MCN2015

Sponsored by the Digital Strategies & Transformations SIG and Information Technologies SIG and Moderated by Douglas Hegley, Director of Media and Technology, Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Many organizations are implementing strategic plans that rely on the increased use of digital tools in all aspects of their institutions work. Each organization is approaching this differently but it is clear that information and technology departments have a leading role in the process. The process has caused museum IT departments to think broadly about the notion of institutional digital transformation and evolution and their role in it.

This panel will continue and expand on the discussions started in 2013 during the MCN panel "Any Way You Slice "IT": Managing Technology in the 21st-Century Museum and the 2014 panel discussion A Whole New World: Opportunities and Challenges in the Digital Age. Carolyn Royston, former Head of Digital at Imperial War Museums, UK and now a consultant working with cultural organizations in the UK and internationally, will join this year’s panel to discuss her work with a number of institutions and what it really takes to transform into digital-first thinking organizations and how to manage that transformation process.

We will check in with Princeton University Art Museum, Harvard Art Museums, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Canada Science and Technology Museums on the progress of their strategic plans and what digital transformation looks like in their institutions by exploring these fundamental topics:

Collaboration: How do we work together to accomplish our institutional goals?
Technology foundation: How do we keep pace with the demands of a public and internal audience that expects the same consumer experience at home and at work?
Fundraising: How can we affect funder’s perception of digital projects as only a collection of end products?
Philosophy behind transformation: What are the institutional drivers? What does transformation mean for each of us?
Relevance: How does technology help museums remain relevant in the Digital Age?

Attendees will get an overview of how museums of different size, strategy and organizations are addressing these fundamental issues.