This report presents the results of a national survey on digital practices and needs among researchers in the humanities and related disciplines, as well as professionals in cultural heritage institutions, in Sweden. Conducted by DARIAH Sweden (DARIAH-SE) in coordination with the national research infrastructure Huminfra, the survey provides an empirical basis for Huminfra’s future strategic work and situates Swedish practices within the broader European context shaped by DARIAH-EU.

Based on 208 responses from 195 researchers at 27 higher education institutions and 13 professionals at cultural heritage institutions, the survey shows that digital tools and resources are firmly embedded in everyday research practice. A clear majority of respondents report using digital tools beyond basic applications and working with digital resources across several stages of the research lifecycle. Digital research is no longer confined to the field of digital humanities but permeates routine scholarly work across the humanities, social sciences, and cultural heritage sectors.

At the same time, the findings reveal significant gaps between use, competence, and support. Approximately 40% of respondents report below-adequate proficiency in working with digital tools, and around one third indicate limited awareness of relevant digital resources. These challenges are unevenly distributed across disciplines and career stages. Researchers in the humanities and the arts report the highest levels of below-adequate proficiency, while early-career researchers stand out as particularly affected, showing both low confidence in digital skills and limited awareness of available resources. The results further indicate that digital competence does not simply accumulate with experience: both early-career and senior researchers face distinct challenges, pointing to a need for structured support at multiple points in the research career.

The survey also highlights a highly diverse and fragmented digital tool landscape. Respondents mention over 200 different tools, with data analysis emerging as the most common mode of digital tool use. While this diversity signals openness to experimentation, it also places a substantial burden on individual researchers to identify, evaluate, and maintain complex digital workflows, often with limited methodological guidance. Reported challenges frequently concern basic-level tool use, lack of awareness of advanced functionalities, and difficulties in selecting appropriate tools for specific research tasks.

Training needs emerge as a central theme. Most respondents report having received no formal training in digital tools or resources, despite strong interest in training across areas such as data collection and management, data analysis, visualization, and multimedia work. Preferred training formats are interactive and practice-oriented, underscoring the importance of contextualized and workflow-integrated support.

Finally, awareness of services provided by Huminfra and DARIAH remains low, despite that 64% of the respondents were affiliated with institutions hosting a Huminfra node. Researchers primarily discover tools and resources through informal networks rather than institutional channels, pointing to challenges of mediation and integration rather than relevance or availability.

Taken together, the findings suggest that the central challenge for digital research infrastructures in Sweden is no longer adoption, but integration: stabilizing digital competence, coordinating support in a fragmented tool landscape, and embedding infrastructures and training more deeply into institutional practices and research careers.