Changing How We Do Culture – August 2016

Over the past year the Corporation has made every effort to reach beyond its walls, outside of the National Capital Region, to play a truly national and international role. The best way to connect beyond the traditional cultural scene in Ottawa is via digital technology. Here are some recent developments showcasing innovation, partnerships outside of the normal public service sector, and the results achieved in the process.

Open by Default - A Global FirstContinued Gamification of Our National HeritageContinued Development of a National Digital Heritage Infrastructure Enabling Our Youth

OPEN BY DEFAULT — A GLOBAL FIRST

The Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation is the first public service institution in Canada, and perhaps the world, to have its documents open by default. By September, the Corporation will have 90% of its staff working in an ‘open-by-default’ manner. This means that saving a document — a draft historical assessment, a final artefact acquisition report, or even a draft exhibition plan — makes it available on the Corporation’s Open Heritage portal at www.documents.techno-science.ca. We encourage departments to contact us as we are happy to share lessons learned and blueprints for execution as this program was designed by leveraging the OpenText-GC Docs agreement, with the support of TBS and OpenText. The pilot was designed, developed, and launched within two short months.

CONTINUED GAMIFICATION OF OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE

The latest Ace Academy: Black Flight mobile game, which depicts the stories of five real Canadian pilots and their epic First World War battles, has been downloaded in more than 170 countries and has even generated Facebook fan pages. On the heels of the international success of the Ace Academy series, the Corporation in partnership with SE3D, a small games company in Toronto, will be launching a new series to accompany Ace Academy. The first chapter of this new Space Frontiers series will be entitled Dawn of Mars, and it will follow a female commander from Earth whose mission is to colonize the Solar System. Future games will include the colonization of moons of Jupiter and Saturn, the mining of the asteroid belt, and other Space exploration adventures. The Space Frontiers series was developed also in partnership with NASA and leading space scientists around the globe. Space Frontiers: Dawn of Mars launches in the fall and also will be available on Google Play and the Apple App Store.

CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF A DIGITAL HERITAGE INFRASTRUCTURE

The Corporation also has taken a leadership position in growing the nation's relationships with technology incubators. This past summer, the Museums signed an agreement with DigiHub, a technology incubator in Shawinigan, Quebec, to help continue the development of cultural apps, as well as to help position technology in the institution's growing global digital leadership role. Talks are under way with various companies from the DigiHub incubator to participate in projects in multiple countries around the globe, as well as how to make the Corporation’s collection more readily available to Canadians. The key to this agreement is partnership. The Corporation is not purchasing technology, but rather has developed a mutually beneficial framework for all parties to share in the risk and the reward as they create new cultural technologies in partnership with the private sector. This partnership framework and process represent a cultural, economic, and innovative opportunity for all participants.

ENABLING OUR YOUTH

This past summer, the Corporation also enabled youth from its CEO Youth Advisory Council to take over our social media. This removed layers of bureaucracy from traditional public service digital engagement approaches and permitted two youths from the Council to basically roam the grounds of the three museums and engage Canadians, without limitations or borders. This is part of a continual effort by the institution to democratize access to knowledge and culture by lowering its walls and engaging with all sectors, from academia, to youths across the country, to the private sector. Tanisha and Kieren did an amazing job, and the Corporation in the future will be leveraging further this type of engagement.