The Culture Data Space is growing: more than 90 institutions in Munich deliberate over the next steps

Munich, 28 April 2023
The Culture Data Space, established a few months ago, brings together cultural institutions, media, the creative industry and IT research. The aim is to establish a fair digital infrastructure that will benefit both cultural aficionados and cultural practitioners. On 25 April, people from more than 90 cultural, scientific and social institutions came together in Munich’s Amerikahaus to discuss the development of pilot applications and the next steps in the Culture Data Space.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, culture was at times only available in digital format. Now, there is a mix of in-person and online events. However, cultural practitioners still have to rely on the major digital platforms – which not only largely monopolise data but also revenue.
A number of questions were addressed in the Amerikahaus. How can the current situation be changed? How can the digital cultural offerings of cities, municipalities and individual cultural institutions be made interoperable, i.e. linked? How can fairness and a culture of trust be established on the internet?
In their capacity as Co-Chairs of the Steering Committee of the Culture Data Space, Dieter Spath (acatech and TÜV Rheinland) and Dirk Petrat (Chief Digital Officer at the Ministry of Culture and Media Hamburg, BKM) welcomed the guests to the event. The introductory remarks on the day emphasised the importance of the project in terms of cultural policy: Andreas Görgen (Secretary General at the German Federal Ministry of Culture and Media) expressed his hopes for a tangible boost for the modernisation of culture and its promotion by the Federal Government and the Länder. Carsten Brosda (Senator at the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg) stressed that a Culture Data Space requires resilient technical infrastructure. Markus Blume (Bavarian State Minister for Science and the Arts) saw the data space as an opportunity to provide guidelines for digitalisation in the socially unifying cultural sphere. Skadi Jennicke (Mayor and Alderman for Culture in the city of Leipzig) hoped for systematic benefits for citizens.
In his keynote speech, acatech President Jan Wörner explained the concept of data spaces and their benefits for the digitalisation of culture. He said that the secret – the added value of a data space – was in its decentralised structure. In the traditional platform economy, data converge in a platform company – and therefore also large amounts of the revenue associated with these data. Data spaces do not require central storage. Data are linked via “connectors”, and can be used by other people. However, the stakeholders cooperating in the data space retain control of the data. Jan Wörner compared the concept with the image of an indoor market in which various traders offer their specialities.
Decentralised data spaces preserve sovereignty
Chair of the Steering Committee Dieter Spath then spoke about the progress that had been made by the project. He advised that the aim of the start-up phase, which is already complete, had been to demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of the Culture Data Space. With this in mind, various use cases were developed with partner organisations. As the second phase begins, the focus is now on evaluating and reflecting on experiences before the digital infrastructure is to be made broadly accessible to all cultural practitioners and creatives in early 2025. Up until then, work will continue on the Culture Data Space with various stakeholders from the culture and creative industry in order to develop a trustworthy, fair and functioning system.
The use cases presented in the main body of the event gave attendees an idea of everything that will be possible with this system.
Networked cultural platforms
Ariane Schmitt-Chandon (OstWestfalenLippe GmbH) and Daniel Beverungen (Software Innovation Campus Paderborn) presented the “OWL live” cultural platform. It will provide personalised event information that is tailored to the relevant situation. It will enable cultural practitioners in its network to reduce their editorial workload and achieve nationwide visibility. The possibilities of sharing and linking data sources will be used to create added value for the users.
Smart services for multimedia installations in the museum
On the occasion of the 250th birthday of Caspar David Friedrich in 2024, the Hamburger Kunsthalle, in cooperation with the Alte Nationalgalerie in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden is creating a digital platform with multimedia offerings based on decentralised sources. The proposal presented by Katharina Hoins (Hamburger Kunsthalle) and Martin Zavesky (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden) provides an insight into Friedrich’s work, which is intelligently curated and available in a variety of formats, from multimedia to gigapixels, from open access to pay-per-view. The platform is being developed against the backdrop of the joint Caspar David Friedrich Festival involving commemorative exhibitions and events.
Tailored offerings for theatre fans
With more than 1,000 theatres, orchestras and festivals, the volume of programmes, scheduling data and venue-specific information is extensive. The lack of standardisation in terms of data format also curtails the possibilities for research and evaluation. Tina Lorenz (Staatstheater Augsburg) and Sina Schmid (Deutscher Bühnenverein) together explained how machine-readable theatre programmes provide a remedy by facilitating more effective work processes in theatres and tailored offerings for audiences.

Platform for shared music-making
Michael Petermann, Robert Biesewig (both from the Hamburger Konservatorium) and Sebastian Riegelbauer (Sirius Music Communication GmbH) presented the final use case: a digital marketplace for music. Music teachers will be able to play music online with their students in real time. Later, various features will be added to the platform, developing it into a music community at national and international level.
An evolving infrastructure
Before the lunch break, Matthias Jarke (retired Director of Fraunhofer FIT and Chair of the Technical Committee of the Culture Data Space) and Constanze Ritzmann (Fraunhofer FIT) provided an insight into the user interface and functionality of the data space. They explained that it was a scalable infrastructure with selectively accessible data provider systems; developers drew on experience that had been gained in establishing the Mobility Data Space. They said that the integration of existing systems, such as GEMA and VG Wort, into the platform was planned. The basic technology will continue to be developed on an ongoing basis and will gradually be made available as open source technology.
A highlight of the day was a lively panel discussion, which took place after lunch and was moderated by Dieter Spath. Wiebke Ahrndt (President of the Deutscher Museumsbund) stressed the very heterogeneous nature of the 7,000+ museums in Germany and expressed her desire that despite this diversity there would be a shared focus on digitalisation. Meinolf Ellers (dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH) shared his experiences with data space technologies in the media sector, and Kemal Görgülü (CTO ARTE) made the case for a more European media ecosystem and for giving start-ups the opportunity to develop innovative business models. Boris Kochan, k3d delegate on the Steering Committee of the Culture Data Space, saw the opportunities offered by the data space for a synergy between a great number of small and large initiatives operating under the premise of retaining values and observing the rights of artists.

Data spaces – key to a new data economy
In his concluding words, acatech Managing Director Manfred Rauhmeier emphasised the importance of data spaces. He said that they facilitate innovation while preserving digital sovereignty and that the Mobility Data Space initiated by acatech served as a reference model and catalyst for the establishment of additional data spaces. He pointed out that there are currently a large number of promising projects in development, including archive and media projects. Data spaces based on this reference model facilitate the self-determined and secure sharing of data in keeping with European legal and value systems and in accordance with the EU’s Data Governance Act. Manfred Rauhmeier emphasised that this was the basis on which a culture of trust on the internet and thus a competitive data economy could develop in Germany and Europe.
Outlook
Project spokesperson Dieter Spath and acatech Managing Director Manfred Rauhmeier announced the establishment of a new holding company. It will be responsible for establishing partnerships and acquiring additional partners as neutral agents in order to guarantee the successful implementation of the Culture Data Space. The newly established structure will strengthen digital sovereignty and also create the basis for new data-based business models.
Further information:
Interview on the Culture Data Space: Three questions for acatech Managing Director Manfred Rauhmeier