Digital leadership in practice

For Meike Veldhuijsen, director at KOP (Artists Development Platform), the main reason to focus on digital transformation is connecting with her young audience: ‘At Stichting KOP, we work with emerging artists during the first five years after their graduation. To continue reaching and engaging this group effectively, digital transformation is essential. A key value of our organization is community building – connecting creators, partners, and stakeholders. We are looking for ways to make these connections more structured and sustainable, for example by establishing a digital database and an online community platform.’

Sharifa Balfour, director of Saba Archaeological Center Foundation/Saba Heritage Center, also focuses on her audience when implementing digital strategies. For her, it’s about reaching the broader public: ‘My primary motivation for using digital tools and platforms is to improve and expand access via our website, social media channels, and YouTube. Additionally, I aim to engage people much more with these platforms and prioritize the preservation of Saba’s cultural heritage.’

In Saba, there is also another urgent concern regarding heritage preservation: ‘A key focus is promoting Saba’s future resilience. Our island is regularly in the path of hurricanes, and we increasingly feel the impact of climate change on weather patterns. These factors mean that natural disasters pose an increasing risk, making it crucial to prioritize the digitization of Saba’s heritage and the use of technology.’

Skills of a digital leader

A leader in the cultural sector needs various competencies. But which skills are useful for digital leadership? Sharifa Balfour: ‘I emphasize strategic thinking, adaptability, and clear communication.’

Both Sharifa and Meike also highlight the importance of collaboration. According to Meike, this means working in networks and utilizing external expertise where necessary. Sharifa adds: ‘For me, it’s equally important to foster collaboration by bringing together people with different digital skills and perspectives, and to create a space where people enjoy experimenting and learning.’

Finally, both directors emphasize the importance of promoting digital literacy, both for themselves and their teams. Wilja Jurg, director of Tetem, also finds this crucial: ‘You need to ensure that the digital strategy is embedded in every aspect of your organization. For example, we ask in performance reviews: how are you handling digital transformation? We allocate space for development and invest heavily in the competencies of our employees.’

Strengthening the mission

Wilja states that a digital strategy contributes to an agile organization; ‘Every cultural institution benefits greatly from a solid digital strategy. It makes you more flexible, but it also simply brings a lot of efficiency to your organization. One of the most important things is that it can also help you become a fair, accountable, and transparent organization. The public, as well as the employees, have a right to that.’

Sharifa adds: ‘We align our digital initiatives and projects with our core mission so that they serve the community, support education, engagement, and cultural connectedness. What we do digitally forms a bridge to enhance authentic cultural experiences rather than replace them. These tools offer our visitors easier access and new ways to engage with our work. For the people of Saba who have moved away to other parts of the world, they provide a meaningful way to reconnect with their heritage and culture.’

Tips for digital leadership in the cultural sector

Digital transformation requires not only technology but primarily people. The three directors share their tips for others who want to strengthen their digital leadership. Their main advice? Start small, think big, and do it together.

Meike advises starting small: ‘Digital transformation quickly sounds like something big and technical, but you don’t have to turn everything upside down all at once. Start with what you need or miss right now in your daily practice – and build from there. Small, concrete steps are often much more effective than grand plans that remain shelved.’

Sharifa also started with small, achievable projects and says about this: ‘I want to approach overlapping projects strategically and sustainably. Additionally, I want to know which equipment and digital programs are not only cost-effective for the organization, as they need to last for years, but also usable for various projects.’

So start small and learn from it, advises Wilja: ‘Research doesn’t have to lead to success; it can fail, and you don’t always know what will come out of it.’

All three also emphasize the importance of working from your mission and using it as a guide in your digital development. They also highlight the importance of utilizing existing knowledge and skills: Sharifa: ‘The most important thing is to invest in your people. For a digital transformation, a culture and the right mindset are just as important as technology.’ Meike: ‘Talk a lot with your network. Ask colleagues how they use digital tools, what works, and what doesn’t. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, and often the best ideas are closer than you think.’

Finally, two practical tips: Meike: ‘Include a paragraph about digital strategy in every project plan by default. If you think about how digital tools can contribute to visibility, audience reach, or knowledge sharing from the start, it naturally becomes part of your way of working.’

Wilja: ‘Having a digital strategy is, of course, not enough; implementing it is truly the proof of the pudding. So you need to ensure it is embedded in every aspect of your organization: in your policies, performance metrics, people, and materialization.’