The Project Innovation Hub (PIH) “Digitalization of Cultural Heritage” (Ta’ziz Project) is a vital online collaborative learning platform funded by the DAAD and hosted by the Technical University of Brandenburg (TH-Brandenburg) in Germany. This impactful initiative, which has been successfully ongoing from March 2023 until December 2025, was specifically designed to let students from Middle East and North Africa (MENA) crisis regions participate in higher education and research. This is essential because many students from this region are unable to travel to Germany as exchange students due to financial barriers, political conflicts, crises, or visa limitations.

Through a strong academic collaboration involving the Faculty of Engineering and the Computer Engineering Department at Tishk International University and TH-Brandenburg—acting as host and academic collaborator with a project income of 125,000 EUR—students are able to study as “virtual students” from abroad. Participants enroll in the Student Academy, joining courses via an external Moodle platform and the local conference tool Big Blue Button (BBB). Upon successful submission at the end of their lecture times, students receive a Certificate of Participation and a Transcript of Records as “Virtual Income.” Additionally, teachers from MENA partner universities can enroll in the Teacher Academy for further educational courses, and once a year, selected participants are invited to a physical Project Week for a workshop and student conference while teachers discuss research and organizational issues.

The joint focus of this continuous program is the “Digitalization of Cultural Heritage,” addressing the urgent reality that tangible cultural heritage is in danger due to erosion and political conflicts. To prevent this cultural knowledge from being lost to future generations, all projects are carried out with non-university partners such as the Jordan Museum, the Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage in Erbil, and UNESCO in Germany and Sudan. This cooperation provides concrete digitalization solutions for scientific and civil purposes on endangered historical sites. Participants learn the complete workflow of the latest technologies in photogrammetry, laser-scanning, and 3D-modelling to build digital twins, store important data and papers in databases, and make them broadly accessible to the public regardless of space and time.

The critical nature of this mission was showcased during the Digitalization of Cultural Heritage Workshop at the GI Informatics Festival 2024 and continues to drive academic collaboration today. These efforts parallel a larger period of reinvention for Iraq—a country rich in culture, natural beauty, and hospitality—following decades of conflict. Highlighting this progress, a 15-member delegation from four German universities visited Baghdad, Mosul, Erbil, and Dohuk to explore further cooperation and support the implementation of Bologna reforms, backed by the full support of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research (MoHESR).

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