Netherlands/ 4.2 Specific policy issues and recent debates  

4.2.11 New technologies and digitalisation in the arts and culture

All cultural expressions that have been made possible through state funding are part of an environment in which every citizen must be able to find elements that make him or her feel at home. Possibilities to bring this ideal a few steps closer have increased enormously since the advent of information and communication technology (ICT). The Policy Document on eCulture, published in 2002 [Beleidsbrief eCultuur], explores implications and possibilities of ICT for cultural institutions and media. In that year, about euros 50 million was spent on utilising ICT in the arts, the cultural heritage and public broadcasting. In 2004, a special ICT budget was allocated for the digitisation of cultural heritage - in this sector Digital Heritage Netherlands [Digitaal Erfgoed Nederland, DEN] is coordinating the digitisation of heritage matters and making them more accessible to both professionals and the general public; another part of the budget was meant to further the development of a virtual library in the public library sector. Important national digital services have since been set up. In the memorandum Information in Order [Informatie op orde, 2006], the digitisation of governmental information was put on the agenda, in the context of archives and the information society. A programme of the same name followed, run by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Ministry of Interior and Kingdom Relations [Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties], (for now) focused on central government and realising a renewal of archive and information policies.

In 2007, the government decided to spend 154 million euros from the so called Fund for the Reinforcement of the Economic Structure (FEZ) for the digitisation of the Netherlands' audiovisual memory. This project, called Images for the Future [Beelden voor de toekomst], will run for 7 years and aims at restoration, preservation and digitisation of 137 000 hours of video, 22 510 hours of film, 123 900 hours of audio and 2.9 million photos from audiovisual archives. This material should be easily accessible for target groups such as schools and other educational institutions, as well as for the general public and the creative sector (http://www.beeldenvoordetoekomst.nl).

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