“Open traditional games digital library 2016 project annual meeting and expert meeting” on December 6–7 at the Beijing United Nations building successfully. The conference was a milestone of the UNESCO project “Open and Traditional Game Digital Library,” funding by China’s leading Internet company Tencent. The objective of the conference is to discuss the matter of the application of ICT (Information Communication Technology)in protecting and enhancing native and local knowledge for learning, development, and cultural harmony between cultures and regions.
In 2015, based on the value of traditional games and the risk of their consensus, UNESCO and Tencent IEG jointly launched the global pilot project.
Traditional games convey values such as solidarity, fairness, equality, discipline, inclusion, respect, and diversity, which contribute to math education, civic education, and logical thinking, as well as cultural diversity, and contribute to the promotion of different groups, Mutual understanding, and inclusiveness between the various countries. However, there are a considerable number of traditional sports and games, as well as their traditional and local knowledge vanished from the face of the earth, or lying on the verge of extinct.
Between 2015 and 2016, four countries listed as the pilot countries for game data collection, and the design and testing of this creative digital library were carried out; Bangladesh in South Asia, Mongolia in East Asia, Brazil in Latin America and Greece in Western Europe, making the project truly global and diverse.
The conference brought together 31 traditional game specialists, ICT experts, technicians, educators, information technology developers and strategic partners from nine different countries to provide an excellent platform for academic discussion and hands-on experience sharing. The project was reviewed from an international and interdisciplinary perspective, and it gave much inspiration for what comes next.
Two experts and representatives from four pilot countries shared their experiences on traditional game research and data collection and fully consulted their local community, the owners of the game, to ensure their full participation in the data collection process.
The draft of the Open Traditional Game Digital Library Guide was also presented at the meeting and received positive feedback and constructive comments. The guide is intended to provide technical guidance to researchers, specialists, and different groups on how to find, capture, preserve, depict and disseminate traditional games from various countries and groups, and upload content to the digital archive.
The construction of the digital library falls on the shoulder of Tencent R & D; the 2.0 version is expected to be released by 2017 April to the registered user while including 30 recorded traditional games with complete information.
Several experts raised in-depth discussions on issues such as open access, copyright, multilingualism, metadata validity, informed consent by communities (including indigenous communities), and user-generated content reviews.
Several speakers also shared case studies on traditional game-related research in their respective countries and regions, as well as discussed how ICT shape the past and future, and the application on intangible assets such as traditions and knowledge.
Participants expressed unanimous agreement on the importance of the project not only to protect the information and knowledge of traditional games for future generations but also to promote the practice of incorporating traditional games into formal and non-formal education for in-depth research on relevant issues.
Tencent Interactive Entertainment Group is not only the project’s donors but also technology partners. Tem Tencent innovated the implementation of the project, and its sustainability has made tremendous contributions.
2016, UNESCO and Tencent formed a task force, visited three pilot countries, selected for the traditional games and sports experimental data collection and audiovisual records. The result was remarkable.
In the future, the pilot program will include more countries to create a more cosmopolitan, diverse and inclusive vision. Materials collected in the library will also be developed by young students into multimedia content, such as mobile applications, information maps, animated images, animation and mobile games, and is expected to be adapted to open educational resources.
To learn more about the project, click on;
Open Digital Library Home Page
UNESCO official announcement
ODL Facebook page
ODL Twitter page
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