Digital Heritage Diplomacy and the Scottish Ten Initiative

In 2009 the Scottish Government launched the Scottish Ten initiative, a digital heritage program to document Scotland’s five UNESCO World Heritage Sites, as well as five further sites in the United States, India, China, Australia, and Japan. This paper discusses the use of digital heritage technology within a broader cultural diplomacy strategy, and poses wider-reaching questions about the underlying motivations of states that engage in digital heritage conservation beyond their own borders.