Towards a National Collection started with a UK-wide research and development programme, funded through UKRI’s Strategic Priorities Fund and delivered by the AHRC. This five-year initiative concluded in March 2025 and has laid the essential groundwork for the National Research Infrastructure for Cultural Heritage (N-RICH) Prototype, a two-year initiative, launched in July 2025, delivered in collaboration between the Towards a National Collection programme and AHRC, funded by UKRI.
The N-RICH Prototype project will explore the potential for a UK-wide digital collections research infrastructure, designed to enhance access to and engagement with the UK’s cultural heritage collections. The Prototype will test key components and inform future infrastructure development. The Digitisation Capability Pilot is one of the two core work packages delivered through the N-RICH Prototype, alongside the Digital Research Infrastructure Prototype. Its role is to address the supply-side constraints that currently limit the use of cultural heritage collections in computational and data-driven research.
MORE INFORMATION:
National Research Infrastructure for Cultural Heritage (N-RICH) Prototype: https://www.nationalcollection.org.uk/n-rich-prototype
TENDER OPPORTUNITY
Digitisation Capability Pilot
Duration of Contract: 11 May 2026 to 27 November 2026.
Closing Date: 27 February 2026 (noon)
We seek a supplier for a Digitisation Capability Pilot to design, test and publish a first iteration of an open, scalable digitisation standard for UK GLAM collections, suitable for long-term adoption and iterative development.
The objectives of the Digitisation Capability Pilot are to:
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Define a shared, open and scalable digitisation standard for priority GLAM collection types, specifying baseline, enhanced and aspirational levels of practice
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Ensure the standard is oriented towards interoperability, computational access and reuse, embedding FAIR and CARE principles
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Support data creation, augmentation and computational readiness, including standards for rapid, rich and non-destructive digitisation appropriate to different collection types and research purposes
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Design the standard to be modular and incrementally adoptable by institutions of differing scale, capacity and resource
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Test and refine the standard through limited application with partner GLAM institutions
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Generate evidence on cost, skills and organisational implications to inform future investment decisions
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Publish the standard openly and propose an appropriate model for its future stewardship and evolution.
To access detailed information about this tender opportunity, please first register for free on the Public Contracts Scotland portal and then access the opportunity with the reference number provided below.
Public Contracts Scotland portal: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/
Reference Number: JAN547461
Link to Digitisation Capability Pilot tender opportunity: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=JAN547461