IT infrastructure for cultural heritage response missions

Lorenz, Daniel - Technology Manager, German Federal Agency for Technical Relief, International Division, FTS - Field Technology Service; Fritsch, Bernhard - Data Manager Scientific Computing Unit, Central Research Services, German Archaeological Institute, Germany

ISSN 2975-190X – ISBN 978-88-6864-548-9

The Cultural Heritage Response Unit (CHRU) of the KulturGutRetter project is implementing a digital documentation system with mobile devices that document both the heritage assets themselves, and the measures carried out during an emergency response mission. For this purpose, the unit is equipped with its own mobile IT infrastructure so that the documentation system functions autonomously. A mobile server and a local network enable the data acquisition with several tablets or smartphones, which record data simultaneously at different locations, but still synchronously. At the heart of the system is a PostgreSQL server, which allows both the Movable Cultural Assets and the Immovable Cultural Assets units to document processes and objects according to their respective requirements. The system consists of well-known open-source components and can be expanded in two directions depending on the situation.

On the one hand, the system can be extended to cover a larger area, with a backup option to a server in Germany via 5G, and on the other hand, in the event of a network or power failure, it can be used for offline data collection, which would then require manual synchronisation of the data. The aim is to use a flexible but robust IT infrastructure to provide a fast and clean provision of the recorded data immediately after the end of the deployment.

KEYWORDS: IT infrastructures, data recording, cultural heritage, documentation. In PROCULTHER-NET 2 Project. Technical Bulletin N. 4, December 2024, pp 22 - 28

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