DOORS - Digital Incubator for Museums

Year(s): 2021 – 2023

Description:
This project was initiated to support small and medium-sized museums across Europe in navigating rapid digital transformation. 

Key activities included:

• Running a two-stage incubation programme that brought in up to 40 museums via 20 innovative pilots exploring digital maturity, audience engagement, revenue models and infrastructure strategies.

• Offering knowledge-sharing, resources, expertise and mentoring to museums that typically face disproportionate challenges in accessing digital strategy capabilities.

• Documenting and publishing the insights, tools and case studies from the incubation process—creating publicly accessible outputs to help the wider museum sector.

Output:

A suite of downloadable resources—such as e-publications, white papers, and self-reflection tools—designed to help museums assess and strengthen their digital maturity. In addition, the project will establish a collaborative network of participating museums and knowledge partners, fostering the exchange of experiences, insights, and best practices in digital transformation across the sector, as well as strategic frameworks for museums to rethink digital engagement, infrastructure, business models and audience interaction in a sustainable way.

Client/Partner:
Led by Ars Electronica (Austria) in consortium with MUSEUM BOOSTER (Austria) and Ecsite (European network of science centres & museums).