Digital humanities unit (Vienna)

Militarized displacement, environment, and biopolitics in World War I Eastern Europe: Describing models, routes, maps

A specialized digital unit will be established as a dedicated technical support group to assist with the various sub-projects within the larger research initiative. By fostering this synergy, the digital unit will play a crucial role in facilitating the consideration of multilingual research literature and sources, which is essential for the thorough examination of the diverse Eastern European regions involved in the analysis. This collaborative approach will ultimately contribute to producing results that accurately reflect the complex history of interdependence within these regions. The focus will be on data collection, analysis, visualization, dissemination, and long-term storage.

The following five points list these aspects in detail:

1. Collection and digital processing of statistical data: One of the primary responsibilities of the unit will be the systematic collection and digital processing of extensive mass statistical data obtained from relevant military and civilian authorities. The processed data will be used to generate a variety of visual tools, including detailed diagrams, dynamic data visualizations, and interactive maps. These maps will highlight the locations most affected by the conflict, such as areas with the largest concentrations of refugees or camps, enabling a more nuanced understanding of the war's human and environmental toll.

2. Demographic analysis: The digital unit will also focus on analysing the collected mass statistical data to reconstruct the demographic dynamics in selected areas of Central and Eastern Europe during and immediately following the World War I. These regions experienced significant changes in state affiliation, which in turn influenced migration regimes and biopolitical boundaries.

3. Machine recognition and analysis of photographic data: Another critical task for the unit will involve the application of advanced machine recognition techniques to a representative set of photographs taken in refugee camps and other related sites. This analysis will allow for a valid and detailed description of the lifeworlds, resilience strategies, and gender constructions of refugees during this tumultuous period.

4. Creation of interactive maps using GIS technology (software: QGIS): The unit will also be responsible for creating interactive maps using GIS technology, which will cover several sections of the Eastern Front during the World War I. These maps will include the digitization of critical project outcomes, such as the principal routes taken by refugees as they moved through various ecological zones and crossed national borders.

5. Long-term usable and FAIR data: To ensure the project’s research results are accessible for future work in this field, the curation and publication of research data represent the final pillar of the digital unit. Collected and processed data will be made available to the scientific community in a Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable manner, in accordance with the established FAIR standard (Wilkinson et al., 2016).