Topics in this newsletter:

• Historical image bank of Rijkswaterstaat now live
• ZB Library of Zeeland moves digital heritage collections to Collection Zeeland
• Meet Ricardo de Vries: our new Head of Projects & Consultancy
• Data without borders: How IHLIA sets the new heritage standard with Atlantis
• Deadline Accelerate 2026 extended until September 15

Historical image bank of Rijkswaterstaat now live

With the successful launch of the historical image bank of Rijkswaterstaat, a comprehensive database has become accessible to everyone. After a strategic selection process, Rijkswaterstaat chose DEVENTit last year to realize this extensive project. The organization now uses Atlantis as its central collection registration system. This provides them with a stable foundation for the management and online public access to all their historical imagery, which includes no less than 335,000 unique records.

Atlantis assists Rijkswaterstaat with the daily registration and streamlining of this enormous collection of films and photographs. A database of this scale, filled with large multimedia files, demands the utmost from software. Atlantis offers specific advantages due to the power and stability of the platform.

This results in significant gains for Rijkswaterstaat in information provision and heritage management. Where this visual history was previously fragmented, the organization now has one central digital treasure trove. This saves employees a lot of time internally when retrieving media and brings the rich history of Dutch infrastructure online with maximum visual impact for citizens and researchers.

For us at Atlantis, this launch is a wonderful result. Rijkswaterstaat is a reference we are very proud of. It proves that our collection registration system is excellently suited for managing large databases.

ZB Library of Zeeland moves digital heritage collections to Collection Zeeland

In early June, a wonderful milestone was reached for Zeeland’s digital heritage. Four extensive and frequently used collections from the ZB Library of Zeeland have officially moved to the heritage platform Collection Zeeland. These include the newspaper database, the magazine database, the image bank, and the sound bank. At DEVENTit, we are extremely proud to have realized this website and that the ZB registers its rich collections in Atlantis.

With this step, the ZB adds its data to the joint heritage platform of the province, where around 24 Zeeland museums and heritage institutions are already joining forces. Where the various databases previously operated separately, Atlantis now serves as the central hub that manages and unlocks everything smartly. We ensure that all data strictly complies with national and international requirements for the sustainable preservation and accessibility of digital heritage. This makes the digital heritage collections of the ZB future-proof so that they can be optimally (re)used according to the principles of the National Strategy Digital Heritage.

This success directly provides significant benefits for the province of Zeeland and its residents. Whether it concerns old newspaper articles, historical magazines, images, or unique sound recordings: everything is now optimally findable through one central entry point for people from the region and beyond. Moreover, the platform continues to grow; behind the scenes, work is already underway to make even more unique collections accessible in this innovative way in the future, including unique and centuries-old manuscripts.

This success is the result of an intensive and inspiring process. We would like to sincerely thank the ZB and Heritage Zeeland for the pleasant collaboration during this wonderful project.

Meet Ricardo de Vries: our new Head of Projects & Consultancy

With great enthusiasm, we introduce our new colleague: Ricardo de Vries. Since July 1, he has strengthened our team in the role of Head of Projects and Consultancy. In this operational role, he will lead and streamline our projects and consultancy division, and he will also join our Management Team.

Ricardo is certainly no stranger in the sector. He brings a wealth of experience from the heritage world, where he previously worked as a project manager, production leader, and account manager at a heritage digitization company. Thanks to this background, he combines in-depth expertise with decisiveness and a strong customer focus.

With Ricardo on board, we are fully committed to elevating our organization and services to a higher level. We are confident that his expertise will add immediate value to our projects and for our clients. We are also looking forward to the impact we will make together for the future of DEVENTit and wish Ricardo great success and enjoyment in his new role!

Data without borders: How IHLIA sets the new heritage standard with Atlantis

An important milestone: DEVENTit has now been collaborating with IHLIA for a year. As an international knowledge institute and archive, this organization manages a substantial collection in the field of LGBTQI history. The organization is structured as a hybrid hub: it is simultaneously a scientific library, an archive, and a documentation center. From posters to books and personal documents, all these different information streams required a powerful technological foundation.

They found that foundation in Atlantis. Where traditional systems often have to choose between library or archive standards, Atlantis seamlessly brings these worlds together. For IHLIA, this means that the complete, diverse collection is now managed from a central environment. The result is a daily operation that runs more smoothly and data that is directly digitally accessible worldwide.

The real innovation in this collaboration lies in the steps taken in the field of Linked Open Data. In the modern heritage world, it is no longer enough to simply store data neatly; it is about connecting information streams with the world. By offering the collection via Atlantis as Linked Open Data, we break down the walls of the traditional archive. The information is technically directly retrievable for third-party systems and is live linked to global sources. This greatly enriches the historical context and ensures that researchers and students can find the documents much more easily in international search engines and heritage portals.

Deadline Accelerate 2026 extended until September 15

There is important news regarding the Accelerate 2026 program: the application deadline for this grant has officially been extended until September 15, 2026. This is the very last year that this extra boost is provided to make the transition to an NDE-compatible collection information system. The program is specifically for heritage organizations that want to make their collection data more widely available through platforms such as CollectieNederland.nl, Oorlogsbronnen, or Europeana.

To lower the threshold for participation, the approach regarding the information plan has become much more flexible compared to before. Although the plan is ultimately necessary, it does not have to be ready at the time of your application. You simply have more time for this. For now, an email with an explanation and a rough schedule is sufficient to initiate your application. The actual information plan can then be developed or updated during the course of the project.

With the financial support, you can upgrade your current Atlantis environment, connect to an existing collective provincial system, or switch to a fully NDE-compatible system, such as Atlantis. Would you like to receive more information? Then request a personal elaboration via the button below.