Digital R&D Scotland: Analysing round one

After the first call for Digital R&D Scotland programme closed, we spent some time analysing the data from each of the 51 applications submitted to Nesta. The complete analytics document can be found on our website.

The analytics document examines geographic location, the types of organisations who applied for the fund and sizes of budgets requested. Also, through the application process we asked each cultural organisation to select a theme to categorise their applications. What we found most interesting was that none of the 51 applications chose the 'Fundraising - using technology to generate giving, sponsorship and membership', while more than half of applicants selected 'Digital Content Distribution - delivering content in new ways'.

Tom Fleming Creative Consultancy has created some case studies for the R&D Scotland programme to highlight the importance of digital technology to expand and develop relationships and streamline practice. One of the case studies within the document is that of CLICKISTAN which was created for New York's Whitney Museum and used for a limited time as a way of generating giving.

CLICKISTAN was used on the museum's website so that when the levels of the game were completed the user was asked to support the museum's annual fund. This new way of generating donations was successful because the viral game attracted new audiences to the museum website. The structure is currently being refined but this example shows how a new idea, which involves taking an audience on a journey, helped in generating donations.

Another case study featured is The Waste Land App for iPad, based on T.S Eliot's 1922 poem of the same name. The app focuses on bringing the poem alive by using interactive notes, recorded readings, video performance, copies of original manuscripts and interviews with artists and commentators. The app is an innovative tool for use in the classroom as it allows manuscripts and recordings of the poet to be accessible, showing how material can be shared and used in new ways through digital technology.

These examples show how small digital interventions can have great impact on how people engage with art and culture to generate revenue and attract new audiences.

Author

Morbhen Rattray

Morbhen Rattray

Morbhen Rattray

Team Coordinator

Morbhen was Team Coordinator for Nesta in Scotland. She supported a range of different programmes in Scotland including Digital Education, Digital Research and Development Fund for Art…

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