A new report authored by the independent think tank Demos looks into the interactivity of culture and technology and the increasing innovations that have resulted from their interaction.

Logging On was authored by John Holden and looks specifically at the convergence of three trends: technological change; the way people engage with culture and the policy of increasing democratic participation in culture – especially regarding hard to reach audiences.

Holden explores the themes by looking at CultureOnline, an initiative established and funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) with the aim of using digital technologies to widen access to the resources of the arts and the cultural sector.

Online projects funded by Culture Online ranged from large scale public engagement websites, such as Icons, which attracted more than a million unique visitors in its first year, to The Transporters, an interactive DVD that helps children with autism learn about emotions.

The Culture Online initiative came to an end in March 2007 and the report seeks to draw lessons from the experience and to point the way to how new and emergent web technology can increase public participation in culture.

Read the report as a pdf download