A new partnership between the Directorate General for Digitalization and Communication of the MiC and the Europeana Foundation to strengthen Italy’s leadership in digital cultural heritage in Europe.
Rome, Italy – 11 December 2025. The Directorate General for Digitalization and Communication of the Ministry of Culture and the Europeana Foundation have signed a far-reaching Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen Italy’s commitment to shaping the future of digital cultural heritage in Europe. The first Memorandum of its kind ever signed between the Europeana Foundation and an EU Member State, the partnership aims to accelerate Italy’s participation in and contribution to the common European data space for cultural heritage, for which Europeana Foundation is responsible.
The partnership was formalized during the “General Assembly of Digital Culture – Connecting Heritage, Building Futures”, a high-level event dedicated to digital culture, held in Rome on 10 and 11 December 2025.
Among its main provisions, the Memorandum establishes a key commitment: the Ministry, through the Directorate General for Digitalization and Communication, will make 10 million aggregated records available to the data space by the end of 2026. The Europeana Foundation will provide technical guidance, specialized expertise and capacity-building activities to support the contribution of these valuable resources. Achieving this goal by 2026 would make Italy the country contributing the most to the data space, strengthening its leadership role in the digital cultural heritage landscape in Europe. The Central Institute for the Digitization of Cultural Heritage – Digital Library will play a central role in this commitment.
A Shared Vision for the Cultural Heritage Data Space
Inspired by the vision outlined in the 2021 European Commission Recommendation on a common European data space for cultural heritage, the Memorandum renews and strengthens the long-standing collaboration between the MiC and the Europeana Foundation.
At the heart of the Memorandum is an ambitious and shared vision: to strengthen Italy’s contribution to the data space while maximizing the benefits the country can gain from the broader Data Space ecosystem.
Thanks to this joint effort, Italy’s rich and diverse digital cultural heritage will become more accessible, discoverable, and reusable, reaching different audiences and sectors across Europe and the world, and remaining alive for future generations. The partnership will also drive innovation, particularly in advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and 3D digitization, enabling new ways to explore, reuse, and engage with cultural heritage.
A Key Commitment: Ten Million Records by 2026
A central pillar of the Memorandum is Italy’s commitment to contribute at least ten million digital cultural heritage records to the Data Space by the end of 2026.
The Europeana Foundation will provide technical support to optimize aggregation processes and ensure interoperable data flows, paving the way for a robust, sustainable, and scalable national aggregation system. This system will be a central element of the Digital Library and will enable a seamless contribution of Italy’s cultural heritage to the Data Space.
The Europeana Foundation will also provide the Digital Library with specialized expertise and operational know-how, supporting its accreditation as an official partner of the European common data space for cultural heritage.
Andrea De Pasquale, Direttore generale Digitalizzazione e Comunicazione del MiC, insieme a Harry Verwayen, Direttore generale della Europeana Foundation, e Martina Bagnoli, Presidente del Supervisory Board della Europeana Foundation, hanno formalizzato l’accordo nel corso di una cerimonia di firma dedicata il giorno 11 dicembre a Roma, segnando una tappa fondamentale, all’insegna di una rinnovata collaborazione e di obiettivi condivisi.
“With the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, we are taking a decisive step in building Italy’s digital cultural heritage infrastructure, fully aligned with the 2021 Recommendation on the European common data space for cultural heritage. Thanks to the collaboration with the Europeana Foundation, we will be able to strengthen the role of the Directorate General for Digitalization and Communication and the Digital Library as the national hub for data aggregation, quality, and interoperability, systematizing the work initiated with CulturaItalia and expanding it to an entirely new scale. The goal of contributing at least ten million digital cultural heritage records by 2026 is ambitious but achievable, and will be accompanied by a structured path of technical support, training, and skills development for cultural institutions across the country. This investment in data, professionals, and digital infrastructures means making heritage more accessible, usable, and reusable, serving the scientific community, education, tourism, and new applications based on advanced technologies such as 3D and artificial intelligence. It is a challenge we face with a sense of responsibility and with the awareness that the richness of Italian heritage can and must make a decisive contribution to building the European Data Space and the digital future of culture,” said Andrea De Pasquale, Director General for Digitalization and Communication of the Italian Ministry of Culture.
“We are at a decisive stage, supported by a renewed political momentum within the EU digital agenda and by the ambition to make Europe the continent of artificial intelligence. Reliable and multilingual data are the engine of European AI, and the common data space for cultural heritage is meant to provide them. Member States are essential: their digital heritage and commitment form the foundation of the Data Space, fueling its innovation potential. With this ambitious step, Italy makes its rich heritage widely accessible and reusable across all sectors – from scientific research to tourism, and even for training AI systems. I hope this example can inspire other countries to enhance European digital heritage as a resource for the future,” said Harry Verwayen, Director General of the Europeana Foundation.
“Italy already proudly ranks among the top ten EU Member States contributing to Europeana and the Data Space. Our network of cultural heritage institutions and professionals across Italy is vibrant and constantly growing, and thanks to this partnership, the Europeana Foundation and the Ministry of Culture are joining forces to build the digital future of culture in Europe. By 2026, Italy will be the country providing the largest amount of content to Europeana and the Data Space – a milestone that fills me with immense pride and will give a tangible boost to the support and engagement of cultural institutions across the country: from greater accessibility to technological innovations in 3D and AI, to the sharing of best practices and the identification of common solutions,” said Martina Bagnoli, Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Europeana Foundation.