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Belgicaweb

BelgicaWeb aims to make born-digital heritage of Belgium accessible and FAIR.

Born-digital heritage is digitally created and has no analogue equivalent. Rapidly changing technology makes this type of heritage especially vulnerable. BelgicaWeb is a BRAIN 2.0 project funded by BELSPO. BelgicaWeb aims to make Belgium’s born-digital heritage accessible and FAIR, i.e. Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. We want to do this by developing a user-friendly access platform and an API that enables access at data level.

Objectives

  1. investigate how to provide sustainable access to born-digital collections,
  2. develop the necessary data infrastructure to access such collections,
  3. enrich the (meta-)data,
  4. analyse the relevant legal frameworks and
  5. promote Belgium’s born-digital heritage.

Project phases and duration

The BelgicaWeb project started in April 2024 and is scheduled to end in April 2026. During these two years, we will work on, among other things:

  1. Creating collections of born-digital data using tools for archiving web and social media content.
  2. Developing the API and access platform in two phases: a pilot and a final phase.
  3. Indexing and enriching data by using digital methods such as Linked Data and Natural Language Processing.
  4. An analysis of the legal frameworks related to data sharing, text and data mining, data protection and privacy rights, freedom of expression and the impact of the proposed European regulation on artificial intelligence.

Reference group of experts


Within the project, a reference group of experts will provide iterative input on the selection, development of the API and access platform, data enrichment and quality control and usability.

Survey on User Requirements for the Platform and API


In 2024, we conducted a survey on user requirements for accessing a platform and API for archived web content. The goal of the BelgicaWeb project is indeed to make Belgium’s digital heritage accessible and FAIR – Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.


The survey gathered input from both researchers and the general public about their expectations regarding features such as search results, the functionalities of the interface, API functionalities, and content enrichment. The responses were analyzed and prioritized (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won’t have). Suggestions collected during a workshop at the RESAW conference were also included.

TO THE RESULTS of the survey

You can find the full research report here.

Project partners


The BelgicaWeb project brings together partners with different expertise.

CRIDS from University of Namur will provide expertise on the relevant legal issues.

IDLab, GhentCDH and MICT of Ghent University will work on data enrichment, user engagement and evaluation and outreach to the research community, respectively.

KBR acts as project coordinator and will work on the development of the access platform and API and data enrichment.


The project partners have already gained experience with web and social media archiving in the previous BELSPO supported KBR coordinated projects of PROMISE and BESOCIAL, which is an additional asset for this project.

Bibliography

Publications 

Geeraert, F., & Vandendyck, C. (2025, August 29). Reflections on the 2025 IIPC General Assembly and Web Archiving Conference.

Vlassenroot, E., & Mechant, P. (2025). Navigating the datafied web: User requirements and literacy with web archives [Conference abstract]. In The Datafied Web – 6th RESAW Conference abstracts. 

Vlassenroot, E., Mechant, P., Geeraert, F., & Tao, Y. (2024). Opening up born-digital data for researchers: Requirements and needs for content selection and curation, platform access and content enrichment [Conference abstract]. In Digital Humanities Benelux 2024 conference abstracts. 


Vlassenroot, E., Tao, Y., & Mechant, P. (2025). The evolving landscape of web and social media archiving: A comprehensive review of current practices in national libraries and archives. International Journal of Digital Humanities.


Presentations 

Barbosa, G., Birkholz, J. M., De Witte, D., Geeraert, F., Lecroart, E., Mechant, P., & Vandendyck, C. (2026, April 20). Digital heritage for the future – The BelgicaWeb story [Conference presentation]. BelgicaWeb Concluding Colloquium, Brussels, Belgium. 

Birkholz, J. M., Bailey, J., Benhamou-Suesser, D., Harbo Johnston, V., & Lowagie, H. (2026, April 20). AI in web and social media archives [Panel discussion]. BelgicaWeb Concluding Colloquium, Brussels, Belgium. 

Geeraert, F. (2024, April 25). Web archiving update from KBR – Belgium [Conference presentation]. IIPC Web Archiving Conference, Paris, France. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-IEv1AXzj0 

Geeraert, F., & Vandendyck, C. (2026, March 6). [WinIT 25–26] Speaker invitation [Guest lecture]. Executive Master in Digital & IT Essentials, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium. 

Lecroart, E. (2025, September 15). Accès, utilisation et extraction des (méta)données issues des archives du web: enjeux techniques et juridiques [Online presentation]. Cycle de rendez-vous francophones en ligne de l’IIPC. 

Lecroart, E., Dusollier, S., van Gompel, S., & Young, F. (2026, April 20). The legal challenges of web archiving and open collections [Panel discussion]. BelgicaWeb Concluding Colloquium, Brussels, Belgium. 

Mechant, P., Aubry, S., Vlassenroot, E., Carlstedt Tønnessen, J., Kocsis, A., & Kitcher, N. (2026, April 20). Users first: (Re)designing web archives around real needs [Panel discussion]. BelgicaWeb Concluding Colloquium, Brussels, Belgium. 

Vandendyck, C. (2025, April 10). Enhancing accessibility to Belgian born-digital heritage: The BelgicaWeb project [Conference presentation]. IIPC General Assembly and Web Archiving Conference, Oslo, Norway. 

Vandendyck, C. (2025, June 4). Demonstration of BelgicaWeb: Sustaining access to Belgium’s born-digital heritage [Conference presentation]. The Datafied Web – 6th RESAW Conference, Siegen, Germany. 

Vandendyck, C. (2025, November 20). BelgicaWeb: Préserver le patrimoine numérique belge. Recherche, services et outils d’accès aux archives web [Online presentation]. Cycle de rendez-vous francophones en ligne de l’IIPC. 

Vlassenroot, E. (Chair), Mechant, P., Geeraert, F., Vandendyck, C., Cui, C., Cannelli, B., Klindt Myrvoll, A., & Kocsis, A. (2025, April 9). Beyond preservation: Engaging audiences and researchers with web archives – Towards best practices for web archiving [Conference session]. IIPC General Assembly and Web Archiving Conference, Oslo, Norway. 

Vlassenroot, E., & Mechant, P. (2025, June 4). Navigating the datafied web: User requirements and literacy with web archives [Conference presentation]. The Datafied Web – 6th RESAW Conference, Siegen, Germany. 

Vlassenroot, E., Tao, Y., Mechant, P., Vandendyck, C., & Geeraert, F. (2024, June 4–6). Opening up born-digital resources [Workshop]. Digital Humanities Benelux Conference, Leuven, Belgium. 

Vlassenroot, E., Vandendyck, C., & Geeraert, F. (2024, October 15). Opening up archived born-digital resources [Workshop]. Praktijknetwerk Sociale Media Archivering, Leuven, Belgium. 

Commissioned reports 

Geeraert, F., & Vandendyck, C. (2025, December). Deliverable 1.3.1: Data collection and description of process. Commissioned technical report. 

Lecroart, E., & Michel, A. (2025, April). Report Task 2.4: Analysis of the legal framework allowing data exchange, text and data mining and the opening up of collections. Commissioned report. 

Lecroart, E., & Michel, A. (2025, November). Synthetic report on free/open-source licenses. Commissioned report. 

Lecroart, E., & Michel, A. (2025, November). Roadmap to IPR implementation: Practical illustrations and recommendations with FAQ. Commissioned report. 

Lecroart, E., & Michel, A. (2025, November). Report on artificial intelligence. Commissioned report. 

Lecroart, E., & Michel, A. (2025, November). Deliverable 4.2: Helpdesk for legal matters. Commissioned report. 

Datasets 

Geeraert, F., & Vandendyck, C. (2025). Seed lists for BelgicaWeb research project related to the archiving of web and social media content [Data set]. Social Sciences and Digital Humanities Archive (SODHA).  

Mechant, P. (2025). Survey on user requirements for web archiving [Data set]. Social Sciences and Digital Humanities Archive (SODHA).  

Want to know more?

Friedel Geeraert (Coordinator) – sevrqry.trrenreg@xoe.or

Christina Vandendyck (Developer) – puevfgvan.inaqraqlpx@xoe.or