Hasan Bakhshi, director of creative and digital economy at Nesta, comments on the government's Culture White Paper published today:

"The Culture White Paper's emphasis on the opportunities for alternative finance models to make public money work harder and leverage private investment is welcome. And initiatives like the Arts Impact Fund, which provide repayable finance to organisations that demonstrate social impact, should be scaled if they prove successful. Nesta is excited about piloting the new matched crowdfunding scheme with Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund, whereby organisations raising money through crowdfunding platforms can secure matched public funds.

"However, the potential for technology to address the overarching aim of increased access to art and heritage is a missed opportunity in the White Paper, outside the review of digitised collections. It would have been good to see a major push to ensure cultural institutions and public funders invest in innovation, learning from the success of activities like the Digital R&D Fund for the Arts."

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About Nesta: Nesta is the UK's innovation foundation. We help people and organisations bring great ideas to life. We do this by providing investments and grants and mobilising research, networks and skills. We are an independent charity and our work is enabled by an endowment from the National Lottery. Nesta is a registered charity in England and Wales 1144091 and Scotland SC042833

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For more information contact Laura Scarrott in Nesta’s press office on 0207 438 2697/ [email protected]