House of Lords Communications and Digital Select Committee inquiry “A creative future”
About the National Museum Directors’ Council
The National Museum Directors' Council (NMDC) represents the leaders of the UK's national collections and major regional museums. Our members are the national and major regional museums in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, the National Archives, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, and the British Film Institute. While its members are funded by government, the NMDC is an independent, non-governmental organisation. For more information about NMDC and its activity see our website.[1]
Introduction
NMDC welcomes the chance to respond to the Select Committee’s inquiry on a creative future. As a major employer in the creative industries, museums are well placed to advise on and shape a creative future.
The potential for growth in the creative industries sector is clear. Independent economic modelling laid out by Creative UK demonstrates that by 2025, the UK’s creative industries could contribute £132.1 billion in GVA – more than the financial services, insurance and pension industries combined. The sector is also poised to create 300,000 new jobs by 2025.
Within the creative industries sector, museums are particularly high generators of income for the wider economy. According to Creative UK, prior to the onset of the Covid pandemic, for every £1 museums, galleries, and libraries contributed directly in GVA, an additional £4.40 was generated in the wider economy through supply chains.
Museums are a catalyst for economic development and scientific advancement, a major draw for tourists, an egalitarian community space, and the inspiration for current and future generations of pioneers, designers and community leaders. They preserve, protect and promote some of the UK’s few irreplaceable assets: the nation’s collective memory, knowledge and history.
In response to reductions in public funding and the impacts of the pandemic, museums have proven themselves to be adaptable, with resourceful staff stretching tight budgets to their limit. To continue to be successful cultural enterprises, museums must be able to maintain their public trust and popularity, as well their reputation for expertise and high-quality collections care. This requires consistent and significant core investment to support the sustainability of museums.
Representing the national and major regional museums in the UK, this response focuses on the greatest changes ahead for this sector specifically.
Museums have been on a journey of change over the past 5 -10 years, with many issues becoming more pronounced during and in the aftermath of the pandemic – the purpose of museums, their role in community, how they engage audiences, the structures and funding they operate within, their impact on the environment, their role in education, and the technologies they use have all come into starker focus, and will continue to be subject to change.
Museums are striving to be more inclusive and diverse, both internally in their staff and collections and in their audiences. This involves being open, engaging and externally facing. This also comes in a climate of scarce resource and funding challenges.
Museums globally are responding to the climate and ecological crisis in various ways that impact on how they produce exhibitions, manage their collections and welcome audiences. Conscious of the need to reduce their emissions and create more sustainable ways of working, many museums are already delivering exhibitions differently, many of which are heavily reliant on technology in addition to or in place of in-person support. Working in the sector has also been subject to significant change for many as home working has proliferated during and beyond the periods of lockdown.
Museums are also acutely aware of the need to save energy and costs in relation to the storage and display of their collections. This will continue to impact the buildings that museums occupy and will have implications for both the physical space and the virtual.
Digital infrastructure will only continue to grow in importance. The organisational resilience of museum organisations has already been tested by the pandemic where every museum had to immediately move to online operations, methods of communication, engagement and employment. The storage, digital capacity and skills of organisations is likely to continue to grow in the future as more is done online as a matter of course, and as collections gradually get digitised (which is a lengthy, costly, and skilled operation) in order to become available to wider audiences.
The rise of online events gives the opportunity for museums to open up participation to a much wider national and international audience, and digital immersive experiences give greater freedom to tour in the UK and overseas. However, the museum sector struggles to deliver to the levels expected by the public due to limited investment in digital infrastructure, whilst low salaries and budgets fail to attract candidates to digital roles. If the sector can’t keep up with technology advancements, it may result in reduced engagement and revenue and increase perceptions that the sector is old fashioned and not relevant to young people.
With the opportunity to reach new audiences, however, comes increased pressure on museums’ resources and infrastructure as well as limitations for audiences without access to up-to-date technologies, and a risk of limiting the number of people who actually visit a museum in real life. It is also necessary for the museum sector to question what a physical visit offers that digital does not, and vice versa, and what the defining role is for both.
Cultural heritage can be preserved online with the right planning and funding in place, and the importance of our digital heritage should not be underestimated. The recent rush to digitise some of Ukraine’s heritage is a painful example of why investment needs to be made into proactive digitising and digital heritage rather than waiting for disaster to strike.
Making high-quality digital copies of collection items increases public access but is also an essential conservation strategy. Digitisation reduces the wear and tear on the original material and is often the only way to preserve content before the physical artefact degrades beyond use. Large-scale digitisation requires large-scale digital storage and on-going digital preservation strategies to ensure the resulting content is future-proofed. Many museums have digitised discrete parts of their collections, often with external funding from corporate partners or trusts, however with vast quantities of collections not currently available in digital form, more resource is needed.
Museums have begun and will continue to respond to the global context and issues such as Black Lives Matter which shine a focus on the role they play in their communities, and to engage in global dialogue about what is kept in museum collections, who owns cultural heritage and should have access to it.
a) What changes are expected in the way creative/cultural content is produced; the way audiences are engaged (for example through digital or immersive experiences); and the way business models operate?
For the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), content is increasingly (although not exclusively) digital, and digital is key to engaging new audiences, particularly younger generations. As museums seek to engage with newer, less traditional audiences, it is clear that the sector must also diversify, with the aim of prospective audiences feeling a sense of belonging in the museum. More emphasis on digital work by museums is not enough in and of itself to diversify audiences.
The National Portrait Gallery is aware that sophisticated levels of digital content, interaction and ecommerce are now the norm in society and that audiences are now much more open to both completely digital experiences as well as seeking out immersive ‘in real life’ events.
The Museum of London acknowledge that growing competition for the culture sector from commercial sector-funded large-scale immersive arts and culture exhibition experiences are setting new standards and audience expectations using multi-million-pound budgets[2], [3] with which publicly-funded museums can struggle to compete.
For Imperial War Museums (IWM), ‘digital’ is one of the ways in which the museum tells stories through exhibitions and public programmes. This intersects with digitisation projects like Digital Futures[4] which seek to make their collections increasingly available digitally. In order for this to be successful, all digital and creative industries need a joined-up approach to ensure work is not repeated, and also to provide a coherent and unified experience for visitors and audiences, something which the IWM calls a ‘horizontal vision-based approach’ as opposed to individual activities.
In a recently published guide to digital transformation in cultural heritage,[5] independent arts and heritage charity Culture24 notes the importance of the cultural heritage sector building digital capacity and understanding in order to be more resilient, remain relevant and thrive in the 21st century. However, they are clear that digital transformation needs to be driven by organisational mission, purpose and values, and to encompass wider societal issues such as social justice, equity and the climate crisis. It is also worthwhile keeping in mind that there is no one-size-fits all solution for digital transformation, and it can only happen in response to individual and organisational contexts. Digital transformation will take a different form for everyone, and therefore it is difficult to provide recommendations across a whole sector. Culture24 also notes the importance of digital literacy within an organisation and the ability to appropriately evaluate digital competencies and capabilities in a specific context, and of taking a holistic, strategic approach to all aspects of digital.
NMDC’s response to the 2019 DCMS Commons inquiry into the growth of immersive technologies outlines how museums are adopting new technologies and working with tech partners to deliver similar experiences. However there are issues with such initiatives – again, the cost can be considerable and without external funding partners equipment can be expensive.
While museums are adopting new technologies, for instance by offering VR/AR experiences to audiences, these experiences can be limited by the availability of hardware and the increased need for staff to be on hand to deliver meaningful experiences. Some studies have found that if visitors are ‘left to their own devices’ they can be much less willing to engage, e.g. if they have to download an app or go to a website to unlock an experience. Unless working with a technology partner, museums may face barriers to being able to resource portable devices for self-guided digital experiences. There is also a challenge around how to create a shared experience for groups, perhaps with multiple devices, or sharing one device.
Many museums expect to look more to immersive technology in the future, but take-up will be dependent on access to funding and suitable tech partners to facilitate development. Further adoption of these technologies will also depend on the nature of each museum’s aims and their assessment of whether immersive technology is appropriate for their collection, audience and social purpose. Although immersive experiences may seem like a natural fit for museums, with such a great wealth of content and stories available, the reality is often that funding production to a high enough standard can be prohibitive, especially for smaller museums. The current formats through which museums can engage audiences with technology may also limit adoption until they can be replicated on a mass scale for a larger audience. However, there is a great willingness to explore further projects, especially as technology develops and becomes more affordable and adaptable.
The museum sector needs to meet long-term challenges of macro collections management, digital preservation, digitisation and digital engagement by consideration of the wider digital infrastructure of the sector, rather than a project-by-project approach. Creating a shared digital infrastructure would mean that the public will be able to find content they are interested in without having to visit each individual museum’s website. Investment in a core service platform (along the lines of Culture Grid) would provide suitable infrastructure to pool data and make it available for re-use elsewhere, such a platform would be of particular benefit to smaller and medium-sized museum collections who may lack the resource to build their own database. A core service platform would encourage the creative re-use of collections information by developers, curators and the public.
In terms of impact on the way business models operate, IWM expects more co-production in exhibition development through the use of digital. More diverse creative voices are also expected as museums turn more towards development audiences.
Digital skills are required across all museum roles, and the museum sector generally lags behind in technology systems and advances compared to other sectors due to funding and resource issues. The sector needs to explore more diverse recruitment and specific skills development and retention in areas of digital production, digital management, digital curation, digital audience engagement etc. Attracting digital producers to working with museums to identify the best and most appropriate methods to tell stories is necessary as they can bring experience to working out the ‘question’ before rushing to the ‘answers’. There also needs to be more investment in digitisation projects with a possible increased risk appetite, which can be difficult to reconcile with the many other demands on museums and their staff.
Very little investment has been made available for long-term digital capacity building and infrastructure, and investment thus far has been project-based – meaning that once projects come to an end and the funding stops, skills are often lost as staff members move on and many projects are unable to continue and are eventually archived. 2018’s ‘Culture is Digital’ was widely anticipated by the sector to bring some long-needed solutions to the issue of transitioning to a more digital ready sector, but it did not provide the long-term vision or funding to enable the sector to transition. Many museums have made significant efforts to find funding elsewhere or to deliver digital projects in-house, but many are not large enough in scope to deliver the required traction. These setbacks have contributed to the sector being behind the general curve where digital innovation is concerned, and the inability to match private sector salaries only compounds the issues.
Museums are very open to partnership work in delivering necessary skills. Sector support organisations such as Culture 24 have been delivering digital leadership skills training and supporting the sector across a range of measures, as has the Digital Culture Network,[6] one of the practical outcomes following on from Culture is Digital which provides training, signposting and support to the sector. However, beyond skills, much more widespread funding and support is also needed for capacity building, infrastructure, research and operations to ensure the sector can adapt to the necessary changes.
The precarious funding models within which many museums operate, and many years of local authority cuts, mean that the culture sector and museums specifically simply cannot keep up with market rate for comparable ‘digital’ jobs. Museum of London notes the increasing risk that culture sector salaries and slow adoption of agile and innovative working models will not be able to afford or attract high quality tech staff or people who could bring transferrable skills from other sectors.
Stable, multi-year funding is required for museums to invest in the skills and careers needed for the future. The rich ecology of the creative sector needs to be supported by a proper talent pipeline – which recognises the value of creative arts subjects as integral to the future cultural output of the country and Government’s levelling up agenda. Without valuable and interesting career opportunities being better spread across the country, young people will continue to gravitate to larger city centres to pursue creative careers.
In order to take full advantage of the opportunities of Levelling Up, there is currently a disconnect that needs to be addressed between the ambition to level up through investing in culture across regions that are currently lacking in provision, and the investment in skills and education needed to ensure that people in all areas of the UK have the opportunity to study creative subjects and embark on creative careers. Investment by the Department for Education needs to align more closely with the ambitions of the Government’s Levelling Up agenda for these goals to be achieved.
Artistic and creative subjects need to be understood in the context of the valuable and inspiring careers they can lead to. ‘Creatives’ cannot be parachuted in from more affluent areas where arts provision is more prevalent. There needs to be recognition that the talent pipeline across the UK needs considerable and sustained investment. Creative subjects should not be seen as an add-on or ‘nice to have’ but as a core mechanism for furnishing young people with the ability to think differently and to innovate, and to nurture creative spirit that makes people, communities and places flourish.
By supporting the curriculum, museums also support the talent pipeline and future of places by working with educators, schools, colleges, and universities to enhance provision and open up a wide suite of potential careers.
There is also serious concern in the arts sector relating to the low entry numbers for GCSE and A-Level exams in creative subjects in 2022. Analysis from the Cultural Learning Alliance[7] found that entries to GCSE arts subjects in 2022 fell by 4% compared to 2021, with a decline across seven creative subject areas: art and design; dance; design and technology; drama; media; film and tv studies; music; and performing and expressive arts. Overall, GCSE entries for these subjects have dropped by 40% since 2010. At A-Level, although there was a 5% increase across all arts subjects entries in 2022 compared to 2021, the number remains 28% down on 2010 levels.
Where digital creative skills are concerned, these need to be considered in a more holistic sense, not merely as ‘IT/programming skills’ but with an understanding of digital across all areas of work. This begins in school where creative skills need to be more coherently linked to digital skills.
The Government should build on existing schemes investing in cultural learning opportunities for young people, particularly those which address young people’s unequal access to culture in areas of deprivation and social mobility cold spots.
In the Cambridge region for example, investment through Local Cultural Education Partnerships, Opportunity Area funding and investment channelled through Arts Council England NPOs, as well as schools’ use of pupil premium to target resources, has resulted in a rich ecology around cultural learning – with partners aligning efforts to ensure that young people in areas of deprivation or poor social mobility, or lacking existing arts infrastructure, benefit in meaningful ways. For areas like this using a region, rather than city, of culture model could help to facilitate and encourage more partnerships between cultural organisations in cities and rural areas.
a) How can this be sufficiently flexible to take account of the pace of change of the sector?
Most importantly, Government should engage with sectors on how they can ensure the right skills and talent pipeline and avoid one-size-fits-all top-down approaches that may work for some sectors but not others. Sectors and more locally based groupings and organisations as mentioned above can more strategically plan for local needs.
Apprenticeships in the creative industries are helpful but need to be flexible to meet demand, for example being able to use the apprenticeship levy for any training and development, not just linked to apprenticeships specifically.
a) What actions are needed from organisations in the creative industries to prepare for and accommodate the requirements of the future workforce?
Cross-sector investment in digital infrastructure, for instance electronic record management systems and digital asset management systems, is key, as well as increased cross-sector partnership working to maximise innovation in the sector nationally and internationally.
Industry alone cannot achieve the appropriate talent pipeline. If arts subjects are de-prioritised, this places an incredible burden on the sector to attract new entrants from what Government considers ‘core’ subjects which have sufficient funding. If the cultural and creative sector is to be viewed as a valid career choice, then arts subjects must be valued as such.
DesignLab Nation (DLN), the V&A’s national secondary schools programme develops partnerships with regional museums, designers, and schools to expand the reach of the V&A’s collection and expertise outside of London. It focuses on local making, design heritage and industry, highlighting both historical and contemporary design and its importance to regional collections, place-making and learning. It supports both in-depth student projects and teachers and builds regional and national design networks.
In 2020-21 (the most recent year for statistics), the programme engaged with 245 students from eight regional schools; 31% of students visited their local museum for the first time and 91% of students visited the V&A for the first time. 43 V&A objects were lent to the regional partners which were seen by 487,516 visitors. All the teachers involved described the programme as “positive” or “very positive”. The programme was adapted for Covid with DLN Online and produced new resources. Participating teachers noted that DLN ‘opened the students’ eyes to a wide range of careers within design and also allowed them to gain a deeper understanding and application of the design process’ and was ‘An amazing introduction to the design process, which students hadn’t had any introduction to previously.’
There needs to be more link up and recognition for the need for joint planning between the DfE and the DCMS. As it stands there is only one programme co-funded by these departments, the Museums and Schools Programme, which has had to repeatedly adapt and overcome considerable issues to continue. Much could be achieved by recognising the potential of museums to expand the horizons of young people looking for ideas about future careers.
UK museums are a key part of the UK’s research infrastructure and work with partners across the country and globally, making a significant contribution to the sum of human knowledge. Research projects have been severely disrupted by the pandemic. Major research collaborations are built up over many years and halting these threatens loss of momentum and causes disrupted access to infrastructure and instruments, damage to research projects, career impacts for early career researchers and students, and potential damage to long-term international partnerships. Brexit has also had profound impacts on the UK’s research capability, access to funding and global standing.
More recent efforts to provide digital research and infrastructure funding by the AHRC are welcome, but these mostly benefit (as they are only available to) the larger museums that are designated Independent Research Organisations. Smaller projects which look to provide shared digital infrastructure for the whole sector have struggled to gain even the small amounts of funding needed to continue projects such as Culture Grid, an online aggregator for museum collections managed by the Collections Trust. Although Collections Trust is now in the process of securing funding for the Culture Grid successor project from private funders, this has only happened after years of unsuccessfully seeking public funding, despite set up and running costs being fairly minimal and the fact the resulting infrastructure will benefit the whole UK museum sector.
Various research projects have looked at how to develop wide-spread skills in the sector but having often been research-organisation led, often failing to make a long-lasting impact on the sector and become embedded practice. More focused research between the sector and academia could try to tackle the upcoming challenges and this is happening in small pockets; but often research is done ‘on’ the sector rather than with it, and so there is work to be done to ensure that research can be usefully applied in practical ways by museums. Innovative research and development can be valuable to identify and address challenges, if undertaken at pace and involving employers. Better reflection of what industry needs should be more integral to the way the research councils approach sectoral research.
a) What actions are needed from the Government, funding bodies and sector organisations to support innovation and research & development?
New or emerging technologies can be expensive, and when working within limited budgets it can be difficult for museums to keep up with the pace of change and the ‘best’ or ‘newest’ technological innovations, all while meeting ever-rising visitor expectations.
Sustained and adequate funding and resource are absolutely key to enable organisations to support and access research and development.
There is a need for funders and organisations to move away from project-based funding models for digital strategy and towards baked-in core funding year on year, set at realistic levels. Adopting agile working models which allow rapid prototyping of projects and ideas before full scale roll outs (in all areas of their businesses not just digital), could enable the museum sector to pivot and test changes quickly and with limited risk. However, the current funding context often constrains innovation as museums cannot take risks when overheads are so high and future funding is so uncertain. Increased certainty would enable boards and senior stakeholders to have more appetite for risk and trying new things. The pandemic has demonstrated how agile museums can respond to challenges, but finances often deter pro-active innovation from taking place.
September 2022
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[1] www.nationalmuseums.org.uk
[2] https://mexicangeniuses.com/london/
[3] https://vangoghexpo.com/london/
[4] https://www.iwm.org.uk/blog/research/2020/11/digital-futures-how-preserve-our-most-vulnerable-digital-media
[5] https://pro.europeana.eu/files/Europeana_Professional/Europeana_ Network/Europeana_Network_Task_Forces/Final_reports/Guide_to_digital_transformation_in_cultural_heritage.pdf
[6] https://digitalculturenetwork.org.uk/
[7] https://www.culturallearningalliance.org.uk/arts-gcse-and-a-level-entries-2022/