Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo Unico delle biblioteche italiane e per le informazioni bibliografiche

Their core work

ICCU is Italy's national institute responsible for cataloguing the country's library heritage and managing bibliographic information systems. In the EU research context, they bring deep expertise in digitisation standards, metadata management, and digital infrastructure for cultural heritage collections. They serve as a bridge between Italy's vast library and cultural archives and European-wide digital research infrastructures, contributing cataloguing methodologies and interoperability frameworks to large-scale heritage projects.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

ICCU's early H2020 work (2015-2017) focused on foundational digital infrastructure — distributed cloud computing (INDIGO-DataCloud) and heritage e-research networking (PARTHENOS). From 2019 onward, their focus shifted decisively toward cultural heritage policy impact, digitisation strategy, and the economics of digital culture, culminating in their coordinator role on inDICEs. The trajectory shows a clear move from technical infrastructure provider to a more strategic role in shaping European digital cultural heritage policy.

ICCU is moving from back-end infrastructure work toward measuring and shaping the policy and economic impact of digitised cultural heritage across Europe.

How they like to work

ICCU primarily joins large consortia as a specialist partner (4 out of 5 projects), but demonstrated coordination capacity with inDICEs, their most recent leadership role. With 101 unique partners across 30 countries, they operate as a well-connected node in the European cultural heritage research network rather than a repeat-partner organization. Their broad network makes them a strong consortium-building ally for any project needing Italian cultural heritage expertise and institutional credibility.

ICCU has collaborated with 101 unique partners across 30 countries, giving them one of the broadest networks in the European cultural heritage digital infrastructure space. Their reach spans nearly all EU member states, reflecting the pan-European scope of heritage digitisation efforts.

What sets them apart

ICCU is not a university or research institute — it is Italy's official national cataloguing authority for libraries and bibliographic information. This gives them institutional weight and direct access to one of Europe's richest cultural heritage collections. For any consortium needing an authoritative Italian partner on digitisation, metadata standards, or cultural data policy, ICCU offers a combination of national mandate and European project experience that few organisations can match.

Highlights from their portfolio

• inDICEs
  ICCU's only coordinator role — measuring the impact of digital culture on creative industries, IPR, and European policy, signalling their strategic ambitions.
• PARTHENOS
  Largest single EC contribution (EUR 511,000) and a flagship heritage e-research infrastructure project pooling tools and resources across disciplines.
• ARIADNEplus
  Advanced research infrastructure specifically for archaeological data networking — demonstrates ICCU's reach beyond libraries into broader cultural datasets.