CONNECTING thematic priority is closely linked with the Smart Specialisation Strategy of Cyprus (S3Cy). The S3Cy was designed to pave the way for future sustainable development of the country, capitalising on its unique characteristics and research ecosystem. S3Cy’s final report puts cultural heritage at the heart of the country’s future development as a horizontal pillar, where other disciplines such as tourism – the major economic revenue stream of Cyprus – and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) can interact[1]. CONNECTING is also ideally aligned with the current vision of the European Commission to create, until 2025, a European collaborative cloud for cultural heritage that can enable unparalleled transdisciplinary and large-scale collaboration between cultural heritage professionals across the EU through cutting-edge digital tools, that can safeguard European cultural treasures through a digital infrastructure[2].

The CONNECTING project seeks to promote a long-standing collaboration between the involved partners and stakeholders of the local research and innovation (R&I) ecosystem, building upon targeted coordination and support actions (CSA). The project brings together entities from the quadruple helix of the S3Cy. The project groups existing academic laboratories hosted at Cyprus University of Technology (CUT, HO), teaming with other academic laboratories from the Archaeological Research Unit of the University of Cyprus (UCY, PA2), and entities from the private sector (Infralabs Ltd, PA1 and Geofem Ltd, LoS-3). The development of such multidisciplinary knowledge centre, unique in its thematic domain (at a national level), is expected to support strategic goals as derived by the missions of national stakeholders of the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus (DoA, PA3), the single responsible authority in Cyprus for all monuments and sites. At the same time the knowledge gained, expertise and infrastructure may be further explored to support other needs -beyond the cultural heritage sector- such as for mapping and cartographic purposes. For instance, drones and cameras can be used by the Department of Land and Surveys (DLS, LoS-1) of Cyprus to update existing cadastral and topographic maps, produce high resolution 3D Digital Elevation Models, Digital Surface Models, support mitigation to 3D cadastre or update existing thematic maps etc. The actions of the project are also supported by the wider society (UNESCO Chair of Digital Heritage, LoS-2), filling the collaboration gap between academia, stakeholders, society, and private/business sector.

Furthermore, the centre aims to boost research excellence and support future R&I synergies with the region and European context. The University College of London (UCL, LoS-4), Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI, LoS-5) and University of Aveiro (UAVEIRO, LoS-6) have already provided a Letter of Support, providing thus a unique opportunity to the consortium to create strong links with relevant European advance institutions.