CyI’s Digitization of the Pancyprian Gymnasium Archives Praised by the President of the Republic
In his address during the celebration ceremony for the inauguration of a new wing at the Pancyprian Gymnasium that also included the presentation of the digitization of the school’s archive, President Anastasiades praised CyI’s contributions in this effort, and said that this event marks a new start for the Pancyprian Gymnasium, a most important educational institution in Cyprus.
He noted that “the Government is a great supporter of highlighting Pancyprian Gymnasium’s contributions to Greek letters and to the spiritual life of Cyprus, and places high importance in maintaining its continuation. It is precisely within this context, that a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Ephorate of Greek Schools, and The Cyprus Institute was signed, aimed at the recording, preservation, digitization and research exploitation of the rich historical material from the Pancyprian Gymnasium archives”.
In his address, CyI President Professor Costas Papanicolas, thanked President Anastasiades for his kind words, and welcomed CyI’s cooperation with the Pancyprian Gymnasium and the Ministry of Education and Culture.
"Our common goal is to strengthen scientific and technological research in the fields of cultural heritage and humanities, but also to harness them for education and culture," he said, explaining that through this digitization, the archive and collections of the Pancyprian Gymnasium are accessible not only to the Cyprus public but to the entire world.
He also pointed out that CyI develops world-leading technologies for the digitization and diffusion through interactive technologies for the study of history and culture, both in Cyprus and in the Eastern Mediterranean. "At the same time, the development of the digital infrastructure of DIOPTRA, the digital library of the Cypriot civilization, provides the ideal platform for the development and diffusion of the results of this collaboration worldwide", he added, indicating that last year during the first year of its operation, DIOPTRA had 100,000 visitors from 50 countries.
This research effort involving the digitization, study and dissemination of the invaluable archives and collections of the Pancyprian Gymnasium is led by CyI’s STARC. The expertise and technical knowhow of STARC will guide the development and implementation of this collaboration and more specifically, Dioptra: The Edmée Leventis Digital Library for Cypriot Culture at CyI will provide the optimal digital platform for the development and dissemination of the results of this collaborative initiative.
The public event at the Pancyprian Gymnasium featured the completion of the first pilot project on the digitization of the historic codex of the Schools of Nicosia. The successful development of a digital codex, that enables access to this important resource from everywhere in the world, will be followed by a series of other projects and applications utilizing material from the archives and museum collections of the Pancyprian Gymnasium, integrated into a dedicated digital library within the context of the Dioptra digital platform.
