BSC hosts the launch of CLARIAH-CAT, the new strategic network for digital humanities in Catalonia

26 June 2024

The project aims to promote the application of technology and computing in the field of art and social sciences and to facilitate researchers' access to European digital infrastructures such as DARIAH, CLARIN and SSHOC

More than 50 researchers from all over Catalonia, as well as representatives of the public administration, with a common interest in the application of technology and computing in the Digital Arts and Humanities, participated in the launch of CLARIAH-CAT, held at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS), with the collaboration of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).

CLARIAH-CAT aims to facilitate the access and participation of researchers to European digital infrastructures such as DARIAH, CLARIN and SSHOC, reinforcing collaboration between researchers and institutions at national and international level. The conference allowed to define the objectives, governance and roadmap of this new strategic network in Catalonia.

The day began with an informal coffee-meeting on the outdoor terrace of the BSC, where attendees were able to exchange ideas and establish connections. During the morning, the BSC auditorium hosted a presentation on European digital infrastructures by German Rigau, national coordinator of CLARIN and DARIAH and coordinator of CLARIAH-ES, and Mercè Crosas, head of the Computational Social Sciences and Humanities section at the BSC.

After the initial presentations, participants had the opportunity to briefly present their projects and research interests, generating a space for discussion and knowledge sharing. At midday, a lunch was served in the foyer of the BSC, which allowed the exchanges to continue in a more informal way.

The afternoon session was focused on the co-creation of the future strategic network of Digital Humanities in working groups coordinated by the organisers of the conference: Maite Melero, coordinator of the Machine Translation group and representative of CLARIAH-ES at the BSC, Clara Guasch, coordinator of Social Sciences and Computational Humanities Research at the BSC, Oriol Vicente, coordinator of the Strategic Research Community in Cultural Heritage at the UABCei, and Joan Anton Barceló, director of the Quantitative Archaeology Laboratory at the UAB.

The attendees actively participated in the definition of the CLARIAH-CAT roadmap, laying the foundations for the future of this strategic initiative. The day concluded with a general feeling of optimism for the opportunities that this new network will offer to the research community in Catalonia.