Thu, 7 - Fri, 8 April

International Workshop on Digital Cultural Heritage at The City Palace, Udaipur, Rajasthan

Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation (MMCF), Udaipur initiated a two day international workshop on Digital Cultural Heritage at The City Palace, Udaipur, Rajasthan. The workshop was intended to provide an opportunity to hear presentations on work being done by experts from the Oxford University e-research centre on Linked data and Data Mapping. Along with the experts from Oxford University, London; Mr. Jay Hoffman, CEO, Gallery Systems, USA gave a presentation on TMS (The Museum System), the collection management software that has been implemented by The City Palace Museum to handle every facet of the museum's collection. Two other institutions participated in the workshop among them were IHCN-F (Indian Heritage Cities Network – Foundation) represented by K. S. Raykar, Executive Director which is supported by UNESCO India Office represented by Ms. Moe Chiba, Section Chief & Programme Specialist for Culture.

Day 1: Thursday, April 7, 2016

The two day international workshop on Digital Cultural Heritage at the City Palace, Udaipur was held at the Onyx Meeting Room, Fateh Prakash Palace Convention Centre. The workshop commenced with the welcome address given by Mr. Bhupendra Singh Auwa, Administrator in Chief, MMCF along with an introduction of all the participants.

This was followed by an address given by Ms. Moe Chiba, Section Chief & Programme Specialist for Culture, UNESCO India Office, New Delhi. She emphasized on preservation of heritage and how individual research and studies are carried out for Urban and Cultural development. Professor Donna Kurtz, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford University e-Research Centre gave an introduction and background on the project between Udaipur and Oxford. She talked about Linked Data, Research Space and CLAROS model, and the world of art on the semantic web. Dr. Janet Smart, Said Business School, University of Oxford gave a presentation on Smart Cities. She talked about the similarity between the cities of Oxford and Udaipur, and how they attract large number of tourists from all over the world. Both face same similar challenges regarding preservation of heritage.

She emphasized on cultural leaders, an international program on heritage, museum and arts at the University of Oxford. Mr. Dominic Oldman, Head of Research Space – Senior Curator, The British Museum, gave a presentation on Linked data and Research Space. Linked data is a recommended best practice for exposing, sharing, and connecting pieces of data, information, and knowledge on the Semantic Web using URIs and RDF.

The 2nd half started with a presentation given by Dr. Shikha Jain, Project Coordinator, MMCF and Director, Dronah. She gave a presentation on Digital Cultural Mapping in Udaipur and the Arches project. The Arches project is collaboration between the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) and World Monuments Fund (WMF) to develop for the international heritage field an open source, web- and geospatially based information system that is purpose-built to inventory and manage immovable cultural heritage. Mr. Jay Hoffman gave a presentation on TMS (The Museum System) software that has been implemented by The City Palace Museum, Udaipur. TMS (The Museum System) is the world's leading collection management software handling every facet of museum collections both large and small, from objects and exhibitions to insurance policies, shipping activities, and more. He also talked about eMuseum. It is a web-based software program that integrates seamlessly with TMS and other collection management systems to dynamically publish information to your website, Intranet, and kiosks. Mr. Talib Ahmad, Manager, Museum Collection Management System, MMCF gave a presentation on the documentation of artefacts at The City Palace Museum, Udaipur and summary of the work done on the TMS (The Museum System) software.

Memorandum of Understanding was signed by The Cultural Heritage Programme, University of Oxford, IHCN-F supported by UNESCO and MMCF. Recognizing that Udaipur's unique and diverse living cultural heritage lies in The City Palace Museum, Udaipur and surrounding historic walled town and lake that is recently identified as the area for development under the Smart City Plan by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India and Department of Local Self Governance, Government of Rajasthan. The Parties hereby agree to cooperate in a joint effort aimed to: Udaipur is one of the cities identified under the Smart Cities Programme and one of the objectives would include documentation and management of its cultural and natural resources which are critical for the socio-economic and cultural sustainability of the city;