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IFLA was represented at the 2023 International Telecommunications Union Regional Development Forum for Africa, engaging with regulators, businesses, academics and civil society partners to make the case for libraries to be integrated into wider digital inclusion plans, and so realise their potential to become community innovation and co-creation hubs.
As part of our engagement at the UN Internet Governance Forum, we are happy to release a zero draft of the report of the Dynamic Coalition on Public Access in Libraries' report for 2023. 20 years on from the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Plan of Action, which highlighted the role of public access at the global level, it looks at how this has evolved over time.
While digital technologies offer huge possibilities to support sustainable development, realising this potential requires action at all levels, from government to the grassroots. Libraries have a key role to play in this digital governance framework, as was underlined at the ICEGOV 2023 conference in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
IFLA is happy to participate in the #ImALifelongLearner campaign launched by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, to mark the anniversary of the Marrakesh Framework for Action. We encourage you to get involved also - find out more about how!
UNESCO's work to establish guidelines for the regulation of digital platforms are likely to set a new standard for the way the internet is governed. Following our submission on the 2nd version of this, we have now commented on the 3rd, highlighting the importance of libraries and our values.
With a growing focus on how both to address problems in the online world, and find ways to realise its potential to support development, the 2023 European Dialogue on Internet Governance provided a great opportunity to highlight library contributions and values.
The United Nations has released a new Policy Brief around one of the key themes in the upcoming Summit of the Future – Information Integrity. Making a political priority of the question of access to reliable information – and the need to address misinformation, disinformation and hate speech, it point to a number of roles for libraries.
The UN Secretary-General has released a Policy Brief offering a first idea of the principles, objectives and recommendations that could feature in the Global Digital Compact. This includes some welcome steps for libraries, but there remain areas needing clarification in order to ensure that it reflects the needs of libraries and their users.
IFLA has joined Creative Commons and Europeana in signing an open letter to European lawmakers, underlining that proposals to impose fees on companies and institutions that share content online pose a real threat to libraries and others in their work to enforce cultural rights.
In the light of regular reports of limitations on libraries' ability freely to build and maintain collections to respond to the needs of communities, IFLA President Barbara Lison has made the following statement
There are a number of ways in which libraries can engage with the concept of digital public goods, which has become more and more prominent in discussions about about the future of internet governance, and development in general. This briefing explains what they are, and why they are relevant.
With five reports from national implementations of UNESCO's Internet Universality Indicators now published, it's a good time to see what library roles in supporting internet inclusion are recognised. This article explores these, and calls for closer engagement in libraries in future implementation efforts.
The coming two years will be important ones in the history of international internet governance, providing a number of key opportunities to underline what libraries need in order to fulfil their missions. The 2023 UN Committee on Science and Technology for Development provided an opportunity to set out next steps.
While we have seen major progress in extending connectivity, are we doing so well in ensuring that everyone has the skills, confidence and access to content necessary to realise the potential of the internet to drive development? Not yet, but libraries can help.
With key copyright decision-makers meeting this week in Geneva at WIPO, we are happy to follow up on our report with an overview of country-by-country implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty with an analysis of the data as a whole. This demonstrates both the effectiveness of international action in driving national change, and the fact that most countries have sought to maximise the possibilities created to provide access for persons with print disabilities.
Following our participation in the UNESCO Internet4Trust conference, IFLA has now submitted comments on UNESCO's draft Guidelines on Platform Regulation. In addition to welcoming the balance found in the document, we also propose improvements, including readier recognition of libraries' role in a healthy internet.
At a major global conference exploring how to update regulation of internet platforms as part of wider efforts to rebuild trust in the internet, Dilara Begum, on behalf of IFLA, highlighted the value of upholding freedom of expression and access to information, and the practical contribution libraries can make to this goal.
The World Day of Social Justice, celebrated on 20 February, focuses on the need to ensure that everyone has the rights and resources to fulfil their potential. Born out of the work of the International Labour Organisation, it now touches on a wide range of the factors that determine people’s ability to enjoy their rights.
IFLA has made a submission to a call by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression for evidence around the link between this freedom and sustainable development. This highlights the importance of freedom of access to information, and the role of libraries in making this meaningful and universal.
In the latest of our series of looks ahead on different policy areas, we turn to the internet and wider digital world. Given both our own reliance on technology, as well as its impact on the achievement of wider library goals, evolutions in this space are particularly relevant for our own field to consider.