A £7m fund for digital projects that encourage collaboration and experimentation between the arts, digital technology providers and the research community was launched last week following a pilot project in 2011.
The digital research and development (Digital R&D) fund will support research and development projects that use digital technology to engage with audiences, widen access or explore new business models.
The three-year fund is run by Arts Council England (ACE), Nesta and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
It coincides with the publication of the arts council’s creative media policy to stimulate digital access and comes a week after the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) launched its strategic framework for 2013-2018, which made free access to digital content a precondition of funding for all projects.
The Digital R&D fund focuses on a range of key themes including: user-generated content and social media; digital distribution and exhibition; mobile, location and games; data and archives; resources and education and learning.
Any organisations with an arts project can apply, including museums. Museums that want to carry out digital projects without an arts focus should apply to HLF.
The fund was piloted last year with £500,000 made available for projects such as Social Interpretation at the Imperial War Museum and Dickens: London Trails on Exhibition Road.
Rick Rylance, chief executive of the AHRC, said: “The pilot programme of the Digital R&D Fund is not only resulting in some interesting and important outputs, but perhaps more significantly has also identified a set of relationships between arts organisations, technology providers and researchers that is central to digital innovation in the arts.
The fund opened to applications last week. More information, including key eligibility criteria, is available online.
The digital research and development (Digital R&D) fund will support research and development projects that use digital technology to engage with audiences, widen access or explore new business models.
The three-year fund is run by Arts Council England (ACE), Nesta and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
It coincides with the publication of the arts council’s creative media policy to stimulate digital access and comes a week after the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) launched its strategic framework for 2013-2018, which made free access to digital content a precondition of funding for all projects.
The Digital R&D fund focuses on a range of key themes including: user-generated content and social media; digital distribution and exhibition; mobile, location and games; data and archives; resources and education and learning.
Any organisations with an arts project can apply, including museums. Museums that want to carry out digital projects without an arts focus should apply to HLF.
The fund was piloted last year with £500,000 made available for projects such as Social Interpretation at the Imperial War Museum and Dickens: London Trails on Exhibition Road.
Rick Rylance, chief executive of the AHRC, said: “The pilot programme of the Digital R&D Fund is not only resulting in some interesting and important outputs, but perhaps more significantly has also identified a set of relationships between arts organisations, technology providers and researchers that is central to digital innovation in the arts.
The fund opened to applications last week. More information, including key eligibility criteria, is available online.
