39 CATHEDRAL COMMUNICATIONS THE BUILDING CONSERVATION DIRECTORY 2025 PROFESSIONAL SERVICES 1 require changes in approach from thinking ‘physical’ to ‘digital’, ‘reactive’ to ‘proactive’, ‘fragmented’ to ‘integrated’ and ‘proprietary’ to ‘open’ associations. Along the way, previously accepted interpretations of significance, value, authenticity, integrity, governance and security will be made more complex. Integrated decision-making will become more elaborate. Such a progression will have to reconsider and, perhaps, redefine the previous principled base to ensure combined outcomes remain grounded in a respect for historic culture, physical fabric and its continuing well-being. To safeguard the existing from emerging benefits and fears, a requirement for a specific 21st-century orientated framework would seem increasingly necessary, a convention combining ‘Architectural Conservation and AI/ IT’. So, what might such an integrated framework look like? A useful starting point for building on might be the wellestablished 14 ICOMOS educational requirements outlined in paragraph 5 (a-n) of Guidelines for Education and training in the conservation of Monuments, Ensembles and Sites 1993). ‘ARCHITECTURAL CONSERVATION AND AI/IT CONVENTION’ A proposed outline framework The introduction might state that conservation activities traditionally have involved multidisciplinary team working but, with the introduction of AI/IT and emerging digital technologies, greater pan-disciplinary collaborative activities are required. Any jointly prepared ‘Convention’ will need to emerge as a living document, evolving as related influences develop across both sectors. It might aim to guide future practice in a way that embraces innovation while safeguarding the cultural, historical and material integrity of built heritage. Fundamentally, it should ensure that incorporated digital facilities and technologies serve to protect and enhance the built heritage for future generations, not undermine it. Real time interactions between separate systems will require a seamless collaborative exchange of data between current analogue technologies and digital platforms. This will involve traditional and new participants operating in a unified manner to maintain integrity and authenticity of shared information. Concerns over data ownership, security and potential loss of control over incorporated information will need to be addressed and resolved. Consideration may have to include thinking about: Safeguarding authenticity and Integrity (ICOMOS: a, b, c) Retaining the significance, history and setting of heritage assets, AI/IT-driven reconstructions, simulations and interventions should not compromise historical authenticity and values. They should complement, not replace, traditional values. Integrity of original materials, skills and techniques should be safeguarded. Any AI/IT-driven interventions must be reversible, offering the future potential to return the asset to its previous state. Data governance and security (ICOMOS: d) Protocols should be established for the ethical collection, storage, archiving and use of researched and collated analogue and digital data. This should cover historic archival and illustrative records along with 3D scans, digital twins and other AI/IT-generated material. Data accessibility should be protected to ensure that collated material, its retention and use, complies with relevant privacy laws and ethical standards. Robust cybersecurity measures should be implemented to protect combined analogue/digital records, and to safeguard them from tampering, unauthorized access, and other cyber threats. Sustainability and environmental stewardship (ICOMOS: e, f) The incorporation of AI/IT and robotics to optimize conservation activity aimed at reducing environmental impact, improving energy-efficiency, asset management and sustainable material choices, should balance future performance-in-use requirements, environmental pressures and incorporated digital considerations in their outcomes. Interdisciplinary collaboration (ICOMOS: g, h, m, n) Collaboration is required between clients/owners/funders, AI/IT developers, conservators, historians, architects, and other professional and technological participants, to ensure that AI/IT applications are well-informed through combining respective expertise and understanding. Assisted and/ or facilitated by interoperable open standard systems, this will require sharing knowledge and best practice across all disciplines. To develop appropriate and acceptable strategies, the integration should be supported by a commitment to ongoing education and training for conservationorientated participants addressing the ethical use and potential impact of AI/ IT technologies, and vice-versa for AI/IT proponents and initiators. Legal and policy framework (ICOMOS: h) Collaboration is required to ensure that AI/IT-driven conservation applications comply with local, national and international legislation, established conservation charters, standards and conventions, in addition to incorporating balanced, integrated, ethical guidelines on the adoption of AI/IT activities. Enforcement and compliance (ICOMOS: h) Guidelines on how joint organizations and participants should comply with integrated conservation Digitising the cause and progressive evidence of natural erosion can be complex. Here, after only 16 years of exposure, the dated indent is already in decline.
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