Wednesday, April 25, from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Location: The National Museum, Hverfisgata.
Present: Ólafur Kvaran, Chair, Anna Sigríður Kristjánsdóttir, Vice Chair, Helga Lára Þorsteinsdóttir, Sigríður Björk Jónsdóttir, Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir, Harpa Þórsdóttir, Hilmar Malmquist, Þóra Björk Ólafsdóttir, Director, and Eiríkur Þorláksson, specialist at the Ministry of Education and Culture, were at the meeting from 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM. Haraldur Þór Egilsson was unable to attend.
1. Matter for presentation
1.1 – An overview of the council's activities since the last meeting.
1.2 The guest of the meeting was Eiríkur Þorláksson, a specialist at the Ministry of Education and Culture and the liaison between the Museum Council and the ministry. He spoke, among other things, about the government's 2019-2023 financial plan and the goals outlined therein, as well as other matters.
1.3 The Executive Director reported on the work of a working group on the digital communication of museums and presented the results of a survey sent to accredited museums. Ideas for a symposium next fall were discussed.
1.4 – New personal data protection legislation (GDPR) comes into effect on May 25, 2018, in Europe. The protection of personal data is considered part of the EEA Agreement, and the legislation will therefore be adopted into Icelandic law. The part of the board of trustees' website and procedures that the board of trustees needs to review in connection with the new personal data legislation is primarily the applications the board receives through Application website of the Council of Museums. The Executive Director has been in contact with Origo regarding this matter, and extensive work has been carried out by Origo hf. since last fall to map all processing in their systems with respect to the requirements set forth in the GDPR. According to the GDPR, controllers (the collection agency in this case) are required to enter into processing agreements with processors (Origo hf). However, Origo's clients will be offered a template that we will use. Other systems will also be reviewed, and measures will be taken if it is discovered that they involve personal data subject to this legislation. At first glance, this does not appear to be the case, but since the Board of Trustees outsources most of its technology services to Origo, we will be seeking their advice.
1.5 – Letters from two applicants for the 2018 main allocation submitted to the collection council.
1.6 – Strategic planning for museum work and the policies of major museums. The Museums Act No. 141/2011 lists as one of the tasks of the Museum Council: „b) to work on strategic planning for museum work in cooperation with major museums, to be submitted to the minister for approval.“ The organization of this project was discussed, but the Museum Council will continue its work on the project next year. It is clear that the Museum Council's strategic plan for museum work must be based on the strategic plans of the lead museums, which are discussed in Article 8: „The national museums are three: the National Gallery of Iceland, the National Museum of Natural History of Iceland, and the National Museum of Iceland. They are advisory to other museums and shall promote cooperation among museums and a coordinated museum policy in their respective fields.„ It was reported at the meeting that the National Gallery of Iceland will work on its collection policy this summer and fall, and the National Museum of Iceland is also working on its policy and expects it to be ready next spring. The National Museum of Iceland published its third collection policy in April of last year, see: http://www.thjodminjasafn.is/media/utgafa/Thjodm_A4_Safnastefna_2017_WEB_120dpi.pdf . Therefore, it is estimated that work by the council on strategic planning for the museum's operations can begin in the first quarter of next year.
2. Matters for decision
– No cases were on the agenda for decision.
3. Other matters
The meeting decided to ask accredited museums to inform the museum council if there is a change in the position of the director, to send the museum council information about education and job percentage, and also if the director's duties change.
Meeting adjourned at 4:50 PM / TBÓ