The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum is meeting this week in Geneva at the international Telecommunications Union (ITU). UNESCO and ITU are working towards a review of the overall impact of WSIS and this meeting is part of the process.

IFLA will be hosting a workshop on ‘Public Access to the Internet and the role of Libraries as an agent of development’. The session will take place on Thursday 16th of May from 2pm – 3.45pm (CET). The workshop will explore the idea of libraries as key partners for development and take as its starting point recent research which looks at user perceptions of the benefits of public access to technology in libraries, and the opportunities public libraries offer for policymakers to meet development goals.

The workshop will explore a number of questions around the theme of public access in the community. What policies are needed to ensure that public access is facilitated? What partnerships need to be made with the private, government and civil society sectors to help bring technology into the community?

 

Panelists for the workshop are:

  • Genevieve Clavel (Swiss National Library/IFLA)
  • Dan Mount (Civic Agenda)
  • Ramunė Petuchovaitė (EIFL)
  • Jelena Rajic (Jagodina Public Library) 
  • Bernadette Lewis (Caribbean Telecommunications Union)
  • Paul Andre-Baran (IREX)

 

If you are in Geneva, please come and join us for this session. If you are not in Geneva you can participate via remote participation.