Skopje, 19 December 2024 (MIA) - A Protective Records Software and National Register of Cultural Heritage has been launched at the Cultural Heritage Protection Office to enable more efficient management and protection of cultural heritage through the application of innovations. 

Minister of Culture and Tourism Zoran Ljutkov told Thursday's press conference on the launch that the implementation of the project reaffirms the Government and the Ministry's commitment to modernization and to creating a fast and efficient system for maintaining records as well as a transparent system for managing cultural property.

"Digitization of cultural heritage is a basis for the protection and promotion of our history, culture and identity. The software, which will be available to all relevant institutions in the field of cultural heritage protection, aims to provide a unified way of maintaining records and central public access to data on the entire cultural heritage in the country. All this will contribute, among other things, to better coordination and cooperation between the various entities involved in the protection and promotion of cultural heritage," said Ljutkov. 

According to him, this will enable more efficient management and protection of cultural heritage, facilitating the processes for central connection of institutions. The software will be accessible via any Internet browser from a computer, device or smartphone that has access to the Internet. The public part will be accessible to any citizen, while the data entry part, for security reasons, will be accessible only to authorized persons employed in institutions in the field of cultural heritage protection.

"The implementation of this project is not only a technical solution, but part of our vision for a modern cultural policy based on innovation, protection and inclusiveness. Today, we are laying the foundation for a new chapter in cultural heritage management. Together, we continue to preserve our heritage and build the future on the values ​​of the past," Minister Ljutkov said, expressing gratitude to everyone involved in the implementation, the experts and institutions supporting the initiative.

Director Vesela Chestoeva said in the coming period the Cultural Heritage Protection Office will enter all data into the software and update existing data, which includes over 8,000 registered immovable cultural goods, and will need to enter around 25,000 icons found in the country's churches and monasteries, as well as 500,000 archaeological, historical, ethnological and artistic objects found in museums in the country. She noted that gradually and with dedicated work, the process will lead to the complete digitization of the protective records of the National Register of Cultural Heritage.

"Initially, access to the Protective Records Software and National Register of Cultural Heritage will be limited exclusively to institutions working in this area, namely the institutes and museums of the Republic of Macedonia. So far, all these museum institutions have been working under two software programs for which the state allocated high financial resources, and which the institutes and museums themselves purchased and paid a certain amount for it. The new software will now enable the institutes and museums to enter the data for free, and we will take it over and be able to place it in the national register. This will fulfil the legal obligations of the institutions for keeping protective records, and the system will also be used for educational and scientific purposes, given that the data on cultural heritage will be easily accessible to the wider public, of course with certain security restrictions," said Chestoeva. 

The system will also be of great benefit to other state institutions and private companies whose activities are related to the protection of cultural heritage, and municipalities will also be able to use it. 

The value of the software is EUR 100,000, and the tender in 2021 was won by Telekom as the most favourable bidder. The software solution was completed in October 2024, according to the contract.

Photo/video: MIA