Research Insights

Research Insights

Digital Future

Research Insights: Designing a cooperative digital future for managing the arts is a series of reports sharing insights from collaborative research facilitated by ArtsPond to help foster a prosperous, shared digital future for managing the arts.

In Summer 2019, ArtsPond received multi-phase funding from the Transformation of Organizational Models component of Canada Council for the Arts’ Digital Strategy Fund to incubate the development of Hatch Open (an open source arts management cloud computing solution) and Artse United (an arts management platform cooperative, powered by Hatch Open). The goals of these two interconnected platforms are to boost economic and digital justice and strengthen creative and entrepreneurial excellence of small creators and producers in arts and culture.

Research Insights: Designing a cooperative digital future for managing the arts provides a summary of key findings from early-stage human-centered design research, prototyping, and other activities prioritizing the visual, performing, and disability arts from Summer 2019 to Spring 2021.

Reports in this series include:

Design Thinking (Part 1, Fall 2020)
Prepared by Jessa Agilo (ArtsPond) and Margaret Lam (BeMused Network), Part 1 summarizes the research protocols and insights from preliminary design thinking activities for Hatch Open + Artse United including human-centered design workshops in Toronto, Sudbury, and Ottawa in Ontario, Canada In Summer/Fall 2019.

Impact Practices (Part 2), 28 pages
Preview Edition (PDF) | September 12, 2020
Prepared by Kelly Hill, Alix MacLean (Hill Strategies Research) and Jessa Agilo (ArtsPond), Part 2 presents a review of quantitative and qualitative assessment frameworks from within and outside the arts in Canada, Australia, United States, and United Kingdom. These frameworks help inform the design of Hatch Open + Artse United’s early-stage impact practice solutions.

Legal Practices (Part 3), 16 pages
Preview Edition (PDF) | September 12, 2020
Prepared by Andreas Kalogiannides (Aura LLP), Part 3 presents recommendations for legal practices on which Hatch Open + Artse United will need to focus during its early stages, such as user privacy, data management, and intellectual property issues and agreements.

Platform Coops (Part 4, Winter 2021)
Prepared by Stephanie Guico (Coop Coach) and Jessa Agilo (ArtsPond), Part 4 shares input from preliminary structural scoping research on the values, interest, and steps for establishing and sustaining Artse United as a viable platform cooperative for managing the arts. Insights are drawn from a variety of activities including Artse Resident Artists in collaboration with WorkInCulture, OCADU Inclusive Research Design Centre, and Ontario Cooperative Association.

Prototyping (Part 5, Spring 2021)
Prepared by Jessa Agilo (ArtsPond) and Amine El (Technical Lead), Part 5 provides an overview of technical and strategic insights leading to launch of Hatch Open’s early stage financial and project management, business intelligence and impact investing technologies.