hope to explore what these opportunities are, and rigorously assess them to understand how these technologies can benefit the wider sector.'

Alan Davey, Chief Executive, Arts Council England, said:  'Through projects like the National Theatre's NT Live and the RSC's 'Such Tweet Sorrow' we've already seen the massive potential art and technology partnerships have to transform the way people connect with the arts.

'How the cultural sectors engage with emerging and existing digital technologies in the next few years will have far reaching effects on our creative, social and economic lives, as artists and audience members. 

'This fund is a golden opportunity for cultural organisations to partner with technical experts, get to grips with the detail, and reap rich rewards.  I'm excited to see the ideas they come up with.'

Professor Rick Rylance, Chief Executive of the AHRC, says: 'We're delighted to be collaborating with NESTA and the Arts Council on this exciting initiative. Digital technologies are manifestly altering our world. We can only glimpse their potential for the performing arts and the transformations they might bring. So we keenly need research. This project offers arts and humanities researchers the chance to work collaboratively with arts organisations and cutting-edge technologists to look into a future that might well be present almost before we know it.'

Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture, Communications, and the Creative Industries, says: 'I'm delighted to see NESTA, AHRC and the Arts Council collaborating in such a vital area. Our lives are increasingly defined by how we engage and interact with the world digitally and cultural organisations can't afford to be left behind. Too often finances, structures or traditions can constrain the arts from making best use of the technology which now sits at the heart of many people's everyday lives. This programme seeks to show how digital technology can revolutionise our cultural engagement, helping people to derive greater value from cultural activities and to find new ways to generate income. I look forward to seeing the innovative and exciting ideas put forward.'

The call for applications follows a scoping exercise with the sector to determine the areas and themes of most importance. This exercise revealed several themes that the sector is keen to explore and proposals are sought in the following six areas: user-generated content and social media; distribution; mobile, location and games; data; resources and education & learning*.

Organisations that are eligible to apply to the programme include visual and performing arts organisations, cultural organisations in England including arts and cultural archives, literary organisations, museums and galleries, libraries, commercial arts and cultural organisations and creative industry businesses (where the funded activity is self-contained and has a clear benefit to the public).

Applications from arts and cultural organisations are invited from today (Tuesday 7 June) until Friday 2 September 2011. Following interviews with shortlisted applicants, successful applications will be announced in October.

For further information and to submit an application, visit www.nesta.org.uk, www.artscouncil.org.uk or www.ahrc.ac.uk.

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Notes to editors:

* Further information on the six key areas for proposals:

1. User generated content and social media - harnessing the power of the Internet and social media to reach audiences and to give them a platform for discussion, participation and creativity.
2. Distribution - using digital technologies to deliver artistic and cultural experiences and content in new ways.
3. Mobile, location and games - developing a new generation of mobile and location-based experiences and services, including games.
4. Data and archives - making archives, collections and other data more widely available to other arts and cultural organisations and the general public.
5. Resources - Using digital technologies to improve the way in which arts and cultural organisations are run, including business efficiency and income generation, and the way in which they collaborate with each other.
6. Education & learning - developing interactive education and learning resources for children, teachers, young people, adult learners and arts and cultural sector professionals.

For more information, please contact:

NESTA:  Jan Singleton 020 7438 2606/ jan.singleton@nesta.org.uk

Arts Council England:  Emma Russell, Media Relations Officer 0207 973 6890/ emma.russell@artscouncil.org.uk

AHRC: Dr Philip Pothen, Head of Communications 01793 416022/ P.Pothen@ahrc.ac.uk

About NESTA

NESTA is the UK's foremost independent expert on how innovation can solve some of the country's major economic and social challenges. Its work is enabled by an endowment, funded by the National Lottery, and it continues to operate at no cost to the taxpayer.

NESTA is a world leader in its field and carries out its work through a blend of experimental programmes, analytical research and investment in early-stage companies. For further information, and to read more about NT Live, which broadcast live theatre performances onto cinema screens across the UK and worldwide, visit www.nesta.org.uk   

About Arts Council England

Arts Council England works to get great art to everyone by championing, developing and investing in artistic experiences that enrich people's lives. We support a range of artistic activities from theatre to music, literature to dance, photography to digital art, and carnival to crafts. Great art inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves, and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2011 and 2015, we will invest £1.4 billion of public money from government and a further £0.85 billion from the National Lottery to create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.  www.artscouncil.org.uk

About AHRC

The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC): Each year the AHRC provides approximately £100 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes hundreds of research awards ranging from individual fellowships to major collaborative projects as well as over 1,100 studentship awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.