Looking Toward the Future : heritage Presentation and Interpretation and their Relation to ICT

This paper will examine use of ICT in the presentation and interpretation of cultural heritage sites. It will describe current initiatives in developing digital applications for data-collection and analysis, visualization, and public interpretation. It will suggest that Cultural Heritage ICT should continue to address its technological and scientific challenges, while also recognizing that heritage is, by its nature, a social activity embedded in a changing contemporary context. Thus digital heritage must look beyond its use for the dissemination of scientific data and recognize its wider potential for facilitating public reflection and discussion about the value and meaning of the Past.