From October 8 to 11, 2019, a meeting of the Time Machine consortium (https://www.timemachine.eu/) was held in Dresden, Germany. The consortium includes nearly 300 organizations and research projects from almost all European countries.
The main goal of the Time Machine participants is the digitization, virtualization, and socialization of cultural heritage.
The consortium has already secured one million euros to prepare a project seeking one billion euros in funding during the next EU programming period. This is, in fact, the largest project in the field of the humanities, aimed at coordinating the efforts of European countries in this area, transforming the study and use of cultural and historical heritage into a profitable activity, and harmonizing—and, where possible, standardizing—the legislation of European countries on these issues. The main goal is to place Europe at the forefront of global scientific efforts to use big data in the study of the past.
After six months of correspondence with the consortium’s leadership, the “Heritage BG” Association was accepted as a full member of the organization with voting rights in policy-making and the election of governing bodies, and is the only full member from Bulgaria. The director of the "Heritage BG" Association, Corresponding Member Prof. Ivan Ilchev, Ph.D., briefed the participants at the meeting in Dresden on the achievements and challenges in establishing a Center of Excellence in Bulgaria dedicated to this field.
*) The "Heritage BG" Association was established in implementation of Project BG05M20P001-1.001-0001 "Establishment and Development of the 'Heritage BG' Center of Excellence," funded under the Operational Program "Science and Education for Smart Growth."
