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UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL,
SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION
Intergovernmental Council for the
General Information Programme
(PGI)
B U R E A U
Twenty-third Meeting
UNESCO House, Paris, Room VIII, 10-11 June 1996
Final Report
A. INTRODUCTION
1. The twenty-third meeting of the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Council
for the General Information Programme (PGI) was held in UNESCO House, Paris,
from 10 to 11 June 1996. The following members of the Bureau participated
in the meeting :
Ms Suzanne Richer (Canada), Chairperson
Ms Ana Maria Prat Trabal (Chile), Vice-Chairperson
Mr Adam Wysocki (Poland), Vice-Chairperson
Mr Dietrich Schüller (Austria), Rapporteur
Ms Nathalie Dusoulier (France), Member
Mr Mohsen Tawfik (Egypt), Member
2. Mr Abhijit Lahiri (India), Vice-Chairperson, and Mr Theophilus Mlaki
(United Republic of Tanzania), Member of the Bureau, were unable to attend
the meeting. India was represented by MrJagdish Rai, First Secretary, Permanent
Delegation of India to UNESCO. The Delegate of the United Republic of Tanzania
submitted written comments on several items of the Agenda.
3. In addition to the Members of the Bureau, the meeting was attended
by observers representing the International Council on Archives (ICA),
the International Federation for Information and Documentation (FID), and
the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA).
Mr Philippe Quéau, designated Director of the newly created Division
for Information and Informatics, who will take office on 1 July 1996, also
participated as an observer.
4. UNESCO was represented by Mr Henrikas Yushkiavitshus, Assistant Director-General
for Communication, Information and Informatics, and Mr Giampaolo Del Bigio,
Director a.i., Division of Information and Informatics
B. OPENING OF THE MEETING (Item 1 of the
Agenda)
5. The Assistant Director-General welcomed the members of the Bureau
and participants to the meeting ("Opening Address" Annex I) and
particularly welcomed Mr Quéau. The Assistant Director-General emphasized
that the merger of the former Division of the General Information Programme
and the Division of Informatics does not imply the merger of the programmes
themselves which remain distinct entities preserving their specificity.
6. Ms Suzanne Richer, Chairperson of the Intergovernmental Council for
PGI, thanked the Assistant Director-General for his welcome. She gave an
oral report on her activities since the last Bureau meeting and expressed
her appreciation of the new and enhanced mandate which the Member States
gave to PGI during the last sessions of the General Conference and the
Executive Board.
C. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA (Item 2 of the
Agenda)
7. The representative of IFLA requested the inclusion of Item 9 (e)
"World Information for Democracy Day" in the Agenda (Annex II). In addition,
the new Item 9 (f) "Bibliotheca Alexandrina" was included upon
request of the Delegate of Egypt.
D. ADOPTION OF THE FINAL REPORT OF THE 22nd MEETING
OF THE BUREAU (Item 3 of the Agenda)
8. The final report of the 22nd Meeting of the Bureau (8-9 September
1995) was adopted as submitted.
E. REVIEW OF THE RESULTS OF THE 28th SESSION OF THE
GENERAL CONFERENCE (Item 4 of the Agenda)
9. The Bureau members took note of document 28C/Resolution 4.1 "Major
Programme IV: Communication, Information and Informatics" (Programme
Resolution) including the amendments adopted by the General Conference.
They observed that the recommendations made by the Bureau at its twenty-second
meeting (8-9 September 1995), were not reflected in extenso: the recommendations
made to amend the Programme Resolution (c.f. para. 34 of the Final Report
PGI-95/COUNCIL/BUR.XXII/6) were not taken into account since no pertinent
draft resolution was submitted to the General Conference. The Delegate
of Egypt suggested that, in future, appropriate action should be taken
in order to bring the decisions of the Bureau to the attention of the General
Conference and the Executive Board, respectively. The Assistant Director-General
pointed out that the amendments made in the Resolution enhance the visibility
and strengthen the role of PGI. He added that the Resolution thus clearly
reflects the wish of the various governing bodies of UNESCO to renew the
mandate of PGI.
10. As to the Approved Programme and Budget for 1996-1997 (28 C/5),
the Bureau members expressed their dissatisfaction with the fact that the
International Network of Schools of Library and Informations Sciences (SLISNET)
was included in Major Programme Area IV although the Bureau during its
22nd session unanimously discouraged the launching of SLISNET. The Bureau
members questioned the usefulness of the Council if its recommendations
were not taken into account by the Secretariat. Mr Y. Courrier, Division
of Information and Informatics, explained that (a) the decision of the
Bureau was taken when the Draft 28 C/5 including SLISNET was already distributed
to the Member States; a cancellation of the SLISNET project would only
have been possible through the submission to, and the approval by, the
General Conference of an appropriate draft resolution. Such a draft resolution
was not submitted; (b) the requirements expressed by the Bureau at its
22nd session were taken into account, and the reorientation of the project
was confirmed by the meeting on SLISNET, held in Pittsburgh, USA, in December
1995.
11. The Assistant Director-General regretted the displeasure of the
Bureau members and announced that he would examine the budgetary provisions
made for SLISNET in order to ensure that no funds are allocated to unnecessary
administrative measures or new bureaucratic infrastructures.
12. The representative of IFLA will examine whether the planned SLISNET
website could be accommodated by the IFLA server.
13. The representative of FID drew attention to the important role of
documentation specialists in the field of information, and requested that,
in addition to archives and libraries, documentation specialists should
duly be mentioned in all appropriate texts related by PGI.
F. REVIEW OF THE RESULTS OF THE 149th SESSION OF THE
EXECUTIVE BOARD (Item 5 of the Agenda)
14. Mr A. Abid, Division of Information and Informatics, introduced
the Statutes of the International Advisory Committee of the "Memory
of the World Programme" adopted by the Executive Board at its 149th
session. The Assistant Director-General noted the interest in the Memory
of the World Programme expressed by Member States during the lively debate
of the Statutes and reported that the Member States wish the programme
to be carried out in close co-operation with appropriate non-governmental
organizations.
15. As to the now officially installed International Advisory Committee,
which is composed of 14 experts, the Bureau members agreed that the eight
members having served in the previous Committee should be invited by the
Director-General to stay in office in order to ensure continuity. Bureau
members were requested to submit names of the additional six new members
of the Committee. It was clarified that the candidates should not be considered
as representatives of Member States, but be nominated in their capacity
as experts, taking into account adequate regional representation. Proposals
should reach the Secretariat by 20 June 1996 at the latest.
16. The Executive Board approved UNESCO's action in the rehabilitation
of the cultural and architectural heritage and of educational and cultural
institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina including the National and University
Library in Sarajevo and other libraries and archives in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Chairperson encouraged Bureau Members to promote these activities.
In this context, the Chairperson reported that similar emergency programmes
had been requested for Afghanistan and Rwanda during to the First International
Conference on the "Memory of the World Programme", held in Oslo
from 3 - 5 May 1996.
G. PGI AND NEW APPLICATIONS OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGIES (Item 6 of the Agenda)
(a) Renewed mandate of PGI
17. This item was introduced by Mr J. Rose, Division of Communication,
on "New Applications of Information and Communication Technologies"
(PGI-96/COUNCIL/BUR.XXIII/INF.7) providing an outline of on-going projects
in the field of telematics which are, and will be, closely linked to PGI
under its renewed mandate. The Chairperson noted with satisfaction the
quality of the document reflecting good co-ordination within the Organization
and with its partners outside. The new approach of the Organization as
to the application of information and communication technologies will be
a sound basis for the implementation of projects, such as those proposed
by the G7. Several delegates joined the Chairperson in her appreciation
of the report.
18. In summarizing, the Assistant Director-General emphasized the need
for enhanced intersectoral and interagency co-operation. He deplored, however,
the fact that the budgetary provisions for PGI, in particular, and the
Communication, Information and Informatics Sector, in general, do not reflect
the increased importance of the Sector.
19. Mr Quéau gave two examples of possible new areas of activities
of PGI: (a) to make use of the INTERNET for the promotion of the Memory
of the World Programme and for the dissemination of documents published
under the auspices of the Programme; (b) to make documents in the public
domain accessible on a grand scale through the INTERNET; in this context,
he referred to the G7 project "Governments on-line" intending
to make available "non-copyrighted" knowledge to the widest possible
public.
20. This was followed by a vivid debate in which the wide use of the
INTERNET was generally welcomed. With respect to the Memory of the World
Programme, it was suggested that, in addition to documents, the Registers
should be made accessible through appropriate webservers. Several delegates,
including the Delegate of Tanzania in his written statement, expressed,
however, their concern with the widening gap between developing and developed
countries. Nonetheless, they agreed in principle that widest use of the
INTERNET should be promoted. The Delegate of Chile stated that the available
technologies could also assist PGI in increasing its publication activities.
21. It was unanimously agreed that PGI must intensify the use of new
technologies, in particular of the INTERNET. The Delegate of Egypt advocated
an active attitude vis-à-vis the use of information highways; he
stressed that the leading principle should be their role in the service
of development. The Chairperson underlined the importance of the advisory
role that UNESCO can play in the establishment of public and community
based services by using the INTERNET.
22. The Delegate of Poland agreed that the INTERNET could be an excellent
tool for promoting the Memory of the World Programme, but reminded the
Bureau members that the primary role of the Programme is preservation.
The digitization of full text information must be given priority.
23. The Delegate of Austria underlined that the crucial problem in opening
the information superhighways to already existing information is the transfer
from the analogue to the digital domain which is not fully assessed in
its quantitative dimensions. The representative of ICA referred to the
"Guides to the Sources of the History of Nations" as an important
tool for a well structured digitization programme. Mr Abid referred to
the recently published survey on "Lost Memory. Libraries and Archives
destroyed in the Twentieth Century" (CII-96/WS/1, March 1996) and
announced the forthcoming publication of a document on endangered collections.
24. There was unanimous agreement that the societal impact of the information
revolution calls for greatest attention by UNESCO. Beyond the organization
of the International Congress "Infoethics" (cf paras 26-29) which,
inter alia, will deal with the societal aspects, studies on this issue
remain a desideratum. The Delegate of Egypt suggested that PGI should take
a leading role in developing an intersectoral project on that issue.
25. In closing the debate on this item, the Chairperson re-affirmed
that PGI should maintain close links to related projects in other UNESCO
Divisions and Sectors. As to PGI's renewed mandate, she highlighted the
following areas of activities: (a) Memory of the World Programme and the
INTERNET; (b) advisory service to governments in information issues, (c)
the role of libraries and archives as access points to the information
highways and (d) the training of information specialists.
(b) International Symposium on the Ethical Aspect of Access to Electronic
Information
26. Mr V. Montviloff, Division of Information and Informatics, introduced
the "Provisional Annotated Programme" of the International Symposium
on the Ethical and Societal Aspects of Access to Digital Information, which is now planned to be held from 10 to 12 March 1997, possibly
in France (Poitiers).
27. In an intensive debate, the following points were raised: the name
of the meeting, its classification according to UNESCO's regulations, the
number of papers to be presented and the general outline of the meeting.
It was stated that legal, ethical and societal matters should be emphasized;
purely technological aspects of the new information technologies should
not be addressed. As a result of the debate, Mr Montviloff drafted a new
provisional timetable which reflects the recommendations made in the previous
debate.
28. Upon the proposal of Mr Quéau, the meeting is now entitled
"Infoethics. International Congress on Ethical, Legal and Societal
Aspects of Digital Information". Taking account of the number of its
participants and its scope and lay out, the meeting will be a Congress
according to UNESCO's definition. It was agreed that the key notes should
be invited papers. A provisional timetable of the Congress is given in
Annex IV.
29. Finally, it was recommended to include standardization, education
and training in the agenda of the Congress, and to ensure the societal
aspects be given due consideration.
(c) Overall prospective analysis of the impact of modern technologies
on information
30. This item was covered in the debate of Item 6 (a) "Renewed
Mandate of PGI" particularly by the discussion of document "New
Applications of Information and Communication Technologies", presented
by Mr Rose.
H. 11th SESSION OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL COUNCIL FOR
PGI (Item 7 of the Agenda)
31. Upon proposal of the Delegate of France, it was agreed that two
or three topics should be prepared for the 11th Session of the Intergovernmental
Council for PGI, which would allow a substantial debate on issues of major
concern for PGI in addition to the regular business of the Council. These
key notes could be presented by guest speakers, i.e. international experts
from outside the UNESCO Secretariat.
32. Consequently, the two day Council session will be made up of two
distinct parts: the first day will be devoted to regular business and to
the introduction of the new Director of the Division of Information and
Informatics, Mr Quéau, including his perspectives for the renewed
mandate of the programme. In this context, the Chairperson reminded participants
that a new Bureau will be elected. The agenda of the second day should
include the presentation of keynote papers along with a substantial debate.
33. The following two topics for this debate were proposed (1) Safeguarding
the Documentary Heritage. Sensitizing Governments to necessary measures
related to their documentary collections; (2) The Impact of New Technologies:
Legal, ethical and societal implications.
34. Mr Quéau was asked to submit a concise exposé of his
concept concerning the renewed mandate of PGI and the necessary budgetary
provision to the Members of the Bureau by the end of August. Upon approval
by the Bureau members, this document will be submitted to the 150th session
of the Executive Board for information.
35. While underlining the importance of the thematic debate on the second
day of the Meeting, the Delegate of Egypt stressed that the scope of PGI
and its programme activities should be introduced in order to orientate
the newly elected Council members. He also suggested that the Bureau include
discussions on the preparation of the 29 C/5 and the next Medium-Term Strategy
in the Agenda.
36. The Rapporteur drew the attention of the Bureau Members to the fact
that the 11th session of the Council is scheduled for two days only, contrary
to previous practice. Hence, it would not be possible to adopt the Final
Report at the end of the meeting due to the lack of time for its finalization
and translation. It was agreed that resolutions should be adopted at the
end of the Conference; the narrative report would be approved by correspondence.
37. The delegates took note of Item 7 (b) "Date and place of meeting"
(2-3 December 1996), Item (c) "Members of the Intergovernmental Council
for PGI" and Item 7 (d) "Budgetary Provisions" as presented
in the pertinent documents submitted to the Bureau Members. An informal
meeting (without translation) of the outgoing Bureau will take place on
Sunday, 1 December 1996 (afternoon).
38. As to the budgetary provisions, the Delegate of Poland pointed out
that a solution must be found to identify funds for the possible invitation
of guest speakers for the second day of the Council meeting.
I. UNESCO AND THE PROMOTION OF THE USE OF ACID-FREE
PAPER
(Item 8 of the Agenda)
39. Mr Abid introduced document PGI-96/COUNCIL/BUR/XXIII/5 "UNESCO
and the promotion of the use of acid-free paper". The Chairperson
reported on activities undertaken by the Canadian National Commission for
UNESCO with a view to submitting a resolution on the use of acid-free paper
to the General Conference. Canada is still waiting for the support of other
Member States for its initiative.
J. OTHER BUSINESS (Item 9 of the Agenda)
(a) World Information Report
40. Mr Courrier presented the latest development regarding the preparation
of the World Information Report. Out of the 27 authors of the various articles
to be included in the report, 19 have already submitted their papers; the
remaining papers are to be submitted in due course.
41. The Delegate of France and other delegates expressed dissatisfaction
with the over-representation of Anglo-American authors. Mr Courrier explained
that the Secretariat had made every effort to ensure an equal linguistic
and geographical representation. Several invited authors, however, failed
to communicate at all. He assured delegates that the regional aspects of
the report are being covered by representatives of these regions while
the contributors of general topics are internationally renowned experts.
The Delegate of India observed that Permanent Delegations have not been
sufficiently involved in the identification of possible contributors to
the report.
42. While several delegates stressed the importance of a balanced regional
representation of world report authors others suggested that expertise
should be the only criterion for the selection of contributors.
43. There was unanimous agreement that the World Information Report
should be published in English and French and that all efforts must be
undertaken to translate it as soon as possible into other languages. The
Delegate of Egypt drew the attention of the Bureau members to the fact
that professional translation in his country was considerably cheaper than
in Europe.
44. The Delegate of Austria noted that, in view of the rapid development
of communication and information technologies, reports of such nature are
only meaningful if they are updated at short intervals and on a regular
basis.
(b) Co-operation with non-governmental organizations
45. The Chairperson introduced the new directives concerning UNESCO's
relations with non-governmental organizations, referred to the recent decisions
taken by the General Conference and the Executive Board, and requested
that PGI pursues its close co-operation with NGOs. Within the framework
of PGI, NGOs have not only contributed to the implementation of programme
activities through contracts concluded with UNESCO, but also provided advice
in strategy and programme planning. This is underlined by the fact that
IFLA, ICA and FID are represented in the Bureau meeting.
46. The representative of ICA reported that his organization and IFLA
were recently admitted to formal associate relations according to the new
directives. He informed the Bureau members that ICA has established contacts
with other NGOs working in the field of archives with the intention to
represent them in all matters related to UNESCO with the intention to express
common views when consulted by UNESCO.
47. The Delegate of Austria indicated that, in addition to IFLA and
ICA, other NGOs, namely those representing audio-visual archives, are playing
a vital role for the progress of the programme. The Secretariat should
ensure that co-operation with other NGOs would not be weakened under the
new directives.
(c) Draft guidelines for fund-raising
48. Mr. P. Vasarhelyi, Division of Information and Informatics, presented
document PGI-96/COUNCIL/BUR/XXIII/6 "Draft Guidelines for fund-raising".
The Chairperson urged PGI to pursue its endeavours in this field adopting
new fund-raising methodologies in close co-operation with the competent
services of UNESCO.
49. In his written comments, the Delegate of the United Republic of
Tanzania suggested that UNESCO should seek support for information related
projects from the World Bank.
(d) PGI on the World Wide Web
50. The Chairperson informed the Bureau Members that information on
PGI is now available on UNESCO's Website under the following address: http://www.unesco.org/cii.
A computer was installed in the meeting room in order to give delegates
the opportunity to view the website.
(e) World Information for Democracy Day
51. The Representative of IFLA presented the resolution on the establishment
of a "World Information for Democracy Day" adopted by IFLA in
Istanbul, August 1995. The Chairperson suggested that IFLA officially seek
advice from the Secretariat as to possible follow-up to this Resolution.
(f) Bibliotheca Alexandrina
52. The Delegate of Egypt informed the Bureau that the foundation work
of the building of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina will be terminated by the
end of the year; thereafter, the second phase (structure, finishing, fit-out
and services) will start. The second phase tenders recently submitted to
the Egyptian authorities indicate, however, that more than the 100 million
USD originally foreseen will be needed for the completion of the project.
The Delegate of Egypt urged Member States to support this project, which
is in fact a landmark in the history of libraries in particular and culture
in general, and to which UNESCO is so closely linked.
K. DATE, PLACE AND AGENDA OF THE 24th MEETING OF THE
BUREAU
(Item 10 of the Agenda)
53. An informal bureau meeting (without translations) will be organized
on 1 December 1996 (afternoon). The newly elected Bureau will meet in the
course of the 11th session of the Intergovernmental Council for PGI. The
date, place and agenda of the 24th meeting of the Bureau will be decided
upon by the new Bureau.
L. ADOPTION OF THE REPORT (Item 11 of the
Agenda)
54. It was agreed that the report would be drafted by the Rapporteur
after the meeting and submitted to the participants for written comments
and subsequent finalization.
M. CLOSURE OF THE MEETING ( Item 12 of the
Agenda)
55. The Chairperson thanked the members of the Bureau, the representatives
of the NGOs, the interpreters, the Secretariat and, last but not least,
Mr Quéau for their participation and co-operation.
56. The Assistant Director-General, in turn, thanked the participants
for their substantial contribution and the fruitful debate at an important
moment when information and communication are becoming major issues for
UNESCO and PGI must be prepared to meet the new challenges and to explore
new horizons.
For comments or suggestions please contact: a.plathe@unesco.org
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