Digital cultural heritage of minorities and indigenous peoples: towards a more participatory governance framework for decision-making

Cultural heritage (CH) is a core element of the identity and self-determination of minorities and Indigenous peoples. Digital technologies, especially artificial intelligence (AI), offer new ways to preserve, revitalise, and share CH. However, issues related to intellectual property, human rights, and data governance often limit fair participation and hinder authentic representation of these communities. This article examines these issues and explores governance models, proposing more inclusive frameworks for digital CH. Protecting, preserving, and revitalising the CH of minorities and Indigenous peoples has been prioritised by current regulatory frameworks, e.g. in the European Union. Nevertheless, there is a lack of comprehensive mapping of the current models of governance employed by CH institutions. Such mapping would enable scholars and stakeholders to better understand the challenges and opportunities posed by digitisation and AI, particularly regarding the authenticity of content representation in minority and Indigenous CH. This article offers a new holistic overview of governance models in the digitisation of Indigenous and minority CH. The findings are based on a scoping review undertaken to identify scientific publications dealing with the role of law and policies governing the participation of minorities in decision-making processes. This review sheds light on overlooked, unresolved, or controversial legal and policy issues implicit in the existing governance models. Such issues can hinder the participation of minorities in CH digitisation decision-making processes. Consequently, this can affect the authenticity of the contents of the digitised material. We conclude by proposing ways of leveraging user-centricity and proactiveness. This will promote more effective engagement and participatory practices to better support the existing governance frameworks for digitisation and the use of AI in relation to minority and Indigenous heritage.