UNESCO IFAP: Information Ethics for Sustainable Development

1. Information Ethics as a Strategic Priority of UNESCO Information for All Programme (IFAP) Geneva, 11 May 2010 Evgeny Kuzmin Chairman UNESCO IFAP Intergovernmental Council

2. UNESCO IFAP • IFAP – UNESCO’s response to the challenges and opportunities of the Information Society • Information Ethics – one of the fivepriorities of the IFAP Strategic Plan (2008–2013)

3. UNESCO’s mission Medium-Term Strategy • focus on: • peace building • eradication of poverty • sustainable development • intercultural dialogue

4. UNESCO’s functions UNESCO • a laboratory of ideas • a standard-setter • a clearing house • a capacity-builder in Member States • a catalyst for international cooperation

5. UNESCO IFAP IFAP efforts • upstream policy advice • related capacity-building • advocacy • benchmarking and cooperation • skills and practices • modality for capacity development

6. UNESCO IFAP • IFAP – a flagship intergovernmental initiative • IFAP’s key merits: • great scope • interdisciplinary, intersectoral and integrative approach

7. IFAP Strategic Plan • Five priorities of the IFAP Strategic Plan for 2008–2013: • Information Preservation • Information Literacy • Information Ethics • Information for Development • Information Accessibility

8. IFAP Strategic Plan • unambiguous and realistic priorities allow international and national agencies: • adapt to the challenges of the new information environment • reduce the hard impact of these challenges • increase their contribution to the development of all our nations and the entire human civilization

9. IFAP Strategic Plan IFAP’s response to topical problems • relevant for: • developed countries • developing countries • countries with transition economic and political systems

10. UNESCO IFAP • IFAP helps: • see and understand the problems as one interlinked whole • arrive at balanced approaches to their solution • gather manifold and multilevel elements of national and international policies in a harmonious entity • overcome presently available and ever new dangerous errors at least at the level of collective mentality

11. UNESCO IFAP • Contribution to research and developments works • International papers on information ethics prepared and adopted for the WSIS: • Recommendation concerning the Promotion and Use of Multilingualism and Universal Access to Cyberspace • UNESCO Charter on the Preservation of the Digital Heritage

12. UNESCO and WSIS Publications on the information society: • Securing a place for a language in cyberspace • Measuring Linguistic Diversity on the Internet • Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in the Information Society • Memory of the Information Society • Science in the Information Society

13. UNESCO and WSIS Publications on the information society • Education in and for the Information Society • Gender Issues in the Information Society • Measuring and Monitoring the Information and Knowledge Societies: a Statistical Challenge • Status of Research on the Information Society • Twelve years of Measuring Linguistic Diversity in the Internet: Balance and Perspectives

14. UNESCO IFAP Papers on information society policies • National Information Society Policy: A Template • Information for All Programme: Information Society Policies. Annual World Report 2009

15. IFAP and Information Ethics Publications on information ethics • Ethics and Human Rights in the Information Society • Ethical Implications of Emerging Technologies: a Survey • Politics in the Information Society: the Bordering and Restraining of Global Data Flows

16. IFAP and Information Ethics IFAP Working Groups • Bureau Members responsible for the functioning of the WGs: • Information Preservation (Austria) • Information for Development (Kuwait) • Information Ethics (Latvia and Venezuela) • Information Literacy (Philippines) • Information Accessibility (Madagascar)

17. IFAP and Information Ethics Information ethics - critical understanding of the normative ethics in the information society, including: information, data and knowledge • creation • preservation • distribution • providing access to • facilitating usage

18. IFAP and Information Ethics Contribution to organizing debates (2006–2008) • Four regional meetings: • Asia and the Pacific • Europe • Africa • Latin America and the Caribbean • Four final documents reflecting the position and expectations of regions

19. IFAP and Information Ethics Facilitation of the knowledge accumulation • Online Information Society Observatory’s section on infoethics • Contribution to the Global Ethics Observatory: • Who's Who in Ethics • Ethics Institutions • Ethics Teaching Programmes • Ethics Related Legislation and Guidelines • Codes of Conduct • Resources in Ethics

20. IFAP and Information Ethics Facilitation of networking • Participation in the establishment of professional network cooperation: • Universities Network on Info-Ethics • Latin-American Youth Network on Info-Ethics in order to integrate academic institutions and youth associations in the awareness raising activities

21. IFAP and Information Ethics UNESCO’s standard-setting function • IFAP helps defining norms for democratic, pluralistic and sustainable knowledge societies

22. IFAP and Information Ethics Code of Ethics for the Information Society • general framework for establishing norms of good conduct in the information society • 2007 – the first draft • 2009 – the second draft

23. IFAP and Information Ethics Code of Ethics for the Information Society • based on relevant human rights proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: • respect to privacy • freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief • the right to education • the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community

24. IFAP and Information Ethics Code of Ethics for the Information Society • addressed primarily to the Member States’ governments • includes recommendations for: • international organizations • business executives • users • all participants of the information society

25. IFAP and Information Ethics Code of Ethics for the Information Society Structure (1): • Information: Ethical Requirements • Rights and Freedoms. Equality • Access to networks and services • Access to creation and use of information and content • Capacity to use information hardware and software • Freedom of expression • Privacy

26. IFAP and Information Ethics Code of Ethics for the Information Society Structure (2): • Freedom of the creative use of technology • Democracy • Responsibilities • Security • Protection of the law • Intellectual property rights • Responsibilities of service providers

27. IFAP and Information Ethics Code of Ethics for the Information Society • available at: http://portal.unesco.org/ • discussed during the 6th session of the Intergovernmental Council for the Information for All Programme (March 31, 2010, Paris)

28. IFAP and Information Ethics Code of Ethics for the Information Society • different understanding of the essence of human rights in various cultures and communities

29. IFAP and Information Ethics Cooperation with IFAP • better understanding of all issues of information ethics: • at the level of the UN and its Member States • among politicians, experts and public at large

30. Thank you! UNESCO Information for All Programme http://www.unesco.org kuzmin@ifapcom.ru