 | Issue: | Global-ICT 2008 |
| Article no.: | 1 | |
| Topic: | Knowledge societies and sustainable development | |
| Author: | Mr Koïchiro Matsuura | |
| Title: | Director-General | |
| Organisation: | UNESCO | |
| PDF size: | 191KB |
About author
Koïchiro Matsuura has led UNESCO for the past nine years, carrying out major institutional reforms while advancing a range of programs from universal basic education, to freedom of information, to the preservation of living arts and cultures. He began his diplomatic career in Africa, leading to his lifelong work in development cooperation and political affairs. Other than Counsellor at the Japanese Embassy in Washington, DC, Mr Matsuura has served as Japan’s Consul General in Hong Kong, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sherpa for the G-7 Summit and Ambassador to France. Mr Matsuura was educated in law and economics respectively at the University of Tokyo and at Haverford College, Pennsylvania.
Article abstract
The digital divide is one of the greatest obstacles to creating knowledge societies around the world. The divide is more than just connectivity and technological development, nevertheless, information and communication technology (ICT) has the power to enhance human development. The information to transform lives is there, but access to it is often blocked by lack of communication, ignorance, language barriers, economic factors and political restrictions. UNESCO and the private sector now work together to implement joint programmes to foster universal access.
Full Article
Never before in human history has so much information been so readily available to so many. In an increasingly connected global community, the ability to access information and transform it into meaningful and useful knowledge is a key driver of sustainable social and economic development. Yet, huge numbers of people, particularly in the developing world, are denied the opportunities to acquire and use knowledge in this way. UNESCO is working with its Member States around the world to reduce this divide by putting in place mechanisms to facilitate the building of people-centred, inclusive and development oriented knowledge societies based on four in-dissociable principles: quality education for all; universal access to information and knowledge; respect for cultural and linguistic diversity; and freedom of expression. UNESCO regards the digital divide as one of the greatest obstacles to building these knowledge societies. In much of the world they have yet to be created, but by presenting a vision of what such societies might become, UNESCO has sought to define a concept that goes beyond issues of connectivity and technological development, to encompass a broader and more empowering vision of the potential of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to enhance human development. Indeed, this emphasis on knowledge puts a new perspective on the increasing disparities in knowledge sharing and dissemination in developing countries. The use of ICT, the development of networks, and access to technology including telecommunication networks, mobile telephones and interactive television are keys to the poverty reduction and improved education and training that will assist these countries to rise above the many challenges they meet. ICT has revolutionized the role of knowledge in societies. From UNESCO’s perspective, connecting the world will ensure broader access to knowledge; the social use and appropriation of technology to meet the needs of individuals and communities will help reduce the digital divide. It will strengthen common understanding, build capacities, and facilitate partnerships. To ensure that all can benefit from knowledge and information, many of UNESCO’s activities focus on empowering communities, mainly in developing countries, through the use of ICT. To this end, UNESCO supports open access, open educational resources and the development of free and open-source software for extending and disseminating human knowledge, as a means of encouraging innovation and development. In 2007, at the invitation of UNESCO, visionaries from civil society, academia and the private sector engaged in a high-level dialogue on the future of knowledge acquisition and sharing. The resulting “Kronberg Declaration on the Future of Knowledge Acquisition and Sharing” sought to shape the political and structural changes that are needed to improve knowledge acquisition and sharing. Strategic development must focus on: the impact of technology on the evolution of knowledge societies; the concept of universal ‘knowledge norms’; the impact of emerging technologies on models of knowledge acquisition; the future role of classical knowledge acquisition structures including those of teachers/trainers; and the role of public-private partnerships in this regard. With its unique mandate to promote the free exchange of ideas and knowledge, UNESCO plays a key role in achieving the objectives of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). The Organization is working with a range of stakeholders towards the implementation of the outcomes of WSIS at the international, regional and national levels by fostering public-private partnerships to harness the potential of ICTs for development, lifelong learning and greater access to information and knowledge as tools to empower people around the world and improve their lives. Activities are implemented with multiple stakeholders involving NGOs, business entities and state authorities, and focus on themes such as e-learning, access to information and knowledge, e-science, and media. Regarding e-education, UNESCO has published guidelines on how teachers can use ICT to improve education. Designed to help policy makers and curriculum developers identify the skills teachers need, the ICT Competency Framework for Teachers was developed by UNESCO in cooperation with Cisco, Intel, Microsoft and other partners. It includes a policy framework, competency standards modules and implementation guidelines to enhance the skills to be acquired by teachers within each skill set/module. The power of ICT to access knowledge is the foundation on which people can make appropriate use of the computers, the Internet, and hand-held wireless devices that have transformed the way information is created, transmitted, accessed and stored. But understanding the technology is not enough; the effective use of these diverse and powerful technologies is a prerequisite for decision-making and problem-solving. This capacity is closely linked to the ability to use one’s mother tongue in global information networks to better participate in emerging knowledge societies. Yet, thousands of languages, though mastered by those populations for whom they are the daily means of expression, are absent from the Internet and there are no tools for creating or translating information into these excluded languages. Much of the world’s population is thus debarred from obtaining information essential to its well-being and development. This contributes to a widening of existing socio-economic inequalities and to a loss of cultural diversity. By promoting multilingualism in cyberspace, UNESCO simultaneously advocates a more equitable access to information networks and offers possibilities through ICT for a wider use and preservation of endangered languages. UNESCO encourages the development of coherent regional and national language policies that are conducive to the appropriate use of languages in a given community and country. Its B@bel Initiative supports the inclusion of new languages in the digital world and the development of local content in cyberspace. UNESCO’s focus on multilingualism to guarantee inclusion and full citizen participation will be further strengthened at the next Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Hyderabad, India in December 2008. The IGF creates unique opportunities to foster dialogue among actors with the aim of building a common understanding around essential principles and compelling issues related to the Internet, covering aspects that range from the technical to public policy and ethical concerns. UNESCO also participates in the debates of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) which in June 2008 approved the introduction of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) in the top level of Internet addresses. The introduction of IDNs will enable millions of users to access the Internet using their own, non-Latin scripts. Better connectivity, adoption of renewed regulatory frameworks, and telecommunications competition should ensure that ICTs become more widespread in developing countries. In development terms, the communications revolution will have its greatest impact in the developing world through the spread of low-cost computing devices. Cell phones may provide greater benefits to ordinary people than laptop computers, and with the growing convergence between the technologies of telephony and computing, the future looks promising. UNESCO is facilitating international multi-stakeholder partnerships to foster universal access to information and knowledge. Working with major international and intergovernmental organizations, and agencies engaged in ICT, as well as private companies, it leverages its professional and technical capacity and credibility to achieve greater impact on international development. UNESCO considers that cooperation with the private sector is a strategic necessity, not just an option. In addition to traditional philanthropic and sponsorship relationships, UNESCO and the private sector now work together by sharing resources and expertise to implement joint programmes to foster universal access. This is a trend that must continue. The development of knowledge societies is a multidisciplinary and comprehensive process involving a wide range of actors. To this end, UNESCO will continue to advocate a holistic and development-oriented perspective that captures the complexity and dynamism of current changes in the world.
