Safeguarding regional development with ICT: Experience from the vertikult project

Vertikult is an innovative German research and application project with a three year timeframe (2002 - 2005) at the interface between culture and the arts and the new information and communication technologies. The target is to offer those working in cultural activities an internet-supported platform - an "internet portal"- as an innovative working tool for project work. Via the portal, services can be offered and accepted. From the organisational point of view one aspect is new: a whole region will implement an employment service as well as a tool to support the work organisation in the future for their people working in the culture sector. The interdisciplinary approach brings together two working fields where interfaces are quite rare. So part of the innovation potential is in analysing the user requirements of a traditionally conservative operating target group and "translating" the results into the development of the portal.