The safarnama software platform is a non-profit social enterprise that provides the means for communities to build digital cultural heritage. Safarnama consists of a web-based authoring tool and a template for iOS and android apps. The authoring tool allows users to create multimedia geolocational experiences and publish them via a bespoke app. The business model for the software is to ensure sustainability and to encourage groups to augment their digital experiences, using new partnerships and tenders to maintain the software and the expanding stable of apps. So far, four apps have been created with a range of partner collaborators in Ireland, Wales, India, Pakistan and England.
IAA funding will be used to update and modernise the authoring tool, in particular moving to a react interface. This will initiate a collaborative partnership with ISS at Lancaster University and address a key operative weakness in the software – a reliance on a single, contractual programmer.