Framework for Digital Application in Sustainable Heritage Management

Abstract

Heritage management compromises several processes: authentication, preservation, conservation, and promotion. Researchers have argued that emerging digital technologies would help heritage sustainability by supporting virtual tourism. Building Information Modeling (BIM), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Digital Twin (DT), Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Deep Learning (DL), and Metaverse are samples of digital technologies tools of the Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) management and decision-making systems in several industries including construction. A literature review on Heritage Management Processes (HPM) revealed a gap in relating digital technologies to heritage management processes and identifying implementation challenges and prospects. This was the motive for this study, which investigated the potential and challenges of applications adopting these emerging technologies in maintaining sustainable heritage management activities. Digital application technologies, tools, and benefits were investigated to achieve its objective. The possible utilization of these tools and technologies in dealing with heritage was reviewed. The benefits of utilizing these technologies on heritage sustainability were analyzed and discussed. The research concluded with a framework defining the utilization of digital tools in sustainably managing tangible and intangible heritage assets.