About CDEP
The Community Digital Ecology Program (CDEP) is a collaborative initiative that brings together scholars, technologists and community members to build digital tools that help communities preserve their heritage. Its guiding principle is community ownership: every archive built with CDEP tools belongs to the community that creates it.
CDEP does not build or maintain archives on behalf of communities. The key-focus is in development and implementation of free digital tools and platforms for heritage archiving, designed to be simple enough for any community member to use and look after. Because communities create, own and maintain their own archives, the archiving process stays active and self-sustaining rather than depending on outside institutions.
Participation is voluntary and open to three groups whose roles complement one another. Postgraduate and PhD scholars in the Humanities and Social Sciences help define what the tools need to capture and how. Professionals in computer programming and digital media build the tools. Community members who carry and care for their heritage test the tools and lead their use on the ground. Together, they bridge the worlds of culture and technology.
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Members can take part in three ways. They can collaborate with fellow members to plan and develop tools across the eleven heritage areas CDEP has identified. They can propose their own project ideas, individually or as a group, which receive formal recognition and support once reviewed. Or they can contribute their skills, knowledge and time to projects already underway.
15th Sep-26
Coceptualization and Formalization of CDEP Documentation. Action Plan for 2026-27 formulated.