Cultural Diversity and Cultural Models

Abstract

Globalisation is one of the key terms used to describe future trends, but there are many aspects of this concept that should be carefully considered, such as our cultural identity. Cultural diversity is an asset that needs to be preserved, and to do so cultural models must be considered. Cultural diversity is the engine of cultural and economic growth; it provides incredible richness as well as traditions. Even if we consider the " old Europe " , with just fifteen countries, we must still face the issue of cultural diversity; since it encompasses 350 million people, 12 languages and at least three different cultural models (Mediterranean, German and Nordic). Since May 1st 2004, the cultural diversity of Europe has increased sig-nificantly due to the inclusion of new countries and their cultural assets. Some languages still provide barriers (to science, tourism, etc.), as do some cultural and semantic aspects. When we consider the application of ICT to culture, semantic aspects are not solely tied to the implementation of the Semantic Web, a web of machine-readable data that allows software agents to carry out rather complex tasks for humans automatically. At a lower level, semantic aspects are the basis for the interoperability of cultural content. Such problems must be faced and possibly solved whilst developing trans-national cultural applications. The idea of creating a working group that deals with cultural issues in the Information Society era was launched by MEDICI 19 in the year 2000 in cooper-ation with a number of institutions. A panel was held on the occasion of the 19 The MEDICI Framework (Multimedia for EDucation and employment through Integrated Cultural Initiatives) is a framework of co-operation that was established and supervised by the European Commission. A partnership aimed at the appli-cation of new information technologies to the field of culture is being developed between the MEDICI initiative and the Council of Europe. MEDICI operates not just in Europe but across the world. The goal of MEDICI is to promote the use of advanced technologies to access, understand, preserve and promote the economics of Europe's cultural heritage.