When digital innovation augments cultural heritage: An innovation from tradition story

Looking to the future, innovations commonly tends to dismiss the old and to replace it with the new. However, when traditional industries – such as cultural heritage – meets technology, incredible things can happen. This article has the goal of detecting the role of digital innovation in reshaping the information chain of a traditional sector, the cultural heritage industry, and the value creation opportunities that the different actors can exploit. By drawing on a wide body of literature on innovation and strategic management, and by conducting a case study on the Google Art Project (GAP), a large global art digitization not-for-profit initiative founded by the Google Cultural Institute in 2011, this study shows that technology augments the way people enjoy arts. Digitization allows visitors of virtual museums to focus on artworks and detect very small details that could not be detected in a physical visit to museums. Furthermore, the study shows a process of democratization of the art since museums can exploit a new way – which is virtual and digital – to distribute art globally. Finally, the study highlights the capabilities that are emerging and valorised at the different stages of the value chain, thanks to the technological innovation available in the market. Taken together, this evidence highlights the role of Google in enabling new mechanisms of value creation in the cultural heritage industry by allowing museums to reach users worldwide. In terms of customer perspective, this study shows how Google provides value to users, since the digitization of artworks increases the variety of artworks that users can enjoy, improves their engagement and virtual experience, and provides new ways to access to the online content. The paper ends with a discussion of some managerial and policy-making implications.