Museums, libraries, archives, and other cultural heritage institutions in Austria are invited to share their current challenges in digitization and innovation. Common themes will be identified through Salzburg Research’s IdeaSpace ideas platform and then further developed into concrete solutions in collaboration with experts from academia and industry. Submissions will be accepted until 15 October 2026.

Highlighting shared challenges

Many cultural heritage institutions are grappling with similar questions. How can digital collections be used sustainably? What new forms of outreach are effective? And in which areas can new technologies create tangible added value?

Often, institutions address these issues independently of one another. This is where the GLAM Innovation Lab steps in: Salzburg Research’s IdeaSpace ideas platform provides a secure digital environment in which museums, libraries, archives, and other cultural heritage institutions can describe, discuss, and collectively refine their challenges.

This makes it clear which issues affect multiple organizations, highlighting areas where collaboration would be particularly beneficial.

From challenge to innovation project

From 10 August to 15 October 2026, Austrian cultural heritage institutions can submit details of their current digitization and innovation challenges via IdeaSpace. Participating institutions can comment on or contribute to these submissions or confirm that they are facing similar challenges. 

“IdeaSpace highlights where organisations are working independently on similar challenges. This shared knowledge base is an important starting point for initiating targeted collaborations and promoting innovation that brings concrete benefits to multiple institutions,” says Birgit Kolb, head of IdeaSpace at Salzburg Research.

The focus is on the institutions’ actual needs, rather than predefined technologies. Following the principles of design thinking, the challenges are first described from the perspective of the organizations involved before being refined collaboratively. It is only at this point that possible solutions are considered.

Cultural heritage institutions determine the topics

From 15 October 2026 onwards, universities, research institutions, companies and start-ups will also be involved. They will be able to ask questions, share their experiences, and contribute initial solutions.

Ten challenges that are particularly relevant to the cultural heritage sector will be selected based on the feedback received. These topics will be explored in more detail on 10 November 2026 during a joint innovation day organised in partnership with the Technical Museum in Vienna.

Submit a challenge now

Proposals from museums, libraries, archives and other Austrian cultural heritage institutions can be submitted via IdeaSpace until 15 October 2026: https://www.ideaspace.cc/glam-innovation-lab-2026/

IdeaSpace is an ideas and engagement platform operated by Salzburg Research Forschungsgesellschaft. It helps organisations to systematically identify and discuss challenges, preparing them for further innovation processes.

The GLAM Innovation Lab is a collaboration between Salzburg Research, the Austrian Museum Association, and CLARIAH-AT. It is funded by the European Union and the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) as part of the European Digital Innovation Hub “Crowd in Motion-AI.” The Innovation Day is organized with the support of the Federal Ministry of Housing, Arts, Culture, Media, and Sport.

More information:

• Press release on the ideas contest: Österreichs Kulturerbe sucht gemeinsam digitale Lösungen
• IdeaSpace ideas platform: www.ideaspace.cc