1. Diversify Income

How to create more diversified and resilient income streams? Most artists, cultural and creative professionals do not have regular employment and income, and, in this region, they are only starting to consider digital solutions to expand their revenue. Meanwhile, many cultural institutions depend largely on government funding, which is often limited in this region. During the pandemic, conventional income streams, particularly from tourism, have been hard hit. Examples innovative solutions could address:

• Monetizing online access, including through better sales and IP practices.
• Ensuring fairer remuneration to artists and content producers for their digital content.
• Creating alternatives to tourism-based revenue.
• Improving WordPress workflow
• Tapping into alternative funding sources, such as crowdfunding.
• Developing locally self-sufficient business models.
• Sharing income with local communities.
• Reaching out to global markets.

2. Expand Access

How to expand access to arts, cultural heritage and creative goods and services? During the pandemic, many people have turned to arts, cultural and creative goods and services for recreation or education purposes. It has accelerated the trend to create digital content, including local content. However, there are still limited channels for non-mainstream and more diverse content, including both traditional and contemporary forms. Digital content delivery platforms have boomed, but mostly are dominated by big global players. How can Asian artists and creative producers expand their footprint and how can consumers worldwide enjoy improved access to such goods and services? Examples innovative solutions could address:

• Improving platforms to disseminate artistic, cultural and creative content from Asian producers.
• Creating platforms to sell cultural and creative goods and services that reach a local, regional and global markets.
• Leveraging Smart Cities and IoT as channels for distributing artistic, cultural and creative content.
• Reaching special targets like those with limited internet access, hardware/equipment, technology skills, or those with disabilities.
• Crossing barriers in terms of different languages, UX/UI platforms.

3. Improve Networking and Collaboration

How to improve networking and collaboration among culture, creative, business and tech sectors? The arts, culture and creative fields are typically individualistic and fragmented, and practitioners face challenges connecting and collaborating with each other. Digital platforms offer new possibilities for closer networking and collaboration among those working in these fields. It could also enhance networking with other allied sectors including business and tech. Examples innovative solutions could address:

• Improving networking and collaboration within the arts, cultural and creative individuals and organizations.
• Providing professionals with opportunities for mentorship and advice to advance their work.
• Facilitating connections between the arts/culture/creative sector with the business and tech sectors.
• Enhancing connections and lowering costs within the supply chain (from raw materials to designers, producers, retailers).
• Overcoming governance silos (between government agencies, between national-provincial-local government, between government-civil society- private sector).
• Leverage technology so the public sector can serve more as a regulatory and facilitator role (rather than operator role).

4. Upgrade Knowledge Management

How to upgrade knowledge management and harness data for more informed decision/policy making? Lack of data and poor data/knowledge management is a main challenge in this sector. Many organizations work without up-to-date, accessible or searchable data (about visitor numbers, sales, number and location of businesses, etc). This makes it difficult to make good business decisions or to develop meaningful policies, strategies and plans. Examples innovative solutions could address:

• Improving systems for data collection and data analytics in various arts, culture or creative sectors (museums, music, film, arts).
• Connecting people to learn good practices from other institutions and individuals.
• Creating platforms to visualize/share data for the sake of transparency or real-time decision-making.

5. Safeguard Cultural Heritage

How to safeguard cultural heritage in a more effective and inclusive manner? Tech and digital solutions have the potential to overcome many challenges in safeguarding cultural heritage such as: weakened transmission of living heritage to young generations, lack of engagement or empowerment of communities and other stakeholders in safeguarding cultural heritage, lack of information about threats to heritage sites and institutions due to limited numbers of staff for monitoring, among others. Examples innovative solutions could include:

• Transmitting living heritage using digital means, apps, platforms.
• Allowing for real-time, geo-coded monitoring or data collection.
• Creating measures for social distancing, crowd control and visitor management.
• Deploying no-touch technologies for museums, galleries and other institutions.
• Empowering communities and stakeholders using digital technologies to become more involved in participatory heritage safeguarding.

6. Connect to Resources

How to connect cultural and creative practitioners and organizations to resources? Beyond funding, there is a wide-spread challenge in accessing other supportive resources for individuals and organizations in the arts, culture and creative sector. In some cases, these resources simply don’t exist, and new ways should be proposed to increase the supply or create alternatives (ie, online performance venues instead of conventional theatres). In other cases, people just lack information about available resources that are already out there. Examples innovative solutions could address:

• Improving access to space/venues, equipment, specialized workers.
• Pooling and visualizing information about available resources.
• Buying, booking or swapping resources.
• Matching people with specialized skills with jobs/projects.

7. Enhance Capacity

How to enhance training and education to support culture and creative professionals and consumers? The digital wave could leave many players in the arts, culture and creative sector behind, as they do not have the tech or entrepreneurial skillsets to compete. From the consumer side, one of the major challenges facing this sector is a lack of appreciation for diverse forms of arts, culture and creative goods, or a perception that such goods are a luxury. Examples innovative solutions could address:

• Enhancing the creative skillsets of workers (both vocational and professional) through upskilling/reskilling.
• Educating future arts & culture consumers with diverse tastes through new forms of heritage and arts education (online, interactive or digital).
• Leveraging online learning modalities to connect diverse teachers and learners together, crossing geographic, sectoral and cultural barriers.

Relevance

• Your idea addresses one or more of the challenges listed on TechCul website.

Business Potential

• The idea has market potential with a sustainable revenue model. It solves a particular problem for a target group of audience.

Solution Design

• The solution has a modular and flexible design that meets the business requirements. You should provide an implementation plan including feature set and recommended techstack.

Technical Implementation

• The idea is feasible to implement using existing well-adopted technologies. You are able to estimate resources (staff, infrastructure, funding) required to develop a minimum viable product.

Scalability

• It is possible to expand the solution to and/or replicate it in other countries in Asia and the Pacific.

Collaboration

• The team is made of members from the tech community and culture and art sectors. The solution has the capacity to engage the community in the development for example open source approach.

Inclusiveness (Bonus)

• The idea is inclusive in regards to accessibility for disable people, rural citizens and minorities.