Task forces and Working Groups

Central element of the network of common interest are three task forces connected to the INDICATE case studies and some working groups which exist in each country or will be created duting the project, and which provide expertise, experience and information to the INDICATE project.

Task forces

Each task force, variable in composition, is composed by the case study’s coordinator (responsible of his/her task force) and by the representatives of the other partners, who are interested and/or have expertise in the field of the case study.

The goals of each task force are to:

  • Share the case study’s work plan, edited by the relevant coordinator;
  • Participate in the structuring of surveys and researches;
  • Participate in the analysis of the results of surveys and researches;
  • Participate in the elaboration of shared documents on the results of the case study;
  • Suggest new ideas that can improve the result of the case study;
  • Be in contact with national working groups, if existing, in order to inform them on the task force activities and involve them for comments and suggestions;
  • Disseminate the activities of the task force (through the project website, events, workshops, etc.).

Currently, three task forces has been established:

  • Task force 1: Preservation (Referee: Bahadır Aydınonat, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı)
  • Task force 2: GIS (Referee: Franc Zakrajsek, Slovenian Ministry of Culture)
  • Task force 3: Virtual exhibitions (Referee: Sergi Fernandez, Spain, i2CAT)

National Working groups

A national working group consists of a team of experts who work together on INDICATE issues. Typically, each national working group is composed by a variable number of experts from a variety of disciplines, speaking a common language, to provide a national perspective about the topics surveyed by INDICATE..

These national working groups are long-term and frequently built upon already existing partnerships and collaborations.

Every partner is free to decide the membership of the working groups in his country. Partners are recommended to promote the development of national working groups.

The INDICATE research pilots and case studies are the starting point for the discussion among the experts participating in the working groups. These pilots and case studies act as "learning centres" for the project, being "real-world examples of the type of initiative which combines e-culture and e-Infrastructures".

The working groups bring a range of different perspectives to bear on the pilots and case studies, by gathering together and involving experts from within and beyond the project, by facilitating workshops, discussion groups (online and in person), brainstorming sessions and seminars. The results of these interactions will feed into the relevant work-packages and their deliverables, as well as into the workshops organised by the project in Turkey, Jordan and  Slovenia, but also help to form the longer-term collaborative relationships which will add value long after the end of the project.

A partner's representative takes part in the working group and has the role of national referee between the project working group, the relevant task forces and the working group itself.

In the terms of reference set up by the project, it was agreed that:

  • The organizations to be represented in the national working group are balanced in terms of representation of the different areas that the INDICATE project addresses, namely the e-Infrastructure providers, the cultural institutions, the national and regional political bodies, the research/academic community and eventually the private sector;
  • If needed, the National Referee may invite experts from other countries to join the working group. However, in general, the national working groups are carried out by people of the same country. This is expected to facilitate communication among the participants, by the use of the same language;
  • The number of experts to be invited should be carefully decided. The group should be large enough to be representative and to have all the necessary expertise, but not so large as to be difficult to manage;
  • The levels of expertise to be involved is a matter of balancing: people should have a technical background in order to allow a sound technical discussion in the groups, but not so deeply technically oriented that cooperation with non-technologists becomes difficult;

The goals of the nationals working groups are to:

  • Discuss specific activities and results carried out in the framework of INDICATE;
  • Suggest new ideas that can improve the outcomes of the project;
  • Participate in testing the INDICATE pilots;
  • Participate in the INDICATE surveys;
  • Contribute to INDICATE publications
  • Illustrate relevant good practices in the field of the case studies;
  • Participate in INDICATE dissemination events;
  • Promote INDICATE outcomes at national events.

Currently, two working groups have been involved in INDICATE:

  • An Italian national working group on virtual exhibitions, composed by experts on digital cultural heritage, ICT technicians and companies. This working group, already existing before the starting of INDICATE, is working on the definition of guidelines and recommendations for the realisation of online virtual exhibitions. It has shared its knowledge with the INDICATE task force on virtual exhibitions, giving a strong support on the elaboration of the survey model which will be used to carry on the INDICATE relevant case study. Members of this working group also participated in some dissemination events, carried on by the INDICATE project.
  • A Spanish national working group composed by experts from national research institutions, public institutions, private institutions, companies, of Interest, See Annex 1 for the current composition of this working group.

A number of meetings have been organised and planned to stimulate discussion and collaboration. In particular:

  • Regular meeting of the Italian WG on virtual exibitions to elaborate a document illustrating what a cultural institution intends for "online virtual exhbitions", which are their requirements and which should be the guidelines to be followed and to collect information, through a survey model, on several online virtual exhibitions at world level, describing the features of each one of them. This document is the basis for the elaboration of the INDICATE questionnaire on virtual exhibitions.
  • Meeting of the Slovenian WG on GIS to review the current approaches and new R&D on geocoding of cultural content in digital libraries, cultural tourism, heritage, e-learning, living arts and other cultural areas.
  • Meeting of the Spanish WGs on digital preservation and on virtual exibitions on June 14 in Barcelona inviting also the other INDICATE partners to share the discussion.
  • Workshop on preservation on July 7th in Ankara in collaboration with WP3.
  • Planning of the workshop on virtual exibitions to be held in Amman in December 2011 in collaboration with WP3.
  • Planning of the workshop on GIS to be held in Ljubljana in February 2012 in collaboration with WP3.