What can support services do to help creatives survive and thrive through digital transformation?
Across Canada, artists, gig workers, cultural groups, and small creative enterprises have been clear. They want digital spaces that feel human, supportive, accessible, and less overwhelming. They want tools that reduce burden, not add to it.
We are excited to share recommendations to seed and grow a Digital Arts Services Alliance at the local, regional to provincial, and national level. Paired with A Manifesto for a Positive Digital Future, these living resources imagine how communities can strengthen care, access, governance, learning, collaboration, and infrastructure in a fast‑changing digital world.
They draw on years of DigitalASO conversations across Canada from 2020 to 2023, and internal sensemaking and shaping in the age of AI from 2024 to 2025. People told us they need clearer standards, safer environments, shared supports, and pathways shaped by cultural safety, disability justice, Indigenous knowledge, and other lived experiences. They also asked for practical help: connector roles, helpdesks, mobile labs, learning cohorts, shared platforms, and long‑term approaches to data care and ethical AI.
We outline five suggestions and three pathways that communities can adapt. Local work focuses on trust, care pods, circles, and hands‑on support. Regional work connects clusters, aligns practices, and shares infrastructure. National work brings direction, governance, and long‑term stewardship, including advocating for Canadian‑based, community‑governed digital and AI infrastructure.
We invite you to explore the scenarios and imagine what could take shape in your own community. Your reflections, questions, and ideas will help guide the next steps toward a digital ecosystem where creativity, connection, and justice can thrive.
Let’s build this future together.
