Stay up to date with our latest developments, initiatives, and new resources!
The UN’s new Global Principles for Information Integrity represent an important step in highlighting the importance of access to quality information, both as a goal in itself and an enabler of wider progress. Building on the Principles’ strengths, an explicit engagement of libraries will make them stronger and more effective.
The event held contemporary and historical public debates on the power of knowledge and information conveyed by institutions and people with different profiles and trajectories within the fields of research, activism and professional practice in different parts of the world. Individuals presented research projects and initiatives that aim to improve and make access to information more equal.
This document represents a unification of library voices in regard to the Internet, it provides our vision of the Internet we want, it sets out a compelling narrative about the place of libraries in the digital space and provides a series of recommendations for different actors. Of course, we also see the manifesto as an opportunity to ensure that the library voice remains relevant and strong in the international discussions that are shaping the way forward in Internet Governance processes.
A new creative intervention produced by Tactical Tech and DensityDesign Lab at Politecnico di Milano, in collaboration with International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), will address how AI is impacting the ways that media and information is produced, distributed and perceived. The exhibition, designed to be hosted in libraries throughout Europe, will present visitors with engaging resources that will make these issues tangible and visual. It will also provide practical tips for what to do when we are confronted with these issues in our online lives.
The latest draft of the United Nations’ Pact for the Future, likely to be a milestone document for the UN this decade, represents welcome progress towards recognising the importance of culture – and the need for a goal in future development agendas.
Last week the WSIS+20 Forum High-Level Event took place in Geneva from the 27 to the 31 of May. This event marked a significant milestone of twenty years of progress made in the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society, which took place in two phases — Geneva in 2003 and Tunis in 2005. Twenty years ago WSIS was the space that set an initial framework for global digital cooperation with a vision to build people-centric, inclusive, and development-oriented information and knowledge societies. Just as in the the past, IFLA attended this event to continue its ongoing involvement in this process since its foundation at the 2003 Geneva Summit; and engaged in diverse multistakeholder discussions to highlight the crucial role that libraries play as key actors of the information society.
Libraries of different types, through providing inclusive access to information can make a major contribution to making the right to health a reality. Governments, in turn, can and should help realise this potential through law, regulation and funding, as a new statement from IFLA underlines.
With a growing generation of people relying on the internet for learning, entertainment and socializing, it's crucial to cultivate their capacity to ask critical questions about how technology impacts their lives, their communities and the planet. But how can educators guide teens to understand and navigate the digital world confidently? “Everywhere, All the Time” is a creative and playful digital literacy intervention, aiming to do just that.
In recognition of the increasing efforts to restrict books, those who write them, publish them or make them available to readers, five organisations representing authors, publishers, booksellers and libraries worldwide have issued a joint statement.
To support advocacy around the place of libraries in national and regional policy-making on information integrity, we are gathering examples of where governments are already recognising and supporting our institutions and profession. Deadline: 12 April!
Provide your comments via the open working document before April 3, join an online consultation session or sign up to conduct a thematic workshop!
IFLA joined UN agencies, experts and civil society organisations from around the world in providing input for the preparation of the first draft of the Global Digital Compact at a virtual consultation,
Today marks 20 years since the Safer Internet Day was first introduced in the European Union in 2004 as an initiative of the EU SafeBorders project. Two decades later, its importance is reaffirmed as the internet landscape evolves rapidly, which offers great opportunities but also poses great risks, particularly to the most vulnerable.
These open stakeholder consultations composed by multilateral agencies, civil society, technical communities, private sector and national governments will help clarify the extent to which the vision of a people centered, inclusive information society has evolved during the past twenty years. The review is also a key opportunity for people in the library field to contribute to the modernization of the operational architecture for the WSIS process and more importantly, to put it at the service and improvement of our lives and for future generations.
In 2023, digital policy developments gained significant momentum. The development of AI and many other emerging technologies gave place to the acceleration of regulation in different areas that concern the library and information field. Because of this, we believe that 2024 will be a pivotal year for advocating in this area and making sure that the global voice of libraries remains strong.
IFLA has submitted its response to a consultation run by the United Nations in the context of the preparation of its Code of Conduct on Information Integrity. In this, we underline the role of libraries in supporting the information integrity agenda, as well as calling for a stronger positive agenda on promoting access to, and appreciation of quality information.
IFLA's latest briefing focuses on Digital Public Infrastructure, a concept which has become prominent in the last year, under the leadership of India as G20 President and the UN Development Programme. It sets out key parts of a definition, provides an update on current priorities for work in this area, and suggests how libraries can engage.
The final version of UNESCO’s guidelines on how digital platforms – and in particular social media – should work offers helpful affirmation of the importance of access to information, skills, and libraries. It also provides a framework for us to engage in wider debates about information regulation.
IFLA was honoured to take to the stage at the Partner2Connect Annual Meeting 2023, and present two pledges connected to the initiative's overall goal to bring meaningful internet connectivity within reach of everyone.
From the 4 to the 8 of December 2023, IFLA participated at the UNCTAD eWeek that was held at the CICG in Geneva. The global voice of libraries remains relevant in these conversations as libraries hold significant value in the digital economy as they ultimately contribute to the growth of a digitally skilled and economically empowered community.