Towards Co-Designing a Global Biographical Research Infrastructure Introduction by the Local Organisers of BD2017 @ Ars Electronica Eveline Wandl-Vogt Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities (ACDH-ÖAW) 1010 Wien, Sonnenfelsgasse 19 E-mail: ​eveline.wandl-vogt@oeaw.ac.at Diversity: The art of thinking independently together. [Malcolm Forbes] Abstract Following the inaugural conference held in Amsterdam in 2015 (BD2015), the Biographical Data in a Digital World Conference (BD2017) aimed to continue the discussion on the multidisciplinary investigation of biographical data. Over two days, this conference brought together international researchers and actors of diverse backgrounds and experiences to facilitate knowledge exchange and innovation. Hosted by the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities (ACDH-ÖAW), this event was organized in cooperation with Ars Electronica and the DARIAH-EU Working Group “Analyzing and linking biographical data” in conjunction with Edith Cowan University (AU), Huygens ING (NL), University of Amsterdam (NL) and VU Amsterdam (NL). BD2017 took place in the framework of the project APIS (Austrian Prosopographical Information System) with the financial support of Landesregierung Oberösterreich and Linz Tourismus, kindly patronized by the Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations (ADHO). The main aim of the conference was facilitating a co-designing process towards a Global Biographical Research Infrastructure in various dimensions. new (relevant) actors and experts beyond 1. Overall Framework: scientific realms; Biographical Research and experimentation 2. to trigger new directions of discovering spaces: exploration space & Ars Electronica dimensions of biographical / prosopographical data research in cross-organisational settings; and The second edition of „Biographical Data in a Digital 3. to further participatory processes and co-design World (BD2017)“ Conference was held under the towards community building as well as patronage of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (AAS), integration into existing social infrastructures and Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities (ACDH-ÖAW), in (global) initiatives. collaboration with Ars Electronica Center (AEC), 6-7 November 2017, in Linz (Austria). Against the background of the ACDH-ÖAW working group “methods and innovation”- “exploration space”2, In addition to its international organisational conference the conference was designed as an experience of diverse board ​(Edith Cowan University, Australia; Huygens actors to come together and to stimulate knowledge Institute for the History of the Netherlands, Vrije exchange and innovation. Exploration space aims to Universiteit Amsterdam and University of Amsterdam, all stimulate, design, enable and scientifically analyze new three: The Netherlands) it was granted support by the forms of knowledge production at the intersection of Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations (ADHO) as science, technology and society by applying Open well as DARIAH-EU by ​means of the Working Group Innovation methods and practices. BD2017 was the first “Analysing and Linking Biographical Data”. conference organized against this mission. The main aims of the local organisers were to facilitate The conference was embedded into the stimulating and enable a co-designing process towards the environment of Ars Electronica Center in Linz (AT)3: “a development of a Global Biographical Research place of inquiry and discovery, experimentation and Infrastructure1: exploration, a place that has taken the world of tomorrow More precisely, the core goals of this conference were as its stage, and that assembles and presents influences from many different ways of thinking and of seeing 1. to open up the scope of the conference towards 2 1 c.f. various presentations of the author in the framework https://www.oeaw.ac.at/acdh/about/news-archive/news-de of the Open Innovation Research Infrastructure, such as : tail/article/methods-and-innovation/ 3 goo.gl/1U7sjQ . https://www.aec.at/news/ iii things”. Paul Arthur - Chair in Digital Humanities and Social Sciences, Director of Global Issues Centre at Edith Cowan BD2017 aimed to be a low-threshold conference. The University (AU), Georg Gartner - TU Wien, Department open space of Ars Electronica (a museum rather than a of Geodesy and Geoinformation, Head of Research Group scientific institution) was a key indicator of this goal; as Cartography (AT), Rennie Mapp - Project Manager for was the commitment of our financial and in-kind strategic DH initiatives at University of Virginia (US), supporters to run this event without any registration fees. Tobias Schönberg - Wikimedia Austria (AT), Gerfried Stocker - Artistic and Managing Director of Ars Our website runs on Google-Sites: Electronica (AT), and Jo Payne - Head of Biographical https://sites.google.com/view/bd2017/home​. and General Reference at Oxford University Press (UK). Conference abstracts have been made available in advance via zenodo [DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1041978]: Finally, at the end of day one the Second Meeting towards https://zenodo.org/record/1041978#.WybYCIp9jX4​ . a Global Research Infrastructure for Biographical Research, chaired by Paul Arthur (AU) and Eveline The conference is documented on Wikimedia.Commons Wandl-Vogt (AT) was held. A broad discussion allowed /BD2017/. For those, who did not up to now: We are for wrapping up of ideas and challenges of day one on the delighted if you add pictures and presentations. one hand and mapping these onto visions and needs for a Global Research Infrastructure for Biographical Research; 2. Cross-Organisational Collaborations: and on the other hand input for the interactive session for People and Institutions day two was collected. BD2017 focused on bringing together diverse actors to facilitate cross-organisational discussions in various 3. Format: Interactions, Inspirations and guided and open formats. Presentations Representing the various approaches toward biographical Next to 16 oral presentations and a poster session with 10 data in a digital world, BD2017 opened with two keynote posters, about 60 participants were invited to engage with inputs ​not primarily connected with biographical data: further sessions that aimed to touch core issues of working On the one hand, Gerfried Stocker, Artistic and Managing with biographical data and issues of high relevance in Director of AEC, challenged current research based on co-designing an innovation network for biographical biographical data against the backgrou​nd of Artificial research. All sessions were co-chaired with the aim of Intelligence and Internet 4.0. making use of the wealth of diversity. On the other, Tobias Schönberg, of Wikimedia Austria, The interactive sessions took place in AEC-labs. The labs introduced the collaborative approach and resource of allowed participants to open up new communication Wikidata to the audience, challenging scientific channels and new forms of interactions. biographical research practices (collaboration versus participatory approaches and democratization) and Session 1 was about Linking and Enrichment of displayed some of its potentials for biographical research. Biographical Data, co-chaired by Matthias Schlögl (AT), Katalin Lejtovicz (AT), Antske Fokkens (NL), and Eero In a multidisciplinary setting, a panel discussion was set Hyvönen (FI). up to look beyond current biographical data research and trigger the question of what “Biographical data in a digital Session 2 was digging into Visualisation and Visual world” might include in 2017 and beyond and how Analysis, co-chaired by Florian Windhager (AT), Eva researchers might be challenged by new approaches. Mayr (AT) and Alessio Bertone (AT). The panel, co-moderated by Harold Short (UK) and Session 3 discussed issues of Publication and Openness of Eveline Wandl-Vogt (AT), introduced the various views Biographical data, co-chaired by Peter Kraker (AT), of the panelists by means of “cultural probes”. Panelists Bernhard Krabina (AT) and Sarah Herbe (AT). were asked to give a brief statement considering the most challenging issues, and further research steps. Finally, session 4 aimed to meet issues of Collaboration and Co-Creation, co-chaired by Eveline Wandl-Vogt The panelists were chosen to offer a broad view on (AT), Abbas Salamat (AT) and Jo Payne (UK), biographical data, on the one hand current biographical representing scientific research (organisations), research, and on the other looking into various new fields Wikimedia and a company. of methods and applications / technologies as well as open up for new approaches for collaboration, and sharing I warmly want to thank all co-chairs of the sessions for views on research, cultural institutions, firms and citizens. their engagement and willingness to facilitate and grow the impact of this conference, as well as for their openness The invited panelists included: iv and trust to experiment with the new format. The less interactive paper presentation sessions were interrupted by inspirational walk arounds at AEC: Highlights of Ars Electronica Center Deep Space4 - Highlights Deep Space - Specials. I warmly thank AEC for this unforgettable experience. 4. Follow up and Thank you The overwhelming impressions taken of AEC and its options to work and interact with (biographical) data, stimulated rich visionary discussions amongst the participants. BD2017 led to several follow ups, amongst them: · Application for a UNESCO Chair of Human Journeys in the Global Era program · Application for an ADHO Special Interest Group on Biographical Data Research · Examples for cross-organisational communications and first results of collaborations, e.g. Wikidata and research institutions, Wikimedians in residence in (biographical) research institutions. · Activities to develop a Template for easing communication and collaboration with business companies on the example of OED · Increasing activities in the setting of the DARIAH-EU working group on “Analysing and Linking Biographical Data” · Proposal for a DH-conference workshop and a European Alliance of Digital Humanities Organisations (EADH): pre-conference workshop · Proceedings of BD2017. We are delighted about this variety and richness and we thoroughly wish the reader a positive experience in further collaborations in this area. We gratefully thank our sponsors for their financial and in-kind support for making this event happen: Ars Electronica Center Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities - ÖAW Landesregierung Oberösterreich Linz Tourism APIS (Austrian Prosopographical Information System). Finally, I would like to thank all the contributor​s and enthusiastic participants. Don’t stop dreaming big and follow your visions! I deeply appreciated the time in Linz we were exploring together and look forward to shared next steps. 4 https://www.aec.at/center/en/ausstellungen/deep-space/ v