Cultural Ministers Council

In December 1996, the Cultural Ministers Council established the New Technologies Working Party to examine the major strategic and policy issues involved in the digitisation of collections and to allow greater access to cultural content.

A consultancy report, Digitisation of Collections, provided a basis for the working party's examinations.

The Cultural Ministers Council and the then Online Council (now the Online and Communications Council) received regular reports on New Technologies Working Group initiatives.

In February 1998, the Cultural Ministers Council endorsed a vision for a national strategic framework for more effective use of digital technology. Within the framework, the Australian Government, and state, territory and local governments would work together to:

• Encourage new collaborative partnerships between cultural organisations, government and private enterprise to produce quality, market-oriented products and services
• Encourage best practice standards for inter-networked cultural databases and collection management systems
• Identify issues relating to intellectual property rights in cultural institutions and the development of national protocols for copyright owners and users in the digital environment
• Develop management models for the integration of digital technology and intellectual property within overall business planning frameworks and practices at national, state and territory cultural institution levels

The working party organised, usually in partnership with the Australian Government and state and territory bodies, a series of forums and round tables on issues relating to new technologies relevant to cultural institutions:

• Copyright and the Electronic Image, Canberra, 29 July 1998
• Managing Rights: Indigenous Culture in the Digital Domain, Brisbane, 21 September 1998
• National Round Table on Statutory Deposit in the Digital Environment, Perth, 7 December 1998
• Culture Online Round Table, Hobart, 5 July 1999

These forums drew together authors, artists, publishers, multimedia developers, technologists, senior policy makers, members of the public and representatives from all cultural sectors.

Other achievements of the working party included:

• A report on the outcomes from the landmark Z39:50 ZAVIER connectivity trial linking a range of cultural institutions in Victoria, which was partly funded by the working party, was circulated in 1999
• The release and distribution of 1,500 copies of a CD-ROM based multimedia resource that encompassed digitisation, connectivity, intellectual property and other new technology issues

The working party’s program outcomes consistently revealed a requirement that cross-sectoral linkages (between cultural organisations, museums, libraries and archives) needed to be more effectively sustained at both a policy and a practical level if the opportunities offered by new technologies were to be grasped and problems resolved. Factors identified as inhibitors in the take-up and effective use of new technologies in the cultural sector included technical problems, copyright management issues and lack of business models and strategic planning.

The working party identified the following strategic priorities for work in this area:

• Promote the sharing of information and a more consistent approach across government to technological issues
• Examine and share information about business models and best practice approaches for the use and integration of new technologies into the central operations of cultural organisations, rather than regarding online or digital exercises as one-off projects
• Develop a greater understanding of copyright, and increase skills in the management of intellectual property, including familiarity with the legislation governing online communications to prevent infringements and establish best practice
• Develop a cooperative strategy across jurisdictions and sectors for the conservation of electronic and digital material, including examination of the use of voluntary agreements and the possible extension of the legal deposit provisions of the Copyright Act 1968

Following its final meeting in October 1999, the working party completed a final report and proposed to the Cultural Ministers Council Standing Committee at the April 2000 meeting that its ongoing program and membership cease, in favour of establishing alternative consultative mechanisms for progressing the strategic priorities.

In August 2001, the Cultural Ministers Council accepted the final report and ceased the working party. The Cultural Ministers Council commended the working party's progress and achievements.