CAPACOA Launches New Digital Literacy Initiative for Performing Arts Sector

Red Sky Performance’s “Adizokan” opens the Fall for Dance North Festival at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts. | Image: David Hou.

CAPACOA and its partners are launching a vast digital literacy and transformation initiative for the performing arts sector. Building off of shared metadata strategies and prototypes, the Linked Digital Future initiative will seek to evolve radically new collaboration mindsets in the arts.

Thanks to the generous support from the Government of Canada, through the Canada Cultural Investment Fund, the Linked Digital Future initiative will take bold steps to assist the sector in the digitization of the performing arts. This will involve:

1. Action research to lay out and implement plans to increase the discoverability of the performing arts with the help of semantic technologies, powering a Linked Open Data ecosystem;

2. Prototyping of applications in backbone data systems and development of new digital services; and,

3. A coaching program and other digital literacy services to provide timely assistance to arts organizations as they seek to address business problems with digital solutions.

“This initiative will both enable the performing arts sector to collectively bridge the discoverability gap, and will create a fertile digital ground for further collaborative initiatives.”

— Frédéric Julien, Director of Research and Development at CAPACOA.

“This investment will support the Canadian Arts Presenting Association’s initiative that will make it easier for Canadians to discover performing artists and find live performances at their fingertips. Projects like this promote our culture, contribute to the economic vitality of the arts industry, and enrich the lives of Canadians.”

— The Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism

The Linked Digital Future initiative will count on the support of many partners throughout the country. RIDEAU (QC) and Culture Creates (QC) will lead the prototyping and development activities. The coaching program and digital literacy services will be delivered on a regional basis by the Atlantic Presenters Association (PE), Mass Culture (ON) and the BC Alliance for Arts + Culture (BC). The action research activities will be conducted by a team of Linked Open Data experts associated with the Bern University of Applied Sciences. The initiative is overseen by an advisory committee, which is comprised of:

• Jean-Robert Bisaillon, President and Founder, iconoclaste musique inc. - metaD - TGiT

• Clément Laberge, independent consultant, education, culture and technology

• Margaret Lam, Founder, BeMused Network

• Tammy Lee, CEO, Culture Creates

• Marie-Pier Pilote, Responsable des projets et du développement numérique, RIDEAU

The Linked Digital Future initiative is funded in part by the Government of Canada.