On 5 December, an online workshop for members of the European Network of Official Authorities in Charge of the Secret Police Files took place, organised by the IPN Archive in cooperation with the Hungarian State Security Historical Archive (ÁBTL).
The first part of the meeting was devoted to discussing issues related to the digitization of archival materials held at the IPN Archive. Paweł Popławski and Marcin Dębek, employees of the Department of Digital Holdings at the IPN Archives, discussed issues related to: methods and principles of digitization, protection and storage of digital copies, management of the digital repository and means of making it available. As part of the workshop, Marcin Dębek showed methods of presenting 3D models made in the IPN Archive on the Sketchfab platform, as well as with a 3D PDF file.
In the second part of the meeting, two papers were presented on the possibilities of using artificial intelligence in archives. The first was delivered by Gábor Kovács of the Rényi Alfred Mathematical Institute. Mr. Kovács presented AI-based ways to search for images and content in digital archive repositories. The second paper was delivered by Zoltán Lux from the Hungarian State Security Historical Archive (ÁBTL). He presented areas of the application of artificial intelligence in historical archives.
The meeting also gave opportunity for discussion and to share experiences, which will certainly benefit the development of all the institutions whose representatives took part. The proceedings were conducted in English.
Online Workshop on Digitization and Artificial Intelligence for the European Network of Official Authorities in Charge of Secret Police Files – December 5, 2024 at 10 am (GMT+1)
10:00–10:10 Marzena Kruk, Director of the IPN Archive, Dr. Gergő Bendegúz Cseh, Director of the Hungarian State Security Historical Archive – webinar welcome speech
Panel I: The Digitization of Archival Materials at the Institute of National Remembrance
10:10–10:30 Paweł Popławski – “An Introduction to the Problems of Digitization at the Institute of National Remembrance”
10:30–10:55 Marcin Dębek – “The Working Environment and Scanning Equipment in the IPN Archive”
10:55–11:20 Paweł Popławski – “The Digital Archive System – Modules for the Digitization of Documents, Multimedia, the Digital Repository, and Sharing Digitized Files”
11:20–11:35 Questions and answers
11:35–11:50 Marcin Dębek – “3D Model Digitization: Using Sketchfab Platform and PDF3D Files”
11:50–12:20 Break
Panel II: New Technologies in Archives Based on Artificial Intelligence
12:20–13:00 Gábor Kovács (Rényi Alfred Mathematical Institute) – “From Degraded Documents to Intelligent Applications: AI-powered OCR, Image Enhancement and Retrieval-Augmented Generation” – 30 minutes (+10 minutes for questions and answers)
13:00–13:40 Zoltán Lux (Hungarian State Security Historical Archive) – “Areas of Application of Artificial Intelligence in Historical Archives” (30 minutes + 10 minutes for questions and answers)
13:40–14:00 Closing remarks and conclusions
Chairing the meeting and organizational matters: Marek Dąbrowski, the IPN Archive.
The European Network of Official Authorities in Charge of the Secret Police Files was founded in December 2008. It currently brings together institutions from eight member countries (Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia) and five associated countries (Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia and Ukraine). The IPN Archive has taken over the annual presidency of the Network from autumn 2024.
The idea that initially guided the founders was to simplify procedures related to the possibility of conducting research and exchanging documents, but over time cooperation has taken on a more complex character. The Network's activities are primarily aimed at raising public and political awareness of dealing with the past. An important element of these activities is educational and popularisation work.
We invite you to visit the website securityarchives.eu, where you can find basic information about the Network, current events, past initiatives, information about individual member organisations and their archival resources, as well as rules of access to files.