A Pre-Deployment Competitive Intelligence Protocol for Assessing Multimodal Cultural Heritage Repositories

Abstract

Purpose: This study tests a pre-deployment Competitive Intelligence protocol for converting repository-level evidence into clearly bounded management decisions without implying that the framework has already been implemented or validated within an organization.

Methodology/Approach: The study examined 35 files deposited in Harvard Dataverse and one directly accessible README file. The analytical procedures included repository inventory, modality and storage profiling, TF-IDF analysis, heritage-theme coding, calculation of a five-component Repository Processing Readiness Index, sensitivity testing under an alternative weighting specification, and a role-based decision simulation. No external users or institutional decision-makers participated.

Key Findings: Processing-readiness scores were 90.0 for text, 40.2 for video files, 40.0 for compressed archives, and 24.4 for model files. Under the alternative weighting specification, compressed archives ranked ahead of videos. The resulting decision rules supported an archive-extraction pilot, later-stage video processing, stronger documentation controls, and the temporary deferral of model weights. Cultural value at the asset level, organizational utilization, stakeholder feedback, and institutional outcomes were not tested.

Originality/Relevance: The study provides an empirical Competitive Intelligence output at the repository level while maintaining a clear distinction between processing readiness, cultural significance, and organizational use. This distinction reduces information asymmetry and prevents technical accessibility from being interpreted as evidence of cultural or strategic value.

Theoretical/Methodological Contributions: The proposed protocol connects Competitive Intelligence planning, environmental scanning, intelligence governance, information asymmetry, evidence grading, decision rules, sensitivity analysis, and validation thresholds within a transparent pre-deployment framework for multimodal cultural heritage repositories.