The 2018 FIAT/IFTA World Conference will take place in Venice from October 9th until October 12th and will be hosted by Rai – Radiotelevisione italiana.

The history of the city of Venice shows us that an open window on the world and the courage to lay out your own stories on a global forum can foster the growth of a flourishing and widely admired heritage. This is not only true in the world of music schools, tapestries, paintings and palazzi, but equally so in the world of digital audiovisual archives.

In times of fake news the classic archival values of reliability and authenticity once again feature prominently: they have not been blown away by the digital storm, but are valued higher than ever before by archivists, researchers, media producers and the industry, who try to channel the content, also at high tide. But it is a different sea that we sail today. There are new ships that no longer navigate under the flag of broadcasters but under those of large technology and media companies. They challenge the existing models of access and preservation and replace the familiar ‘archive’ with the vaguer, but also more flexible ‘content’. Social media, cloud services, mobile media consumption and big data are the drivers for change. New technologies can help us on our discovery, but how do we make sure our sails catch the right wind?

This is why the title of the 2018 FIAT/IFTA World Conference will be:

The Archive’s Renaissance:
Navigating the Future, Channelling the Past

Once again it provides a unique forum for archives to discuss, network and learn. We will bring you an insight in the most recent innovations in audiovisual archives’ use and technology, from all over the world. It will bring together archivists of the world’s most important media collections, but also content strategists, media producers, curators and preservationists, researchers and industry partners. Also, the 22nd General Assembly will elect 6 Executive Council Members and the President of the Federation.

Read the Call for Papers here