Digital projects get the go-ahead

Eight digital research and development projects have been selected from 495 applications for a share of the Digital Research and Development Fund for Arts and Culture run by NESTA, Arts Council England and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (See AP238). The Fund aims to support arts and cultural organisations to work with digital specialists to explore the potential of new technologies, and priority was given to ideas that could help organisations connect with wider audiences and explore new ways of working. The projects will be undertaken over the next 12 months and each will be evaluated to produce new data and research insights that will be shared across the sector. The successful bidders were Battersea Arts Centre, Exhibition Road Cultural Group, Imperial War Museum, London Symphony Orchestra, New Art Exchange, Punchdrunk, Sage Gateshead and Site gallery. The projects span a range of artforms, audiences and technologies, including one to allow artists to share ideas online and develop those ideas in dialogue with the public; one to test the effectiveness of a mobile marketing and ticketing; and a digital portal to allow gallery and artists to upload, sell and exchange their art work and for audiences to vote on and virtually curate art programmes.