Educating innovators: entrepreneurship in digital humanities in Italy

This chapter explores the integration of entrepreneurship education into Italian digital humanities (DH) programmes, highlighting its potential to empower students in leveraging technology for cultural preservation, research, and innovation. Grounded in Schumpeter’s concept of creative destruction, entrepreneurship involves visionary recombination of resources, requiring strategies such as experimentation, effectuation, and bricolage. These approaches are crucial in DH, where interdisciplinary skills blend technical and humanistic expertise. The study employs a systematic mapping of Italian DH degree programmes, revealing a limited but growing inclusion of entrepreneurship education. Only the University of Bologna offers a dedicated entrepreneurship course, while other programmes incorporate related content through workshops, modules, and internships. These initiatives reflect a burgeoning interest in equipping students with entrepreneurial capabilities despite institutional and contextual challenges. DH graduates possess unique competencies that foster innovation across domains such as virtual museums, interactive storytelling, and digital archives. However, broader adoption of entrepreneurship education could enhance their employability and catalyse cultural and technological advancements. The chapter advocates for interdisciplinary courses, university-level initiatives, and policy support to strengthen entrepreneurial education in DH. By harnessing Italy's unparalleled cultural heritage and fostering innovation, such efforts promise significant socio-economic benefits at local and global levels.