Museums and the Web Florence 2014
Florence, Italy
Museums and the Web Florence (MWF2014) is an international conference dedicated to the relationship between museums and places of culture on the one hand and the new paradigms of digital culture on the other: social media, mobile tours, augmented reality.
It will be held in Florence 19 to 21 February 2014, and is open to all professionals in the sector, both public and private. It is also open to all of those who are interested in issues related to communication, technologies, contemporary languages.
The theme for 2014 is 'Open Museums and Smartcities: Storytelling and Connected Culture: strategies, tools, best practices for connecting cultural heritage with the communities of the ‘smartcities’ of the future'.
The event will be an opportunity to discuss the new opportunities for mobile engagement in museums and within the spaces of the city. The debate will revolve around universal design, social inclusion, accessibility, augmented reality, social media, crowd sourcing, open content, digital collaboration and gamification.
MWF2014 is organized by Musei Civici di Firenze in collaboration with the Fondazione per la Ricerca e l’Innovazione dell’Università di Firenze and PIN – Polo Universitario Città di Prato.
Why Florence?
As an “open air museum” with a centuries-old tradition of technological and cultural innovation, Florence is an ideal setting for culture professionals to consider how new technologies help define contemporary experiences of and relationships to our languages, landscapes, and identities. Museums were sites of mass communication avant la lettre and today offer fertile ground for cultivating new relationships to cultural heritage and technology that reach far beyond the museum’s walls to connect communities, cities and regions. Rich in museums, Florence aims to be a nexus for discussions about the future of “smart cities” and the tools and innovative approaches to storytelling that can help develop and connect their cultural resources.
Why “Storytelling and Smart Cities”?
Storytelling in smart cities uses powerful new tools to connect content and visitors. Digital technologies can help us define ecosystems that connect increasingly vast quantities of information and data available with the specificity of the many diverse needs of the “public”, old and new. The wealth of museums and enterprises currently engaged in the development of digital storytelling and experimentation promises new forms of access to cultural heritage. Museums and the Web Florence 2014 (MWF2014) fosters this collaboration between creative industries and cultural organizations with the aim of both preserving and growing the competitiveness of Europe, the region, and culture globally.
The conference programme includes:
Forums: invited speakers and experts will introduce the audience to key issues;
How-to Sessions: hands-on sessions on related content and technologies;
Formal papers and Demonstrations: research, case studies and data from the field;
Best Practices Parade: lightning talk presentations on key learnings by experts in the field from both the commercial and non-profit sectors;
Masterclasses & Tours: workshops in Florence’s museums followed by city tours.
To participate in the sessions dedicated to formal papers, demonstrations, and best practices lightning talks, please respond to the call for proposals. Registrations and abstracts must be received no later than December 31, 2013 and will be subject to peer-reviewing. Acceptances will be sent by January 20, 2014.
Conference proceedings will be published on the website of MWF20114. Written papers of up to 5,000 words must be received for all accepted presenters of formal papers by May 31, 2014. They will be assessed by a peer-review committee.