Report on data encoding-integration-processing needs of CH stakeholders

This report is part of the work planned in the project PNRR PE 5 “CHANGES”, and specifically in Spoke 5 “Science and Technologies for Sustainable Diagnostics for Cultural Heritage”, WP5 “Digital technologies, AI/ML solutions, chemometric methods supporting data-driven Heritage”. The scope of this report is to collect, discuss, and organize the needs of our stakeholders (museum curators, conservators, restorers, art historians, …), to highlight how they need support in terms of enabling digital data types, digitization processes, and digital platforms/tools. The results of this preliminary study will steer the design of the tools and technologies developed in Spoke5-WP5. The Cultural Heritage (CH) context is very broad, both in terms of preservation goals and subjects (ranging from a small artifact to an entire building, up to an archaeological site or an entire city) and in terms of research/conservation questions (which, in turn, often require different representation approaches, media, scales, and accuracies). For this reason, we have first to introduce some concepts and distinctions between the different digital approaches to CH management, and then we will present the results of a questionnaire aimed at collecting information and needs from potential stakeholders. The final goal is to use this knowledge to guide the process of designing new digital tools aimed at supporting our community.