Transcript November 2002 The Information Society in Asia and the Question of Cultural Diversity Dr.

November 2002
The Information Society in Asia and the Question
of Cultural Diversity
Dr. Susanne Ornager, UNESCO Adviser for Communication
and Information in Asia & Pacific
Background
 Information Society
 Electronic networks and multimedia
technologies
 Comprehensive and interdisciplinary new
approach
 Different thinking
 Rapid advancement in access to technology etc.
 New breed greatly required
WSIS: Main focus
The WSIS is concerned with the impact
the information of the global information
society is having on every aspect of life.
The intention is to produce an
international action plan for achieving
the goals of the information society
WSIS: Organizational Structures
 High patronage: UN Secretary General
 Lead Role: ITU
 High level organizing Committee (HLSOC)
• Heads of UN Agencies
 Executive Secretariat (ES)
• Staff from Governments, UN agencies, Private Sector,
Civil Society/NGOs; includes a Civil Society Division
WSIS :
Basic objectives
 Harness the potential of knowledge and
technology for promoting the international
development goals
 Ensure a smooth coordination of the practical
establishment of the information society around
the globe
 Create a unique opportunity for all key players to
assemble at a high-level gathering and to
develop a better understanding of the
Information Society and its impact on the
international community
WSIS: Dates
 First Phase:
Geneva 2003
• To address the broad
range of themes
• To adopt a
Declaration of
Principles and an
Action Plan
 Second Phase:
Tunis, 2005
• To focus on
development
themes
• To assess progress
made
• To review the Action
Plan
WSIS: Six proposed themes
 Building infrastructure
• The role of
telecommunications,
investment and
technology in creating
the Information
Society infrastructure
and bridging the
digital divide
 Opening the gates
• Achieving universal
and equitable access
to the Information
Society
• Meeting the needs of
the developing world
• Information as a
common public good
WSIS: Six proposed themes (continued)
 Services and
 The needs of users
applications
• Consumer protection,
• The implications of
• Relevant content, reflecting
the Information
cultural diversity and the
Society for economic,
right to communicate
social and cultural
• Ethics of the Information
development
Society
• The implication of the
• User training and Worker
Information Society
protection and workplace
for sciences
privacy
WSIS: Six proposed themes (end)
 Developing a framework  ICT*and Education
• The roles of government, the
• ICT as a lever for
private sector and civil society in
shaping the Information Society
educational change
• Information: a common public
• The learning
good (public domain information)
• Intellectual property rights and
environment : ICT,
legal exceptions
teachers, learners
• Freedom of expression
and content
• Telecommunication and Internet
access tariff policies
• The needs of
currently employed
workers #
WSIS: ICT
* Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
WSIS: Outcome
1. Declaration embodying a set of principles
and rules of conduct aimed at establishing a
more inclusive and equitable Information
Society; and
2. Plan of Action formulating operational
proposals and concrete measures to be
taken so that all benefit more equitably from
the opportunities presented by the
Information Society.
WSIS: Preparation Calendar
 PrepCom 2 (January (13-17) 2003, Japan)
• Examine draft documents to be presented at the Summit
 PrepCom 3 (Second half 2003)
• Conduct final negotiations concerning the Declaration of
Principles and Plan of Action
WSIS : UNESCO




The Director General of UNESCO, Mr Koïchiro Matsuura,
emphasized four point of interest to the organisation:
To find agreement on common principles for the construction
of knowledge societies;
To promote the use of ICTs for capacity-building,
empowerment, governance and social participation;
To strengthen capacities for creation and exchanges and
scientific research and communication;
To enhance learning opportunities through access to
diversified contents and delivery systems.
WSIS : UNESCO
 What kind of knowledge societies should we
build?
Questions of equitable access, social inclusion,
cultural diversity and human rights require us to
consider not only the kinds of societies we want to
create but also the relationships between different
societies.
WSIS : UNESCO
 The question raised helps to draw the attention
away from the instrumental dimension of ICTs and
towards the crucial matter of appropriate content.
 What types of knowledge constitute “knowledge
societies” and
 How can we best harness ICTs in order to advance
education, science and culture in inclusive and
equitable ways.
WSIS : UNESCO
Four key principles deserve particular
consideration with the Summit preparatory
process:
 Equal access to education
 Guarantee of a strong public domain of information
 Preservation and promotion of cultural diversity,
including multilingualism
 Freedom of expression
WSIS : UNESCO
UNESCO’s primary concern is that we build
knowledge societies that are grounded upon respect
for human rights and are genuinely open and
inclusive.
Education has to be linked to the generation or
production of knowledge, the ways in which
information and knowledge are shared, and the uses
to which ICTs are put.
It requires the encouragement of community-based
approaches and local action.
Languages on the Net
- 2001 Total: 476 million net users -
Portuguese
2.5%
Scandinavian
2.2%
Russian
1.9%
Arabic
0.9%
French
3.4%
Italian
3.6%
Spanish
4.6%
Korean
4.8%
Other
5.9%
German
6.3%
English
45.5%
Chinese
8.5%
Japanese
9.9%
Languages on the Net
- 2003 Total: 793 million net users -
French
3.8%
Italian
2.9%
Russian Scandinavian
1.5%
1.9%
Arabic
0.8%
English
29.0%
Portuguese
4.0%
Korean
4.4%
German
5.8%
Japanese
7.3%
Spanish
7.6%
Chinese
20.2%
Other
10.8%
WSIS: Multilingualism
 Supporters of the dominance of one language on
the Internet predicts that:
• English or Chinese will become the native language of a
majority of the world sometimes in the 21 century
 The dominance of English or Chinese doesn't really
affect the future of the other languages of the world,
since there are strong forces militating for the use of
local languages on the Web
WSIS: Multilingualism
Solution can be:
Worldwide effort by governments and
international organisations to address the
issue of multilingualism through adoption of
action plans and policies, which would
promote local languages on the Internet
WSIS: Cultural Diversity
 Restricting the debate about cyberspace to a
discussion of technical questions cannot serve the
interests of the vast majority of the world’s citizenry
to whom the internet holds the promise of more
freedom, empowerment and development.
 Will the Internet eventually create a single world
such that differences and diversities among cultures
will disappear?
WSIS: Cultural Diversity
 A positive observation is to view the global and the
local diversities as flexible implying that there is a
constant action to decide what should be allowed in
and what should be kept out
 Further the globalization processes may lead to the
creation of multiple popular and local cultures
 The globalizing force does not create a single,
monolithic cultural entity
 It will change the local cultures, but the global and
the local are always negotiated
WSIS : UNESCO
 UNESCO considers multilingualism as a search for
democratic public policy responses to cultural and
ethnic diversity
 UNESCO's Constitution stresses the "fruitful
diversity of cultures", its highest principle is "the
intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind“
WSIS : UNESCO
Increasingly, development planners are
realising that language is an essential
component and without the ability to
communicate what their real needs are,
people risk having solutions imposed on them
and being denied access to information that
can assist them to take their own decisions
WSIS : UNESCO
 UNESCO distinguishes two main schools of thought
on the Internet and language. The first views the
Internet as representing a democratising force which
will promote diversity and assist the development of
other languages. Hence the second view sees it as
reinforcing traditional patterns of inequality and
furthering the interests of the North at the expense
of developing countries.
 UNESCO promotes language diversity on the
Internet by employing the thoughts of the first school
WSIS: Concluding observations
 Lewi Strauss said nearly 50 years ago:
“The necesity of preserving the diversity of cultures
in a world which is threatened by monotony and
uniformity has surely not remained unnoticed by
international institutions (...)”
Although the society has changed there is still the
use for diminishing the cultural and linguistic divide
Thank You