Abstract
The Industrial Heritage of the country helps us to understand how the current realities have been built, representing an important part of the cultural legacy of Catalonia.
In recent years, thanks to the efforts of civil society, led by the Association of the Museum of Science and Technology and Industrial Archeology of Catalonia (AMCTAIC, 1979), and also of the public administration with the Museum of the Science and Technology of Catalonia (MNACTEC, 1984), significant progress has been made, which will continue in the future.
But the accelerated change in science, technology and its applications has changed the frames of reference, the new industry works with new references: industry 4.0, artificial intelligence (AI), Big Data and additive manufacturing, among others . Also, sustainability, circular economy, digital transformation, and respect for ESG criteria
Society has also changed rapidly with new values, new traditions and new forms of socialization: internet, social networks, coworking, telework, etc.
We need industry, with its ability to attract talent, to demand a better training of citizens, to reduce the premature abandonment of education and youth unemployment. The industry has been discovering that intangibles (brands, displays, company culture, ...) are as important as physical assets, and sometimes more so. In this field, documents and images have a fundamental relevance, with all the problems that this entails in archives, and in digitization techniques. Perhaps society and companies have not been sufficiently sensitized in relation to these problems.
What will happen in Museums with virtual reality, or in Archives with artificial intelligence? Should new conservation technologies and also new treatment methodologies be developed? How will the current industrial reality be preserved with factories that look like meeting rooms, and without handwritten documents? The challenges are of great magnitude.
All of this affects, among others, the fields of culture, industry, business, research, universities and education.
The communication will explore and clarify the aforementioned areas, analyzing lines of action that can help improve the country's competitive position in the new environments
New paths for the Industrial Heritage of Catalonia: Past, present and future 