IFAP INFORMATION SOCIETY OBSERVATORY

Welcome to the Information Society Observatory of the Information for All Programme of UNESCO (IFAP).
The Programme was established by UNESCO to provide a framework for international co-operation and partnerships in “building an information society for all”. IFAP’s focus is on ensuring that all people have access to information they can use to enhance their lives.
UNESCO has assumed the task of assisting Member States in the formulation of national information policy frameworks, in particular within the framework of the Information for All Programme (IFAP).

The need for such policy frameworks is highlighted repeatedly in the WSIS outcome documents: the Geneva Declaration of Principles; the Geneva Plan of Action; the Tunis Commitment, and the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society. The latter document specifically calls on governments that have not yet done so to elaborate, as appropriate, comprehensive, forward-looking and sustainable national e-strategies, including ICT strategies and sectoral e-strategies as appropriate , as an integral part of national development plans and poverty reduction strategies, as soon as possible and before 2010.

This Observatory aims to provide building blocks for the development of such policies and strategies, by making accessible up-to-date information grouped, in the first instance, around the IFAP priority areas: Information for development; Information accessibility; Information literacy; Information ethics and Information preservation. The Observatory will be continuously updated with new, relevant strategic documents, events, books and experiences, annotations and links, following the development of the field.

You are invited to comment on the contents of this Observatory, but also to provide new information on important developments in the area of national and international information policy frameworks and their implementation. Please send your comments and reports to: ifap-is-observatory@ittk.hu

Karol Jakubowicz
Chairman, Intergovernmental Council, IFAP