The Art & Opportunities of Digital Collaborations

Successfully navigating the digital path: just like any challenging hike, it’s better not to do it alone, without proper preparation or the right knowledge in hand. We spoke about digital collaborations with Leon Caren (We Are Public) and Fresco Sam-Sin (Things That Talk). Why are collaborations so important, and how do you approach them successfully?

5 min. read18 may `23

Knowledge & Inspiration

Do's for Digital Daredevils

As a cultural institution without much technical know-how, it can be a challenge to establish equal partnerships with technical partners for whom technological possibilities are endless. And why would you search for digital solutions on your own when many institutions face the same dilemmas and you can join forces? But who do you involve, and who makes the final decisions? How do you organize more complex collaborations? We’ve listed the key do’s for you.

Do’s for Digital Trailblazers

It can be a challenge for a cultural organisation without much technical know-how to establish equal partnerships with technical partners, for whom the technological possibilities are endless. And why should you go out looking for digital solutions all by yourself if there are other organisations with the same challenges and with whom you can join forces? But who do you decide to work with and who will make the final decisions? How do you organise more complex collaborations? We have listed the main do’s here to help you.

“There are so many digital possibilities, but it is important to keep asking why you are doing something and for whom.”
Fresco Sam-Sin, Things That Talk

1. Involve Committed Partners

Choose digital partners who are intrinsically interested in your product. You need people by your side who think along with you and ahead, instead of developers who only care about getting the code right. After all, if you want to grow, you can’t just take all that code to another partner.

Fortunately, there are many technical parties who are passionate about arts and culture and want to contribute without charging exorbitant fees. Find someone who understands what you do. Even though you’re entering a business relationship, that substantive foundation is crucial for a future-proof project.

2. Bring Technical Expertise In-House

A good technical partner is one thing, but having technical expertise in-house is also important. We came from a time when the function of websites for cultural institutions was mainly a business card or online agenda. Meanwhile, the digital aspect is part of your entire operation. You need in-house technical expertise to keep everything running smoothly, but also to engage in an equal conversation with your technical partners and translate all this back to your (artistic) team. If you don’t have that expertise in-house at all, you end up in a dependent position when you actually want to be in the driver’s seat.

The online platform Things That Talk gives historical objects a voice. They show how people, objects, and knowledge are connected worldwide.

3. Appoint a Product Owner

Standing firm becomes even more important when you have to make choices. With multiple captains on the ship, you need someone with the mandate to make decisions. Enter: the product owner. A product owner is the one who carries the ultimate responsibility for a project and aligns the expectations of cultural institutions with what is practically possible according to the developer.

In these kinds of collaborations (between culture and technology), you can’t provide the same guarantees as in more conventional project forms because you also need to take developers seriously. It is therefore more important to manage expectations well and accept that digital projects and developments are flexible than to check off the original briefing exactly.

We Are Public is a cultural membership that gives you unlimited access to a selection of cultural offerings in various cities in the Netherlands.

4. Peek at the Neighbours

We said it before and we’ll gladly repeat it: do it together. Many cultural institutions struggle with the same dilemmas when it comes to building digital platforms with limited budgets. It’s inherent to culture to want to create something unique. But it’s really a waste of time and resources not to tackle these kinds of digital projects financially or technically together.

Fresco Sam-Sin: “ThingsThat Talk, for example, works with a certain zoom technique: with this, you can see things that are invisible to the naked eye. There is a lot of interest in that technique. But instead of looking at foreign providers and separate internet agencies, it’s much easier to explore within the Netherlands how we can further develop the technique together. In the digital and cultural domain, that’s almost contradictory because everyone wants to maintain their own identity. But that doesn’t have to get in the way. As a coalition, you become more resilient and also stronger in your funding requests and your relationship with technical partners.”

Get more out of your collaboration and keep it successful in the long term. Read the tips on sustainable collaboration in digital projects.

This article is based on the input we gathered during the DEN interview ‘The Art & Opportunities of Digital Collaborations’ on Friday, May 12, 2023, in Amsterdam. The interviewees: Leon Caren (founder of We Are Public) and Fresco Sam-Sin (founder of Things That Talk). Veerle Devreese conducted the interview, and Birgit Van Asch wrote the text (Cornelis Serveert).