Digital Heritage from a Socio-Technical Systems Perspective: Integrated Case Analysis and Framework Development

Digital heritage (DH) research serves as a bridge between technological applications and broader cultural, social, and policy issues. A comprehensive understanding of DH requires the integration of multiple fields. To address this, this work applies a socio-technical systems (STS) perspective to DH as a strategy to bridge the technological and social aspects. It first examines how DH functions as STSs, analyses the dynamic interactions between technological and social subsystems, and explains the need to achieve joint optimisation to tackle the complexity of DH research. Second, a comparative analysis of six STS models is conducted, using the Venice Time Machine project as a representative case, to explore both the potential and limitations of STSs as a theoretical framework for DH. Third, STS theory is applied to emphasise that the approach needs to incorporate cultural expression, technological feasibility, diverse stakeholder interests, and long-term adaptability in order to address the complexity of current DH challenges. Finally, an STS-DH framework is proposed to guide the design, implementation and evaluation of DH projects using the elements identified through the present analysis. This work extends STS theory applications to cultural heritage digitisation; provides stakeholders with new practical tools; recognises the lack of empirical research in this field and highlights the need for further research.