Vladimir SKOK, Culture.ca Gateway, Canadian Cultural Observatory / Culturescope.ca Alfonso CASTELLANOS RIBOT, Sistema de Informacion Cultural, Portal e- Cultura Cultural Information Systems Workshop Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago March 2006

cultural portals have exploded in virtual global space little is known about these new public venues and their: – management practices – implications on cultural policy first international online survey (March 2005) – 370 identified / 80 responses – collected basic evidence and analysis results explored by newly created informal network of cultural portal authorities at its first international Roundtable Event (June 2005, at Expo2005, Aichi, Japan) 20 participating portals in Aichi, including UNESCO Recent phenomenon

The objectives of the survey ? Inform other portals about the Culture.mondo concept; Gather basic management and cultural policy-based information on the state of cultural portal development around the world; Compare situations and discover similar challenges; Identify trends in cultural portal development; Highlight examples of good practice, and Set the stage for the future development of the Culture.mondo network. 4 themes of discussion Partnerships in portal development and management Governance Marketing and audience needs Content and its management Before the Round table : An innovative international survey!

Culture.mondo Round table - Aichi, Japan Who? : More than 20 cultural portals Culture.fr (France) Cultnat.org (Egypt) ecultura.gob.mx (Mexico) Cult.bg (Bulgaria) Culturalprofiles.org.uk (United Kingdom) Portail en développement (New- Zealand) Culture.ca (Canada) Portail en développement (Morocco) 24hourmuseum.org.uk (United Kingdom) Cibernetica.cl (Chile) Portal.unesco.org/digiarts (UNESCO) In development (Taïwan) Ocpa.irmo.hr (Africa) Asef.org (Singapour) Collectionsaustralia.net (Australia) Ilam.org (Costa Rica) Culturenet Sweden (Sweden) Cultuurweb.be (Belgium)

Rewarding discussions… Round table 1 : Survey results and analysis Analytical summary realized by Decima research Results available on

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national cultural portals largest group surveyed and report the highest % of public sector funding cultural observatories are the smallest surveyed all three have specific and different target audiences the greatest range in scale is with thematic portals all groups indicated a keen interest in partnership development most are non-profit (27%)or government (46%) commercial partnerships are not frequent (28%) outreach and audience development is a significant goal – however, marketing budgets are low. Exists a 4 th type of portal: supra-national portals Notable similarities and differences in the 3 portal groups

A new era of cooperation … Round table 2 : Partnerships Partnerships are the key to successful cultural portals “A new era of cooperation”: new models are emerging (EU MICHAEL, partnerships between users and creators like does in Bulgaria) Cross-departmental partnerships, content and marketing partnerships, etc. Additional layers of partners have been developed out of the portals themselves as new networks emerged

Dynamic governance for dynamic portals Round table 3 : Governance Every situation is unique but much can be learned from the individual experiences Governance should evolve within a continuum from governmental to private non-profit Who leads : especially when it comes to cultural policies Partnerships and governance Combining employees and volunteers The important role of advisory committees

What is the status of your portal? Does your organization have a direct relationship to the government? Portal status and government relationship

Please indicate the breakdown of your portal's turnover in 2004 Funding

Authenticity, reliability, currency, credibility, completeness… Round table 4 : Content and its management Calendar of events (60%), content (50%), on-line ticket sales Centre for centralized and decentralized information Less then 30% of cultural portals currently have interactive features 100% of the national cultural portals update their content at least once a week compare to 76% of thematic portals and even less of observatories.

Editorial strategy Who produces the main bulk of the content – is it central or decentral? How can external contributors upload or add content to your portal?

Marketing is essential but funds are scarce… Roundtable 5 : Marketing and audience needs In a crowded internet space, marketing is a MUST primary audiences: – 80% National cultural portals = general public – 76% Thematic portals = cultural experts – 100% Observatories = cultural experts focus more on cultural rather than tourism objectives audience development and outreach is a preoccupation % of budget dedicated to marketing is 2.5 – 7.5%

Marketing and audience needs Need to elaborate specific tools and particular approach On-line marketing through other cultural organizations is desirable Use public surveys results It is mandatory to be able to measure the success obtained

less obvious, especially for non-profit portals major cultural policy themes: – participation – access – civic engagement – cultural diversity new EU initiative, michael-culture.org, announced April 2005 Cultural policy phenomenon