The Web3.0 Data Space for Cultural Heritage

The Web3.0 Data Space for Cultural Heritage (Web3.0CH) is a visionary digital transformation project for the cultural heritage sector. It implements the vision of European Data Spaces by establishing a decentralized architecture that eliminates data silos, demonopolizes platforms, and ensures data sovereignty. The core of this approach is separating data from platforms and storing it on secure servers called data PODs, that can belong to individuals, organizations, and devices.
Web3.0CH combines the IDS (International Data Spaces) architecture with personal data spaces based on the Solid project developed by Tim Berners-Lee. In this way, Web3.0CH allows heritage professionals, researchers, and other users to enjoy freedom of choice of information systems, platforms, and applications to access their data. The “security by design” layer offers a single personal key for accessing different platforms and services and implements privacy-enhancing technologies (PET) that enable answering complex queries such as “how many van Gogh paintings are in private collections in Germany?” without exposing owners’ data.

One of the long-term effects is total Inclusivity, where every person with a personal, family, or community collection can participate in the digital heritage ecosystem in full right and capacity. Publishing documents, photographs, and stories on one platform will automatically add them to the owner's personal POD, making them accessible via any other platform. Web3.0CH will provide multi-century preservation by ensuring that data is securely saved by design, regardless of who created it or which platform or tool was used to do so.

The Web3.0CH project is a venture of global significance, led by Europe, with the potential to impact every industry and domain. The project is being developed and promoted by the Post-Platforms Foundation, a non-for-profit initiative established in the Netherlands in 2021, in partnership with organizations from different domains and universities.

The initiative is currently seeking potential partners interested in collaborating on a proposal for the European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage (ECCCH).
Please feel free to contact us via the form or by email to discuss this opportunity.
Specifically, we are seeking the following organization types to join the consortium:

Universities & Research Centers: To research the economic, social, and legal impacts of the concept, explore and prototype Linked Data and Solid components, and align with existing national and other data space initiatives.
GLAMs:
  • Established museums, libraries, and archives: To prototype solutions, explore user needs, and provide feedback.
  • Networks offering access to smaller heritage organizations, community, personal collections, and archives: To prototype how the solution can be launched on large communities of small and mid-size organizations, facilitate access to these organizations, and help create grassroots actions.
Platforms and Collection Management Systems companies: To explore the impact and pioneer the adoption of the new concept.
Policymakers and legal specialists: To investigate the impact on policy and legislation.
Consultancies and IT companies: To lead the change in various sectors and subsectors, amplifying the impact of the project.
Security companies: To prototype, validate, and build the security layer of the solution.
Data space technology strategists and leaders (IDS, Solid): To amplify existing data space efforts, build on them, and steer them.
Digital Identity specialists (eIdentity): To align with the European eIdentity initiative.
Incubators and accelerators (focused on Culture and Media Tech startups): To promote our vision by supporting early-stage companies in their technological development.
Ambassadors from adjacent sectors (travel, media): To explore cross-domain effects, promote the concept in these neighboring domains, and find synergies.
Opinion leaders: To communicate and narrate the new concept.