Before the era of touch screens, museums were an excellent tool to shape the imagination and understanding of the young. Remarkably, this medium has remained the same as an intellectual offering. But it’s now time for Museums, much like everything else, to adapt or die.

The first and seemingly the last time that Museums embraced ‘digital transformation’ was almost twenty years ago, when they uploaded the catalog of their offerings online. This “digital curation” is helping museums sustain through the current global pandemic, when in-person viewings are limited if not entirely restricted. While online access to thousands of years’ worth of rich history helps with promotion, it’s not very sustainable to continue providing access without recovering the cost of admission. What should museums do to take back control? What would that even look like?

Shani Ziv, founder of a very prolific experiential learning startup, emphasized that museums have an obligation to diversify their offerings (Forbes). He encouraged individuals to use their imaginations and explore the various applications of their untapped creativity.

“What if you come to a museum and select one item of interest to you and then you get to interact with all the other relevant items in the museum?” pondered Ziv (Forbes).

Ziv’s startup — Wandering — uses the power of ‘story’ to build narratives surrounding various items within the museum space (Forbes). Drawing from a data base that includes all the items in the collection, the platform helps users engage with the artifacts and artwork within the catalog to have a more impactful and sensory experience. (Forbes).

Another such new age platform is Muse.run, an application set out to “shake up” the monotony of everyday museum visitor life. It runs seamlessly on mobile browsers providing learning opportunities through interactive maps and digital games (Forbes).

The Kunsthistorisches Museum is one of the first of many to make a dedicated commitment to a digital, experiential transformation. They have looked at creative ways to redefine the ‘physical space’ of a museum, along with other developments in, “smart phones, apps, visualization, interactivity, [and] gamification” for their visitors (Forbes).

Museums play an integral role in our society. They condition us to stretch the breadth of our imagination and challenge us to draw parallels from what was to what is. Museum offerings enhance what students learn from their textbooks and offer a tangible place to fully process the magnitude of the impact various artists and historical figures made across thousands of years.

Often, change is presented in a way that somehow alludes to a world where the “old” and “new” cannot coexist. While it is true that digital transformation is a necessity to the longevity of Museums, it is also fair to say that there are hybrid options available that will not jeopardize the integrity and classic nature of traditional Museum offerings. Undoubtably, a more data-driven, analytical approach to the Museum dynamic is fast approaching.

The Systech Solutions, Inc. Blog Series is designed to showcase ongoing innovations in the data and analytics space. If you have any suggestions for an upcoming article, or would like to volunteer to be interviewed, please contact Olivia Klayman at oliviak@systechusa.com.