Our science needs more people trained to get information out, not just to put data it in. Electronic archives will inevitably grow and fill the storage of computer systems. To convert this accumulation of data into useful information is the next step.
Virtual Anthropology is still new; a background in biology, mathematics or computer science is required. Young researchers have to be trained in more than one of these fields to fully exploit VA possibilities. The European Commission is therefore funding a research training network (European Virtual Anthropology Network - EVAN) for the next four years to implement the new interdisciplinary approach and to provide better infrastructure regarding digital archives and toolboxes.
At the end of this project, it will turn out that many of the tools and techniques are useful beyond the smaller range of paleoanthropological applications, for instance in medical diagnosis or industrial biometry.