Information Industry News
April 23, 2024
We are pleased to announce that Martin R. Kalfatovic will be taking the role of Director for the IIIF Consortium (IIIF-C). Martin brings 20 plus years of senior management skills from his positions at the Smithsonian Institution and the Biodiversity Heritage Library. In his role at IIIF-C, Martin will lead the organization in supporting IIIF’s advances and continue to broaden its international adoption. He will be particularly attentive to evolving the Consortium’s technological and community activities to maintain its already strong partner engagement.
Martin will officially begin in his new post on July 8, 2024. He succeeds Josh Hadro, the inaugural IIIF-C Managing Director, who departed in December 2023. Martin comes to IIIF-C after an international search co-chaired by IIIF-C Executive Committee members Carolyn Caizzi (Northwestern University) and Simeon Warner (Cornell University). “We had an impressive array of candidates. The Search Committee worked diligently to assess them based on the relevant experience and skills required to perform the duties of the role” said Caizzi.
The IIIF-C Operating Committee ultimately selected Martin from the Search Committee’s short list. “Martin brings highly relevant experience and a proven ability to work with scholarly content in a global setting, attract funding, and coordinate in kind contributions for a common good. We are excited to see him bring these skills and infuse IIIF-C with new energy and focus,” said Tom Cramer, Chair of the IIIF-C Executive and Operating Committees.
With a gradually expanding membership base, and a robust strategic plan, the IIIF-C is well poised for exciting new developments, particularly with discussions on adding support for 3D models alongside existing support for images, audio and video. “Taking on this role at IIIF-C offers a new and broad horizon for me. The ability to join an organization with an already strong strategic and operational environment, committed staff, and passionate Executive Committee members is a rare and amazing opportunity,” said Martin Kalfatovic, incoming Director for IIIF-C.
We will be introducing Martin at the IIIF Annual Conference and Showcase (Los Angeles, June 4-7, 2024) and hope to see many of you there to welcome him to our community.
The IIIF-C Executive Committee wishes to acknowledge and thank the work of the Search Committee, and individual community members who took part in the search for the next Managing Director. Search Committee members: Carolyn Caizzi (co-chair), Simeon Warner (co-chair), Rebecca Hirsch, Tristan Roddis, Rob Sanderson, Caitlin Perry and Glen Robson. Community members: Jeffrey Witt and Julien Raemy. IIIF Operating Community members: Tom Cramer, David Newbury, Rashmi Singhal, Neil Fitzgerald, Regine Stein and Jonathan Manton.