Tracking Digital Maturity in Museums: A Case Study of the Most Visited Museums in Ankara

Abstract

One of the fundamental components of tourism is museums, which are strategic venues for preserving and transmitting cultural heritage. Digital transformation in museums affects exhibition and management processes and enhances the visitor experience, providing destinations with a competitive advantage. This study uses a case study of the nine most visited museums in Ankara in 2024. It assesses digital maturity levels in three dimensions: (1) digital presence and access, (2) digital experience of visitors, and (3) governance, human resources, and digital infrastructure. Data were collected through interviews and digital document analysis and evaluated using qualitative comparative analysis. Digital maturity in museums is moderate. Governance, human resources, and infrastructure were determined to be the strongest dimensions, while digital experience was the weakest. The results show that although museums have reached a certain level of maturity in terms of technical infrastructure, this infrastructure is not sufficiently reflected in visitor-focused digital experiences, and there are significant differences in the level of digitalization across museums. The research results indicate that infrastructure investments alone are insufficient for the success of digital transformation. This demonstrates that elements such as governance, human resource quality, and digital content production must be integrated into the process and implemented with a sociotechnical approach. Therefore, cultural institutions must restructure their digital transformation policies to be more inclusive, strategic, and participatory

Keywords

• Digital Transformation
• Digital Maturity
• Digitalization in Museums
• Sociotechnical Approach

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