Based on information from the Statistics Office, there were 18,526 internet connections in Liechtenstein in 2021. According to a 2020 Data Protection Agency study, 95 per cent of people use the internet.
The Digital Agenda (see 1.1 and 2.1) is a strategic guideline to ensure Liechtenstein’s further development in view of the changes in education, work and personal life. Access to new technologies for the general public is considered a state and education policy mandate. Liechtenstein’s highly developed economy could not exist without the use of modern information and communication technologies. Business, science and politics are connected via the “Digital Liechtenstein” platform for digital innovation.
Worldwide networking and digitalisation in all areas of life are driving the shift towards “open innovation”. The business sector has already analysed the concept in detail. With a project of the International Lake Constance University (2014), which also includes the University of Liechtenstein, the concept was taken in a new direction towards open innovation of society under the title “eSociety Bodensee 2020”. Its objective is to make citizens, associations, politicians and non-governmental organisations the driving force behind the future of the Lake Constance region. A toolbox for open social innovation is freely available at www.tosit.org.
Digitalisation and culture
Cultural education uses digitalisation to enable people of all ages to participate in culture and society. However, digitalisation does not only describe the technical process, but a cultural change that is shaped by people.
We now live in a world where the analogue can no longer be separated from the digital. The internet as well as its platforms and portals have created a digital space. New forms of teaching and presentation are possible, for example, through interactive screens, augmented reality or QR codes. Almost all the music we listen to is stored on digital audio media, visual art installations involve digital media, museums put their collections online or make exhibitions digitally accessible. Videos, games and films are recognised art genres.
In July 2020, a poster exhibition titled “Culture Channel” took place in Vaduz, where 54 professional artists exhibited their work. The exhibition brought visual arts back into the public eye during the pandemic. It was the Office of Cultural Affairs and the Liechtenstein Cultural Foundation that launched the project. At the same time, a website called kulturkanal.li went online, displaying the works with background information. The plan is to expand the culture channel to showcase Liechtenstein’s cultural scene digitally on one platform.
Like museums everywhere, the Liechtenstein Art Museum put its collection online in 2010 and is also on social media. Since 2017, the digital-liechtenstein.li association has been organising the “Digitaltag” (Digital Day) in Vaduz, the partner city of “digitalswitzerland”, the Swiss Digital Day, together with the Art Museum. A new augmented reality app was unveiled at the Art Museum during Digital Day 2018. The “Artifact” app was developed as a prototype by the Game Technology Center of ETH Zurich with the support of the Princely Collections and the LGT Group (banking group of the Princely House). It serves as the basis for the MAG/NET app, which virtually enhances artworks with text, images, audio, video, 3D models and visual effects.
Philately in Liechtenstein is also breaking new ground with Stamp 4.0. In 2021, it launched the first stamp with blockchain technology. An SQR code has been integrated into the “Weitblick” special-issue stamp, which takes users to a website. There, they can learn more about the history of the stamp, the serial number and the designer. Using the associated app (AndroidTM), the stamp can be checked for authenticity.
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