A Situation-Aware Cloud-Edge Architecture for Cultural Heritage Management

Cultural heritage represents a valuable asset for any Country and in particular for those with a tourism-oriented economy. The increase in tourist flows, climate change, and the natural deterioration of heritage assets make cultural heritage management increasingly challenging. New technologies can help address these challenges if appropriately designed to support the work of managers, maintenance personnel, and operators. In this context, Situation Awareness emerges as a cornerstone for designing new decision support systems and cyber-physical systems, such as maintenance systems, designed around the user to enhance the monitoring and intervention activities required. The considerable size of some cultural heritage sites, such as archaeological parks, demands pervasive and efficient monitoring solutions. The cloud-edge architecture enables the deployment of sensors and actuators at the network's edge while aggregating data in the cloud to provide a global common operating picture for decision-makers, enhancing their SA and thereby improving performance. In this article, we propose a new cloud-edge architecture model based on the principles of Situation Awareness. An illustrative example focusing on the Archaeological Park of Paestum, in Italy, demonstrates the feasibility of this solution.