Digital Action Research Training Pilot

Each of our participant institutions (with 2-3 participants each) learned unique digital skills during this program. These were tailored specifically to their projects. At the core of the program, was learning an agile project management style called “Iterative Design” which is quite popular in the digital sector but not common in the cultural sector. Iterative design is an important facet in supporting sustainable digital development which at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic was critical for art galleries and museums. This iterative style encourages experimentation, allowing projects to evolve throughout their lifecycle and supports easy adaptation to benefit stakeholders, works around changes in resourcing or funding, and evolves to adapte to changing circumstances (like the pandemic!). Digital has to be flexible as it is constantly influx and changing, even in things like basic website development. Following this sort of project management style encourages those involved to try new things, learn new skills, adapt as they go, and ultimately serve their visitors/stakeholders better.

This type of training programming is something that has not previously been widely available within the Canadian cultural and arts sector. Though professional development is frequent, it focuses on more concrete training, like conservation of art, and less on skills development for managing projects and digital development. If this pandemic has taught our sector anything, it is that digital is a requirement for our continued existence, and that means learning how to engage in and undertake a vast array of digital projects, when many in the arts sector lack the skills and knowledge. Training programs like DART can fill a need, as we go forward and adapt to this post-digital world where our audiences now expect us to continue to engage online, virtually, and through digital media.