Bridging Disciplines for Heritage Professionals: The H2IOSC Digital Training Platform (by CLARIN, DARIAH, E-RIHS and OPERAS)

The complexity of the contemporary heritage field requires professionals to develop interdisciplinary skills and to collaborate across diverse disciplines, from social sciences and digital humanities to preservation of cultural heritage, archaeology and beyond. As digital and interactive tools become increasingly integrated into heritage studies, the training in the field is undergoing a significant transformation. The H2IOSC (Heritage and Humanities Italian Open Science Cloud) project has developed an innovative digital training infrastructure aimed at providing access to FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) courses and training materials. In this abstract we focus on the H2IOSC training platform, aimed to address the evolving training needs of our disciplinary communities. Created by H2IOSC WP8 (Work Package 8: Training, Engagement and Capacity Building) in collaboration with the E.T.T. S.p.A., it is maintained and hosted by CNR-ILC (Institute of Computational Linguistics “A. Zampolli”), host institution of CLARIN-IT, with the participation of the national nodes of DARIAH, E-RIHS, and OPERAS. The platform provides a flexible, customizable learning environment designed to support interdisciplinary education and continuous professional development in the Social Sciences, Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage sectors. The platform features a comprehensive course catalogue containing training courses and modules developed or adapted by the four infrastructures within the H2IOSC project as FAIR training materials, designed for various target knowledge levels, from beginners to advanced learners in heritage and humanities fields. An intuitive dashboard allows users to access materials, track progress and use collaborative tools, including forums, chats, and virtual working groups for networking and communication. The platform incorporates quizzes, simulations, hands-on exercises, and gamification tools, making learning more interactive. Designed for accessibility and inclusivity, it is fully compatible with both desktop and mobile devices, enabling individual learning without geographical or temporal constraints. This paper outlines the development process of the platform, addressing the challenges encountered, the key achievements, and its potential to transform training within the Social Sciences, Digital Humanities and Heritage Sector. We highlight how the design of specialized digital heritage training materials has influenced the development of the Digital Asset Management (DAM) system, particularly its ability to support effective cataloguing, metadata management, and archival of multimedia data. Ultimately, we emphasize the importance of adopting best practices for interdisciplinary learning and explore how digital tools can foster greater collaboration and knowledge exchange across heritage and humanities disciplines.