This event is part of the ECHOES Community Events Series, a series of events dedicated to the communities involved in the development of the Cultural Heritage Cloud. The Italian event is organised within the framework of the EMPOWER-CH – Empowering Museum Professionals with the Cultural Heritage Cloud project.
The digital transformation of cultural heritage is no longer simply about digitising collections. Increasingly, it concerns how data, tools, expertise and resources can be shared and connected across institutions and among professionals. This is the context in which the European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage (ECCCH) is being developed: a shared European infrastructure designed to enable new forms of data access, collaboration, research and service development in the cultural heritage sector.
The webinar will provide an initial exploration of the Cultural Heritage Cloud and ECHOES, the European project supporting its development. It will examine the needs that led to this initiative, how professional communities are contributing to shaping it, and what concrete opportunities it may offer museums, institutions and cultural heritage professionals.
A dedicated session will focus on the Italian context and the relationship between national infrastructures and the emerging European ecosystem. Alongside ECHOES, the discussion will involve the Central Institute for the Digitisation of Cultural Heritage – Digital Library of the Italian Ministry of Culture, exploring Italy’s approach to managing and enhancing digital cultural heritage, the role of national technological infrastructures, and the prospects for interoperability at European level. The ongoing debate on these issues highlights the importance of viewing these infrastructures not as isolated or competing platforms, but as components of a broader system, in which not only data and technologies, but also process governance and cooperation between institutions play a central role.
The event marks the launch of EMPOWER-CH – Empowering Museum Professionals with the Cultural Heritage Cloud, an initiative promoted by ICOM Italy, Scuola nazionale del patrimonio e delle attività culturali and AVICOM. Over the following months, the project will engage museums and cultural heritage professionals in discussions and focus groups aimed at identifying needs, expectations, challenges and potential use cases. Drawing on the Italian experience, these activities will contribute to the development of the future Cultural Heritage Cloud.
The webinar will be held in Italian, with full English interpretation provided throughout the event.
WATCH THE REGISTRATION
PROGRAMME
Friday, 23 October 2026
16:00 – 16:10 | Institutional Greetings
Antonella Pinna, ICOM Italy
Gerardo Villanacci, Scuola nazionale del patrimonio e delle attività culturali
Introduction, EMPOWER-CH: Connecting Cultural Heritage Professionals with the Cultural Heritage Cloud
Marzia Piccininno, Scuola nazionale del patrimonio e delle attività culturali
ECHOES and the Cultural Heritage Cloud: From Community Needs to New Use Scenarios
Claudio Prandoni, ECHOES
16:30 – 16:40 | Inside the Cultural Heritage Cloud
Joanna Kowalska, PCSS – Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center, Poland
16:40 – 17:00 | The Italian Context
From Italy’s Digital Cultural Heritage to the European Ecosystem: Infrastructures, Data and Governance
Antonella Negri, Italian Ministry of Culture – Digital Library
17:00 – 17:20 | Discussion
What Kind of Cloud Do Cultural Heritage Professionals Need? Q&A
Discussion with Claudio Prandoni, Antonella Negri and Margherita Sani, moderated by the EMPOWER-CH project team
17:20 – 17:30 | Next Steps
From Awareness to Participation: The EMPOWER-CH Journey
Anna Maria Marras, AVICOM
Ilaria Navarro ICOM Italia
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