Connected Earth is the story of our on-going quest to communicate better. From the first, simple messages to today's sophisticated global communications, Connected Earth tells of a unique human achievement. The ability to communicate effectively, irrespective of distance and the barriers of time and volume, is one of the most significant drivers of mankind's evolution and will enable unsurpassed progress in the 21st century.
Connected Earth is a web based museum of communication, underpinned by a series of major physical collections, distributed among a network of museums around the UK.
Founded by BT, Connected Earth is operated by the Connected Earth partners - BT and the museums who have taken custody of the Connected Earth collections.
Connected Earth is a £6 million investment by BT, to promote the widest possible access to its collection of historical artefacts, while ensuring proper standards of care for the collection. The concept of a genuinely national, distributed collection supported by a website has been recognised as an innovative model for the responsible management of a corporate heritage collection.
To find out more about any aspect of Connected Earth or to give feedback on this website, please email connectedearth@bt.com.
When BT was privatised in 1984, its assets included over 40,000 historic artefacts, some dating back to the mid 19th century, plus thousands of documents and items of ephemera - the UK's most comprehensive physical record of the development of communications.
BT maintains public access to its documentary heritage through BT Archives, but by 2000 - following the closure of the BT Museum in 1997 - the artefact collections had been unavailable to the public for several years. BT had always accepted an obligation to preserve these assets, but it was felt a stand-alone museum could not provide the level of public access which the collection deserved. The idea of creating a museum on the internet was settled on as providing a workable solution that would optimise the future management of - and access to - the artefacts. This, supported by distributing the best of the physical collections to a network of dedicated galleries, sited within established UK museums, allowed each of these partner museum to tell a different part of the story of communications.
This is the model that resulted in Connected Earth:
a genuinely national, distributed collection
endowed by BT, but managed in partnership with museum professionals
creating UK-wide access for research and interpretation
enabling the engineering, social and economic history of telecommunications to be shown and related
ensuring key artefacts are preserved for future generations
To find out more about the museums which are involved in Connected Earth go to Days Out.
March 2002 - New gallery opened at Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station - Enhanced gallery opened at Porthcurno telegraph Museum
April 2002 - Connected Earth launched by Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture and Sport, at an event at the BT Tower in London hosted by BT chairman, Sir Christopher Bland. Play the launch video and view the transcript. A new window will open.
April 2002 - Enhanced national telephone kiosk collection re-opened at Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings.
May 2002 - Prince Michael of Kent opened the new purpose-built Connected Earth gallery at Amberley Working Museum.
June 2002 - Connected Earth website goes live - Alison Taubman, Connected Earth curator at The National Museums of Scotland appointed (a permanent position endorsed by BT).
April 2003 - Chris Chilvers, Connected Earth research fellow at the Science Museum, London appointed (a three year position funded by BT).
October 2003 - Sir Christopher Bland opens Communicate! - the new Connected Earth gallery at The National Museums of Scotland.
Aug 2004 - BT publishes its heritage policy, detailing the eight commitments it has made to look after its heritage.
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