When digital platforms meet tradition: Phygital innovation in the cultural heritage

The digitalization of cultural and creative industries has often followed a path of convergence between physical and digital artefacts, leading to the rise of digital platforms that reshape value chains. However, the cultural heritage sector has undergone a different form of digital transformation. Digital platforms in this field create a “phygital” experience that blends tradition with innovation. This study examines the role of digital platforms in fostering social and economic development in the cultural heritage sector, focusing on Google Arts & Culture, launched by Google in 2011. Through a longitudinal case study, we explore how digital platforms create value for multiple stakeholders—museums, users, and the platform itself—by enhancing efficiency, complementarities, novelty, and lock-in mechanisms. Our findings indicate that digital platforms introduce a more dynamic and complex ecosystem that drives growth and innovation while shifting cultural organizations from integrated supply chains to networks of strategic partnerships. The success of digital platforms in promoting social and economic development depends on museums’ ability to internalize legacy knowledge and platforms’ capacity to reinterpret this knowledge using advanced digital tools. This research contributes to the literature on innovation and strategic management by demonstrating that, rather than disrupting tradition, digital platforms enhance the cultural heritage experience. Additionally, while platforms like Google Arts & Culture operate under a non-profit model to democratize culture, they capture significant value through data aggregation, which may play a key role in training artificial intelligence systems.