Case USA90: How a National Cultural Heritage Program Mistook Digital Archives for Enterprise Architecture Transformation
- Sunil Dutt Jha
- Aug 11
- 2 min read
Overview:
This case is part of a 100-diagnostic series revealing how US cultural preservation initiatives have mislabeled digitization efforts as “Enterprise Architecture progress.”
In national cultural heritage programs, a recurring pattern is treating the creation of digital archives as proof of transformation.
Millions of records, images, and artifacts were scanned and made searchable, public access improved, and media celebrated the achievement — yet the enterprise structure linking preservation, research, education, funding, and policy-making was never modeled.
P1–P6 Insight Preview:
These six perspectives define how an enterprise connects intent to execution — P1: Strategy, P2: Business Processes, P3: System Behaviors, P4: Component Governance, P5: Implementation, P6: Business & Technology Operations.
P1 (Strategy): Digitization was positioned as transformation, but no architecture-led plan connected it to national education, tourism, or policy integration goals.
P2 (Process): Cataloging and access processes improved, but preservation planning, cross-institution research, and educational program integration remained fragmented.
P3 (System): Archive platforms weren’t behaviorally integrated with museum systems, academic databases, or cultural tourism platforms.
P4 (Component): Scanning equipment, metadata repositories, and public portals were governed in silos.
P5 (Implementation): Rollouts prioritized content availability over building enterprise-wide collaboration infrastructure.
P6 (Operations): Business ops could provide access to digitized materials, but tech ops faced ongoing interoperability and metadata standardization challenges.
Stakeholder Impact Summary:
CEO/Program Director – accountable for preservation impact and public value: Limited by weak P1 Strategy — public access is improved, but cultural and educational impact remains underdeveloped.
CIO – responsible for technology platforms and integrations: Impacted by P3 System Behaviors and P4 Component Governance — archives are technically functional but structurally disconnected from related systems.
Sales Head (Public & Institutional Engagement) – manages partnerships with museums, universities, and sponsors: Affected by P2 Processes and P5 Implementation — can promote access but can’t deliver collaborative program outcomes.
Chief Enterprise Architect – ensures architecture connects heritage assets with strategic objectives: Confronts P1–P6 issues — digitization is a content initiative, not a transformation of the heritage enterprise.
Head of Archive Operations – oversees digitization, cataloging, and access management: Feels P2, P3, & P6 — still must manually coordinate metadata, system updates, and preservation priorities across organizations.
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