The Role of Digital Innovation in Fostering Sustainability: A Lithuanian Comparative Case Study of Public and Private Museums

The aim of this study is to analyze how public and private museums adopt digital innovations and to evaluate their contribution to sustainability strategies. The study explores the reasons for implementing digital innovation in museums, how digital innovation contributes to museums’ sustainability, and how museums’ governance model (state-funded or private) influences their capacity for digital innovation and sustainability. The analysis uses a multiple-case study in Lithuania, focusing on the following three museums in Vilnius: the state-funded Lithuanian National Museum, the privately managed MO Museum, and the Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE. Empirical insights come from semi-structured interviews with museum representatives. Data are collected through online interaction and included in the study dataset. The findings show a clear tendency among museums to adopt digital innovations both to make the visitor experience more interactive and immersive, and to enhance internal management. The results suggest that the adoption of such innovations depends less on the museum’s form (public or private) and more on its size and related financial capacities. Large museums—whether public or private—have more financial capacity to implement digital innovations than smaller ones. Still, the results show that the lack of funds for technological innovations does not prevent museums from achieving sustainability. This research contributes to the field of sustainability by reviewing the scientific literature on the aspects of sustainability (economic, social, environmental, cultural, communicative) in museums’ digital innovation, and by offering exploratory insights from the Lithuanian context into the strategies that museums use to implement digital innovation and promote sustainable development.