Collection Care

An IoT Decision Support System for Preventive Art Conservation

One of the most important aspects of museum and collection management is the preservation of objects in the best possible condition for future generations. Given that works of art are sensitive to environmental changes, preventive conservation activities aim precisely at avoiding or limiting their future deterioration by controlling the environmental conditions to which they are exposed.

Responding to today’s challenges in art conservation, PostScriptum participated in the European project Collection Care, for which a consortium was established comprising leading academic and technological partners as well as internationally renowned museums, gathering high-level expertise. The aim of Collection Care was to develop an innovative decision support system related to preventive conservation actions, serving the needs of small and medium-sized museums and collections. To develop this system, technologies from the Internet of Things (IoT) were incorporated to monitor the microclimate of artworks that may be located in different places and may include various construction materials, while also taking into account current preventive conservation practices.

The solution was based on the expertise of different research groups and companies in the fields of preventive conservation, cloud computing, big data, IoT, sensor systems, art transportation, collection management, and a large number of museums to ensure the future market integration of the product.

The project team, including PostScriptum, thus created an innovative tool that will facilitate and increase the effectiveness of how professionals and collectors maintain their collections.

Collection Care was co-funded by HORIZON 2020, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.

Discover the project at collectioncare.eu.