UNESCO's unique Chair for Digital Cultural Heritage was given to the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT)
Global recognition for CUT
The heart of the world's Digital Cultural Heritage will now be beating from Limassol, since after a particularly tedious and fully competitive process, with dozens of other Candidate Organizations, from around the world, the Digital Cultural Heritage Lab of Cyprus University of Technology (www.digitalheritagelab.eu) was chosen to take UNESCO's one and only Chair, in the Digital Heritage / Cultural Informatics sector.
This is a very rare and honourable assignment, that UNESCO only gives to a Body from around the world, as a reward for Excellence in Science, Research, Education and Social Offer, and in the case of CUT it is about recognition of its very important work at global level in research, study, education, science, development, innovation, new technologies, digitization, rescue and promotion of the Human Cultural Heritage.
For this reason UNESCO, recognizing the innovative and pioneering global efforts of CUT’s Laboratory, has chosen to upgrade them so they become a model , and the point where the developments in this sensitive area of digital cultural our heritage will be determined.
For the above, particularly honorary and national importance reason, the Digital Heritage Research Laboratory is now renamed UNESCO Chair on Digital Heritage. This Chair is once given worldwide and is of unlimited duration!
Thus, CUT has been included in the UNESCO World Map and has a very important role to play in international politics and science in this field, especially at 2018, which for European Union (EU) is dedicated to the Cultural Heritage (https://europa.eu/cultural-heritage/).
The Digital Heritage Research Lab was established in 2013 and managed in four (4) years to participate in twelve (12) European Programs, fully competitive, using EU funds of four ( 4) millions of Euros, producing important scientific work and giving employment opportunities to dozens of scientists from all over the world.
Dr. Marinos Ioannidis - Director of the Digital Cultural Heritage Laboratory and all the scientific associates of the Laboratory, warmly thank everyone who supported this great effort that has been successful, especially the Rectorate Council, the Ministry of Education and Culture, the National Committee of UNESCO and all active partnerships and organizations, giving Cyprus a - global reach and importance - Chair, integrating Cyprus into the global map of development in the field of Computer Science, Social Sciences, particularly in the protection and promotion of our cultural heritage.