Dear all, Version 1.2 of the White Paper on the European Data Space <https://www.swissdataalliance.ch/publikationen-content/whitepaper-europische-datenraum-aus-schweizer-sicht> has been published on the website of the Swiss Data Alliance. It contains a new chapter on the data space for cultural and cultural heritage data (Chapter 9). Our apologies to all those of you who do not read German; the resource situation so far has not allowed for the translation of the white paper. On a political level, an important next step will be the public consultation in view of the upcoming “Kulturbotschaft / Message culture 2025-2028”, which is scheduled to take place between May and September of this year, followed by the parliamentary debate in 2024. On a more practical level, it is now up to all of us to further concretize the ideas put forward along the lines sketched out in the white paper. Here are some examples (please don’t hesitate to share your own activities!): 1. Swiss IGF 2023 - Call for Issues The Swiss Internet Government Forum 2023 will take place on 13 June in Bern (with an online participation option). Their Call for Issues <https://igf.swiss/swiss-igf-2023/> is officially open until tonight (31 January). I have submitted some issues drawn from our whitepaper chapter. Please do so as well – it only takes a few minutes and increases the chances that our topics will be addressed. 2. Linked Open Event Data - Vision & Roadmap In cooperation with fugu GmbH and further partners we are currently developing a Vision and Roadmap in view of the establishment of an ecosystem for Linked Open Event Data <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pDhUz5nTT1FyAiO2w54ReUbXsHRFf3k78x0wal4DXxM/edit#heading=h.sy7r8gnewk07> in Switzerland (and beyond). – Please get in touch if you are interested in joining the effort! 3. Wikimedia Research Grant Application: Leveraging Wikidata to Describe and Provide Access to Heritage Collections In cooperation with Wikimedia Sweden I have submitted a Wikimedia Research Grant Application <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Programs/Wikimedia_Research_Fund/Leveraging_Wikidata_to_Describe_and_Provide_Access_to_Heritage_Collections> taking the referencing of archival holdings by means of “archives at” statements as a starting point to develop a holistic approach to leveraging Wikidata to describe and provide access to heritage collections. – If you are familiar with Wikidata, your feedbacks and endorsements on the talk page will be very much appreciated! 4. Swiss Open Cultural Data Hackathon 2023 – Save the Date! This year’s GLAMhack will take place on 28 + 29/30 September 2023 at the Ethnographical Museum of Geneva, with a special focus on colonial collections and the issues surrounding them. 5. Take a look at what the European Union is up to! Diana Betzler has pointed me to the recently published report of the European Commission on their “Stakeholders Survey on a European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage” <https://cultureactioneurope.org/knowledge/stakeholders-survey-on-a-european-collaborative-cloud-for-cultural-heritage/> . This seems to be the next big thing at the European level, connecting the dots between Europeana and the European Data Space for Cultural Heritage. Enjoy, share and take care! Beat -- Beat Estermann Estermann Digital Transformation Consulting Grubenstrasse 5 CH-3072 Ostermundigen beat.estermann(a)estermann-digi.ch <mailto:beat.estermann@estermann-digi.ch> Mobile: +41 79 943 65 11