Digital Skills in Arts and Humanities (DISKAH)
Digital Skills in Arts and Humanities (DISKAH) is a UK‑wide initiative to strengthen the digital capability of researchers, students, and professionals across the arts, humanities, and cultural heritage sectors. Centred on a community‑driven approach, DISKAH brings together universities, galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM), and independent practitioners to identify priority skills, share good practice, and make training opportunities easier to find and navigate. The project positions digital skills as a core enabler of research, curation, and public engagement, helping people use data, tools, and platforms confidently and responsibly.
Practically, DISKAH maps skills needs and existing provision, then curates and co‑creates resources that span the spectrum from foundational digital literacy to advanced methods. Focus areas typically include digitisation and 3D/XR, collections data and metadata (including FAIR practices), text and image analysis, GIS and spatial humanities, web and social media archiving, software and workflow good practice, and the ethical use of AI. The programme promotes clear learning pathways, signposts courses and events, and provides reusable guidance, case studies, and templates for both learners and trainers—hosted through the culturedigitalskills.org hub. Community contributions and peer review help keep materials current and relevant across diverse disciplines and roles.
The intended outcomes are better access to high‑quality training, stronger communities of practice, and clearer progression routes for digitally‑enabled roles in the arts and humanities (including research software/digital humanities specialists, data stewards, and digitisation experts). By improving discoverability, aligning language and expectations around competencies, and foregrounding inclusion and accessibility, DISKAH helps institutions plan strategically while giving individuals practical routes to develop and evidence their skills. The project invites partners to share resources, propose activities, and collaborate via the website to grow and sustain the UK’s cultural digital skills ecosystem.