Fast Forward was a one-day conference held in London on September 29, 2006. The conference was developed by the Museums Association in collaboration with the Digital Heritage Research Group, University of Leicester.

Speakers included 24 Hour Museum Director, Jane Finnis. Read Jane's presentation to the conference in .pdf form.

There is a wealth of technology that is rich with potential for museums and their visitors. It has already greatly improved learning, access, collections management and other key museum objectives.

However, success across the sector is patchy and organisational cultures must fundamentally change in order for the potential of ICT and new media to be fully realised.

Expensive interactives may be dismissed as gimmicks, digitised collections are often accessed by too few users, and awareness of how best to cost-effectively source content for new media is all too often lacking.

These shortcomings can result from a lack of funds but may also indicate a reluctance to engage with, and misunderstanding of, the digital revolution.

The focus for training and debates on museums and new media has tended to be on the specific technologies themselves: Fast Forward explored the prospects for the IT function to be as integral to museums and galleries as collections management and education.

The conference was aimed at anyone interested in making the changes necessary for museums to adapt to our new, digital world.

Ross Parry, Digital Heritage Research Group, Department of Museum Studies, University of Leicester