Not Talking About Digital

John Coburn | @j0hncoburn

impossibly large

amounts of old stuff

1.1 million objects12 miles of archives shelf

Museum digital programme ≠ museum collections & practice made virtual

Digital team : develop digital programmes build organisational digital literacydesign for all venues, all audiences

Digital principles : create new, authentic museum experienceschallenge public attitudes about what a museum is

forbuild capacity for innovative, creative practiceseed cultures of collaboration

Post-Digital vs. Pre-Post Digital

Our key organisational Digital challenge is not –

resistance to Digital lack of understanding no technology

Organisational capacity for creative space and freedom

Lack of normalised structures and processes that naturally evolve thinking + practice

"The nature of creativity is to make space for things to happen... We can drive it out with our busyness and plans”.

Iain McGilchrist, The Master and his Emissary

Digital principles : build capacity for innovative, creative practice

Questioning challenge the status quo and consider new possibilities;Observing examine the activities of others to find new ways of doing thingsNetworking gain radically different perspectives from individuals with diverse backgrounds;Experimenting relentlessly experiment and try new ideas

The Innovator’s DNAGregersen, Christensen and Dyer (2009)

Signs of Open Innovation cultures in the museum

teams have a high spirit of belonging and interconnectivity with the outside world and the museum sector.

ask questions like: “How can we make our services more informative, and more interconnected with other museums?” 

The Museum Innovation Model: A Museum Perspective on InnovationHaitham Eid, 2016

TNT (Try New Things)

All of these projects are cross-departmental

Creating a synergy between like-minded people who see the benefit of sharing, not work make

TNT

Pilot one question or methodology untested by TWAM.

Meaningful experimentation, not “Digital” .

R&D with a new audience focus.

Learning is transparent and shared with colleagues.

Kylea and Sarah project

Is public biometric and socioeconomic data a new form of social history storytelling?

Can we create DNA profiles from personal objects in the collections?

(hair brush, cushion, razor)

How do 3D printed objects better engage autistic groups visiting archaeological sites?

Decentralises Digital; framework for self-empowered teams

Provides a cross-dept network for enthusiastic staff, with progressive values & interdisciplinary thinking

Seeks to embed Digital leadership across all departments

This would be our 2nd largest museum department

Digital principles : seed cultures of collaboration

Every Digital project at TWAM is an opportunity to expand our network of digital creative practitioners

Our network of digital creative practitioners extends to…

‘creative technologists’ | teachers | architects | interaction designers | sound recordists | gaming communities | film makers | musicians | animators | data visualisers | poets | biomedical researchers | curators | calligraphers | robotocists | forensics experts | geneticists | making communities | black metal community | AI researchers | healthcare pros

Seeding a culture of collaboration demands we start from a position of openness

Actively encourage and show generosity to ideas from outside TWAM

Rebuilding defunct WW1 sound technologies with the public and conducting site tests.

Using automated drawing machines to learn and mimic the handwriting styles of diarists in our archives.

Building interconnectivity with novel, external practice

Tactics: Programme first conversations Create regular, informal encountersEasy and compelling to be involved

with

New Perspectives ongoing sandpit eventsa first conversation between TWAM staff and

digital networksorganic development of projects

New Perspectives data artist | logbook archivistmaker communities | learning

officers

biomedical diagnostics researcher | archaeologists

Encounters external collaborators invited to base themselves from our museum some of the time during development

Encounters create planned and serendipitous encounters

increase their empathy for TWAM practice

Digital Culture Group

Regional networkArts and culture pros and researchersDigital, Learning, Outreach, Exhibitions52 members

115% increase in staff involved with Digital programme in past year

4 externally funded self-led Digital projects

Digital principles :

Create new, authentic museum experiencesChallenge public attitudes about what a museum is for

Future Makers

Public digital design and making programme

Evoking the spirit of designers, inventors and artists whose work we collect and exhibit.

Participation visible in and authentic to the museum space.

.

Future Makers

Pilot programme produced with FutureEverything.

Collaborators: gaming communitieshack day communitiesmaker communities sound artists & musicians

Hack cultures in working engine yards and on locomotives

Prototyping wearables in a design gallery

44% of public participants had not visited the museum before.

91% participants would engage with an ongoing participatory programme.

19 staff from Learning, Events and Curatorial teams currently planning years 2 and 3 of activity.

Prove the museum’s interconnectivity (inside and out)

Mobilise diverse Digital communities to create new, compelling evidence of what a museum can be for

Novel, Digital thinking can be a familiar, everyday process for everyone

Build aspiration from the ground up

Thanks

@j0hncoburn | john.coburn@twmuseums.org.uk