The Archaeology Data Service (ADS) is part of the Department of Archaeology at the University of York. The ADS supports research, learning and teaching with high quality and dependable digital resources by preserving digital data in the long term, and by promoting and disseminating a broad range of data in archaeology. The ADS promotes good practice in the use of digital data in archaeology, provides technical advice to the research community, and supports the deployment of digital technologies.The ADS is also the largest single source of archived grey literature in the UK, with around 5000 examples available in its Library of Unpublished Fieldwork. The ADS offer advice to data creators on procedures and formats, including advice on the writing of Technical Appendices for AHRC applications, and working with AHRC grants holders to ensure the longevity of their project’s digital outputs.

Established in April 2005 the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) has an annual budget of more than £75 million. The Council evolved from the Arts and Humanities Research Board, which was founded in 1998. The AHRC has a range of UK-wide programmes supporting the highest quality research and postgraduate training in the arts and humanities.

The Centre has identified, and aims to fill, the gap between disciplines responsible for the physical protection of the moveable and immovable heritage. Its contribution to a sustainable future for the heritage is through participation in collaborative environmental, scientific and technological research, innovative teaching, advice and consultancy.

The Collections Trust is an independent UK charity which works to promote public engagement with Collections held in museums, archives and libraries. As well as providing a range of professional services including standards and advisory information, the Collections Trust is responsible for a number of innovative programmes focussed on technology and community engagement. Current activity at the Collections Trust includes the development of the Culture Grid, an aggregator which makes digital content available to the public in partnership with organisations such as the BBC and Wikipedia. The Trust is also working on projects relating to the 2012 Olympics, the European Commission and a wide range of public and private sector and Government partners.

The EPSRC the main UK government agency for funding research and training in engineering and the physical sciences, investing around £740 million a year in a broad range of subjects – from mathematics to materials science, and from information technology to structural engineering.

Europe has significant cultural diversity together with exceptional ancient architecture, built environment and artefact collections which attract millions of tourists every year to its historical cities and sites, museums, libraries, etc.. However, despite this richness, we have failed in our duty to take sufficient care of historical physical artefacts – both indoors and outdoors. In particular, environmental change – further complicated by the increasing influence of climate change – presents one significant threat to the sustainability of Europe’s cultural heritage.

Icon embraces heritage scientists and researchers based in both universities and museums, as well as conservation professionals and others with an interest in preserving our material heritage. Icon is supporting the AHRC/EPSRC science and heritage programme and working with English Heritage to develop a new UK national heriatge science strategy.

The need to overcome traditional fragmentation of research efforts in Europe through better coordination and co-operation is being addressed by the creation of the European Research Area (ERA) by the EU. In pursuing the goal of creating ERA, the ERA-NET programme has been launched as part of the EU Framework Programme for Research. Net-Heritage is the first significant initiative attempting to coordinate national programmes of European countries within the research area of protection of cultural heritage. Funded through the 7th Framework Programme for Research, it includes 14 EU member states as partners with the Italian Ministry of Culture as the co-ordinating partner. The project was launched on 6th October 2008 and will last 3 years. See the Net-Heritage website for more information.

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is one of Europe's largest multidisciplinary research organisations supporting scientists and engineers world-wide. The Council operates world-class, large-scale research facilities and provides strategic advice to the UK government on their development. It runs the UK's neutron source (ISIS), the central laser facility (CLF) and hosts the new 3rd generation synchrotron light source - diamond, as well as large scale computational and technological facilities and expertise. STFC facilities support a broad cross-section of the UK research community, including cultural heritage. The Council also directs, coordinates and funds research, education and training.

Qi3 is a marketing services company that specialises in uniting technology and marketing. It’s focus on providing hands-on expertise in all aspects of marketing technology-based products, from strategy to implementation. They operate at all stages from scientific research, technology development, and opportunity evaluation to mainstream market adoption, delivering support for Technology Commercialisation, Business Development and Knowledge Transfer. They are practitioners in sales and marketing and operate as a committed part of their clients’ teams.