Karin Drda-Kühn:

What is VERTIKULT?

VERTIKULT is an innovative German research and application project with a three year timeframe at the interface between culture and the arts and the new information and communication technologies. 

The target is to offer those working in cultural activities an internet-supported platform - an "internet portal" - as an innovative working tool for project work. Via the portal, services can be offered and accepted. 

Two aspects are new here: this is the first time that such a portal is available in the cultural field covering a complete state and also, further functions will be offered to support the work organisation in projects.

Why is an internet portal necessary?

The latest technology can support new working requirements and types of activity - starting with telework, via flexible organisation concepts right up to technically controlled networks and information flows. An internet portal allows the exploitation of the new technologies for the safeguarding of working performance and quality in cultural activities. It opens up new working opportunities for those actively involved in cultural work and thus enriches the cultural landscape.

What will this portal offer to culturally creative professionals?

It will bring together employers and employees in the cultural field. It will make a con-tribution to transparency in the contract award process of publicly funded projects. It will include both offers and requests for temporary services. It will simplify and support the search by employers for qualified contractors. It will provide those searching for work with access to contracts and tasks suitable for their skills. It will allow the users to actively contribute to the changing processes in the world of work and permit them to improve their own qualifications.

Who does VERTIKULT appeal to?

VERTIKULT appeals to all involved in cultural activities and the arts in public and private institutions as well as all persons who provide services within the scope of cultural activities. Those people who are only interested in part time or temporary activities are also a target group - for example men and women with young families. The requirements of handicapped people will also be taken into account.

How can cultural institutions profit from VERTIKULT?

An example:

For an exhibition project, a museum is searching for a curator who must have specialist experience in order to perform this specific task. A corresponding job descrip-tion is entered in the VERTIKULT databank. At the same time, using the qualification profiles and CVs already stored in the databank, a search can be made for a suitably qualified expert and contact can be made to request an offer for the proposed project. 

What does this mean for the future working of cultural institutions?

Cultural institutions are obliged to treat the available resources as time and cost efficiently as possible. VERTIKULT supports these efforts free-of-charge - particularly in the project work. It will be possible to carry out the tasks at hand electronically, independent of time and place, and with a clearly reduced administrative input and cost savings.

How can persons working in the cultural field benefit from VERTIKULT?

An example:

A free-lance restorer of works of art is obliged to take on project-related temporary tasks or an art historian with young children wishes to know what tasks are available which are independent of time and place and thus compatible with family obligations. Both persons can enter their qualification profiles (anonymously) in the VERTIKULT databank. At the same time, using the search functions, they can consult the databank for offers of work which correspond with their qualifications and interests. 

What does this mean for the future work prospects of professionals in cultural activities?

Every qualifications profile which is entered into the databank - free of charge - will be available to a large number of potential employers who are possibly looking for just such a candidate for a specific task. The search functions allow professionals to research the employment market efficiently for suitable vacant positions in the cultural field. Contact with a potential client/employer can be made electronically - also outside regular working hours. All these factors create the prerequisites to meet the requirements which working in our future knowledge and service society places on every one of us.

Why do we need such a project?

A fundamental change is taking place in our society. Its economic and social struc-ture is evolving into a society characterised by knowledge and services. The cultural field is no exception here. The notable features of this change are more intensive competition, continuous qualification needs in handling the new information and communication technologies, the changing roles of men and women in the working world and the replacement of fixed organisational forms by flexible contracts and time-frame structures. 

The realisation of projects within a limited time period will definitely characterise the future of cultural work. Even today, in many cultural institutions, such temporary project work is already part of day-to-day routine. VERTIKULT offers an instrument with which these changing requirements can be mastered and used productively.

Who is behind VERTIKULT?

The development of the internet portal of VERTIKULT  is a research project of the Federal German Ministry for Education and Research (project title: "Development of a vertical portal for cultural tasks"). The realisation of the project takes place in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate (project title: "Mediation of services and transfer of information for cultural work"). It is financed by means from the European Social Fund and with the support of the Ministry for Science, Further Education, Research and Culture as well as the Ministry for Employment, Social Services, Families and Health of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate. The partner group consists of research institutes and small to medium-sized companies. German members are: 

Fraunhofer-IGD, Darmstadt
Zentrum für Graphische Datenverarbeitung (Computer Graphics Centre), Darmstadt
media k GmbH, Darmstadt
poppke & broos, Frankfurt am Main
Forschungsinstitut Technologie Behindertenhilfe (Research Institute for Technical Support for the Handicapped), Wetter
Institut für Technologie und Arbeit der Universität Kaiserslautern (Institute for Technology and Employment, Kaiserslautern University)

To safeguard the European dimension of this project, at the research level, VERTIKULT is also integrated into projects at four European research and cultural institu-tions. The purpose here is to develop VERTIKULT as a transfer model with its im-plementation throughout Germany and Europe. The European partners are:

• MEDICI – Network of the Politecnico di Milano, Italy
• Austrian Cultural Service, Vienna/Austria
• Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest/Hungary
• Patras University, Greece

For further information please contact:

VERTIKULT project management - media k GmbH (for Fraunhofer-IGD)
Dr. Karin Drda-Kühn
Schleiermacherstraße 8, D-64283 Darmstadt
Tel.: +49-6151-39 63 126,  Fax +49-6151-39 63 129
E-mail: vertikult@media-k.de , Internet: http://www.vertikult.de