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25 February 1997
Paragraphs
| Introduction | 1 - 4 | |
| Item 1 | Opening of the meeting by the Assistant Director-General for Communication, Information and Informatics | 5 |
| Item 2 | Elections of the Bureau of the Council (Chairperson, other officers) | 6 - 10 |
| Item 3 | Adoption of the Agenda | 11 |
| Item 4 | The global societal impact of new information and communication technologies (Keynote I) | 12 - 13 |
| Item 5 | INTERNET: A tool for development (Keynote II) | 14 |
| Item 6 | Information privacy and intellectual property in the information society (Keynote III) | 15 |
| Debate on the keynotes | 16 - 17 | |
| Item 7 | Review of current activities of the General Information Programme | 18 |
| Item 8 | The renewed mandate of the General Information Programme | 18 |
| Debate on Item 7 | 19 - 23 | |
| Debate on Item 8 | 24 - 28 | |
| Item 9 | Preservation of UNESCO Archives | 29 - 30 |
| Item 10 | Global Information Alliance | 31 |
| Item 11 | New global programme for libraries | 32 |
| Item 12 | PGI Regional Offices | 33-35 |
| Item 13 | Programme and budget for 1998/99 (29 C/5) | 36 |
| Item 14 | Library of Alexandria | 37 |
| Item 15 | Use of permanent paper | 38 |
| Item 16 | Importance of magnetic tape | 39 |
| Item 17 | Adoption of the recommendations | 40-41 |
| Item 18 | Closure of the meeting | 42 |
| Annex I | Agenda | |
| Annex II | List of participants | |
| Annex III | Opening Address by the Assistant Director-General for Communication, Information and Informatics |
1. The eleventh session of the Intergovernmental
Council for the General Information Programme (PGI) was held at
UNESCO House, Paris, from 2 to 3 December 1996.
2. Of the 36 Member States Members of the Council
34 were represented : Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Benin, Brazil,
Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Chili, China, Czech Republic, Democratic
People's Republic of Korea, Denmark, Ecuador, Islamic Republic
of Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Japan,
Lithuania, Madagascar, Morocco, Mozambique, Philippines, Poland,
Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Thailand, Togo, Uganda and Uruguay.
Two Member States Members of the Council were not represented
: Sao Tome and Principe and Viet Nam.
3. Observers from the following Member States of
UNESCO were also present: Albania, Belarus, Botswana, Côte
d'Ivoire, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, El Salvador, Finland, Hungary,
Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Republic of Korea, Laos,
Latvia, Macedonia, Mexico, Monaco, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama,
Portugal, Federation of Russia, St. Lucia, Slovakia, South Africa,
Sri Lanka, Turkey, Ukraine, Venezuela and Zaire. Observers from
the following states non-members of UNESCO were also present:
the United States of America and the United Kingdom
4. In addition to the representatives of the International
Labor Organization (ILO), the United Nations Industrial Development
Organization (UNIDO), the United Nations University (UNU), the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European Commission,
representatives of the following international non-governmental
organizations were also present : the International Association
of Technical University Libraries (IATUL), the International Federation
of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), the International
Federation of Information and Documentation (FID), the International
Council on Archives (ICA), the International Council for Scientific
and Technical Information (ICSTI) and the International Association
of Sound and Audio-visual Archives (IASA). A complete list of
participants is given in Annex 2.
5. The Assistant Director-General for Communication,
Information and Informatics, Mr Henrikas Yushkiavitshus, welcomed
the members of the Intergovernmental Council, the observers and
the representatives of the intergovernmental and international
non-governmental organizations to the eleventh session and transmitted
to them wishes of success on behalf of the Director-General (Annex
3).
Item 2 ELECTION OF THE BUREAU OF THE COUNCIL
6. The Council elected the following Bureau:
(a) Chairperson
7. The Delegate of Egypt, Prof. Mohsen Tawfik
was unanimously elected Chairperson of the Council. He thanked
the members of the Council for their confidence in electing him
as the Chairperson.
(b) Other officers
8. After some debate and negotiations, the following
members were unanimously elected:
Vice-Chairpersons :
Mr Phenny BIRUNGI (Uganda)
Ms Nathalie DUSOULIER (France)
Ms Tamiko MATSUMURA (Japan)
Rapporteur :
Mr Dietrich SCHÜLLER (Austria)
Members:
Mr Hélio KURAMOTO (Brazil)
Mr Christoph GRAF (Switzerland)
Mr Adam WYSOCKI (Poland)
9. The Chairperson congratulated the elected Bureau
and thanked the outgoing Bureau and, in particular, the former
Chairperson.
10. In order to facilitate the election process at
future Bureau elections, it was proposed that the secretariat
should prepare comprehensive information on the election procedures,
especially on the principle of geographic rotation of Vice-Chairpersons
and Bureau members.
11. The following amendments to the Agenda were proposed
and approved ( Agenda in Annex 1) :
New Item 9 Preservation of UNESCO's archives (proposal
by the Delegate of Honduras)
New Item 10 Global Information Alliance (proposal by the representative
of FID)
New Item 11 New global programme for libraries (proposal by the
Chairperson)
New Item 12 PGI regional offices (proposal by the Chairperson)
New Item 13 Programme and budget for 1998/99 (29 C/5) (proposal
by the Chairperson)
New Item 14 Library of Alexandria (proposal by the Chairperson)
New Item 15 Use of permanent paper (proposal by the Delegate of
Canada) New Item 16 Importance of magnetic
tape (proposal by the Delegate of Austria)
New Item 17 Adoption of the Recommendations. The Rapporteur proposed
to only adopt the Recommendations according to the decision taken
by the Bureau at its 23rd meeting (Paris, 10-11 June 1996, cf.
Paragraph 36 Document PGI-96/COUNCIL/BUR.XXIII/7)
It was decided to adopt the Recommendations at the
end of the session. The report will be amended and adopted by
correspondence due to the limited time available.
12. During its twenty third session, the Bureau of
the Council agreed that topics should be prepared for the eleventh
Session of the Council which would allow a substantive debate
on issues of major concern for PGI in addition to the regular
business of the Council. On suggestion of the Bureau, the Secretariat
had invited three guest speakers.
13. Prof. Riccardo Petrella, President, Groupe
de Lisbonne, Bruxelles : The global societal impact of the
new information and communication technologies
(Keynote I)
In his address, Professor Petrella stressed the point
that the immaterial world of digitization will substantially change
not only education, science and culture but also the social dimensions
of working and living together. The impact is not yet fully understood
and its dimension cannot be clearly predicted; but it will undoubtedly
take place and will influence every aspect of daily life, even
in the most remote places. Professor Petrella takes a skeptical
view of market forces and advocates a strong engagement of res
publica over the res privata in order to prevent unfavorable
forces becoming predominant.
14. Mr Joachim Tankoano, Délégué
général à l'informatique, Burkina Faso
: Internet: A tool for development (Keynote II)
In his analysis, Joachim Tankoano arrived at the
optimistic conclusion that the new information and communication
technologies will assist developing countries in their evolution
by putting an end to their isolation. By strengthening democracy,
and by fostering better balance between the South and the North,
creating better conditions for investment, sustainable development
will be made possible. The technological development will, because
of its ever decreasing financial implications, be affordable also
for the poorest countries.
15. Prof Pamela Samuelson, University of California,
Berkeley, United States of America : Information privacy and intellectual
property in the information society (Keynote III)
In her speech , Professor Samuelson emphazised the
dichotomy between, on the one hand, the possibilities of protecting
personal and copyrighted information by using appropriate software,
and, on the other, the difficulties of protecting data once it
has been fed into publicly accessible networks. The challenge
in the establishment of strategies and legal instruments consists
in seeking an appropriate balance between protecting privacy while
preserving the right of the public to information. Attention was
drawn to the present endeavors of the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO) which is currently examining, inter alia,
the possibilities copyrighting the contents of databases.
16. In the debate which followed the new practice
of presenting thought provoking key note papers relevant to PGI
was unanimously welcomed. Delegates underlined various aspects
brought forward by the three experts, particularly the importance
they have given to the strong engagement of res publica
over the res privata, contents, to problems of copyright,
and fair use. In keeping with the arguments of the experts, UNESCO
was encouraged to monitor development trends related to the societal
impact of new information and communication technologies and to
stimulate cross-sectoral approaches within UNESCO in order to
better illuminate and analyse the phenomena. It was suggested
that the PGI Council develop activities to draw the attention
of decision makers to the issues addressed. An imbalance was observed
in the availability of content in the public domain; while contents
related to history, philosophy and literature is available to
great extent in the public domain, particularly historical and
classical works, most of economically and technologically
relevant information is protected and hence is not freely available.
17. The Chairperson thanked the key note speakers
for their stimulating contributions.
Item 7
REVIEW OF CURRENT ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL INFORMATION PROGRAMME
Item 8
THE RENEWED MANDATE OF THE GENERAL INFORMATION PROGRAMME
18. Mr Philippe Quéau, Director, Information
and Informatics Division, presented Documents PGI-96/COUNCIL.XI/5
"Review of current activities of the General Information
Programme" and PGI -96/COUNCIL.XI/6 "Entering the Cyber
Era". The verbal account was accompanied by a presentation
of the prototype of the new CII website "WebWorld" featuring
a selection of various projects carried out within the framework
of PGI. The presentation included inter alia excerpts from
Memory of the World pilot projects as well as samples demonstrating
the possibilities of new software programmes such us three-dimensional
visits to historic sites. It was underlined that this presentation
had been developed by the Information and Informatics Division
within a relatively short time and with limited financial and
staff input. The demonstration was intended to illustrate the
feasibility of web sites with value added components under limited
financial and technological circumstances.
19. In the debate on Item 7, the general response
of Member States to the implementation of ongoing programme activities
was positive. Several delegates underlined the importance of CDS/ISIS
and requested further development of the software (Windows version)
and its increased application, including training, particularly
in Latin America and Eastern Europe. One delegate underlined the
importance of giving the fields of competence and the work of
PGI greater visibility and welcomed accordingly the development
of "WebWorld", the new CII webpage, and events such
as the First International Memory of the World Conference (Oslo,
June 1996) and the forthcoming "Infoethics Conference"
(Monte Carlo, Monaco, March 1997) and suggested that information
on such important activities be regularly made available.
20. In addition to the report, the Delegate of Japan
informed Council members about the successful implementation of
the SISNAP project; a study of the information infrastructures
in the Asian and the Pacific region. One of the outcomes of this
project was the preparation of national reports as well as the
organization of a regional Conference on "Information for
Development", to be held in Japan, in September 1997. INFOLAC,
another regional information network, was underlined to be of
great importance for Latin America and the Caribbean, and continuous
support was requested. Positive comments were also made on the
prototype of the UNESCO web site. It was suggested, however, that
the interactive component of the website must be strengthened
and that the web site should also become an example for the infoethical
aspect of "true information". Finally, the implementation
of the Memory of the World Programme received favorable comments.
21. Dissatisfaction was, however, expressed by many
delegates about the World Information Report. The unbalanced geographical
representation of authors was again pinpointed (c.f. Twenty-third
meeting of the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Council for PGI,
Paris, 10-11 June 1996, Final Report, PGI-96/COUNCIL/BUR.XXIII/7).
It was also criticized for its lack of appropriate statistical
data. Because of this it will not match with other world reports
prepared by UNESCO and, due to its emphasis on traditional fields
of information, it would not contribute positively to UNESCO's
reputation. Finally, it was indicated that the authors were appointed
without prior consultation of the Advisory Board of the World
Information Report. Hence, it was suggested that another title
for the report be chosen.
22. Several delegates advocated more regular and
substantial reporting on PGI's activities and a strengthening
of the evaluation mechanisms. It was underlined that successful
projects should not necessarily be perpetuated, but instead transferred
to Member States and Regions while UNESCO should take new projects
on board. However, the results of successfully completed projects
should be made available in order to profit from lessons learned.
23. Several Delegates informed the Council about
voluntary direct and indirect contributions to the activities
of PGI : the Delegate of Japan referred to the funds-in-trust
established for PGI under which a regional planning meeting will
be organized in Bangkok to launch the regional project on strengthening
the education and training programme for librarians and other
information professionals in Asia and the Pacific; the Delegate
of Canada announced that the National Archives and the National
Library of Canada would be ready to examine the possibilities
of organizing an expert consultation on norms and standards in
the field of electronic information; the Delegate of Austria informed
the Council of a new organizational structure given to the International
Information Center for Terminology (INFOTERM), founded by UNESCO
and now funded by the Austrian government stressing the important
role of terminology in the field of information and communication..
24. The Delegates thanked the Secretariat and Mr
Quéau for the preparation of his stimulating and thought
provoking paper. They underlined that the paper contains much
valuable vision which will contribute to preparing PGI adequately
to react to the challenges of the information age. Contrary to
several activities of the European Union, the outline of the future
PGI activities is content related and the roles of libraries and
archives as gateways to the superhighways are reflected.
25. In a lively and intense debate, the following
points were raised which will enable the Secretariat to turn the
visionary outline into an expanded mandate and a functional programme
:
26. In summarizing, Delegates appreciated the renewed
spirit of the Programme and the thrust of its expanded mandate.
Delegates welcomed the fact that fresh and decisive steps are
being taken into the new world of communication and information
after some concerns about its future as expressed during the 1994
Council session.
27. One Delegate suggested to set up, as appropriate,
ad-hoc working groups to assist the implementation of the expanded
mandate of PGI.
28. Before passing to the next item, the Secretariat
gave a short reply to questions raised during the debate of Items
7 and 8 and confirmed that the Windows version for CDS/ISIS will
be available in early 1997. On the preparation of the World Information
Report and, while admitting that some aspects were not ideal,
the Secretariat considered the report met the standards set for
this kind of publication. It was also confirmed that the Secretariat
intends to revise and improve the publication in future editions.
As to copyright issues, the Secretariat indicated that UNESCO
must continue to develop its own approach according to its mandate
and the user oriented needs of Member States. The Assistant Director-General
thanked the Council for the frank spirit of the debate including
the constructive criticisms received and appealed to Member States
elected to the Council to be more active in fulfilling their advisory
role.
Item 9 PRESERVATION OF UNESCO
ARCHIVES
29. The Chairperson of the UNESCO Headquarters Committee,
Delegate of Honduras, presented to the Council the precarious
situation of the Archives of the Organization requesting Member
Sates to support efforts to safeguard the holdings which also
form part of the Memory of the World. The issue received unanimous
support and it was suggested that the UNESCO archival service
be brought up to standard in order to function as a model archive.
30. In this context UNESCO's in-house information
services was addressed by one Delegate who requested the Council
to play a more active role in creating modern in-house information
services and the provision of a full on-line access to UNESCO
information for Member States
Item 10 GLOBAL INFORMATION ALLIANCE
31. The representative of the International Federation
of Information and Documentation (FID) introduced the Global Information
Alliance, an initiative signed by concerned intergovernmental
and international non-governmental organizations in order to promote
the importance of information issues. She requested the Communication,
Information and Informatics Sector to be represented in the future
work of the Global Information Alliance.
Item 11 NEW GLOBAL PROGRAMME
FOR LIBRARIES
32. The Chairperson, in his capacity as Delegate
of Egypt, presented a proposal to launch a new global programme
for libraries inspired by the Egyptian National Programme "Reading
for All". This programme should strengthen public libraries
including municipal, village and community libraries and should
be based on national initiatives and funding. There is positive
experience with such continuing activity in his country where
hundreds of libraries are established and millions of low-price
books (18 millions this summer) have been sold on an initiative
of H.E. Ms Mubarak. Egypt is willing to share its experience with
other countries. In supporting this proposal and underlining its
importance, Council Members requested that a project taking account
of existing library assistance programmes be drawn up in co-operation
with IFLA.
While supporting this initiative, one Delegate reminded
Council Members that PGI should pay due attention to ensure in
its activities proper balance between libraries, archives and
documentation centres. In this context, the Council strongly encouraged
and supported the improvement of reading habits, in close co-operation
with other UNESCO Sectors, to ensure the ability to make use of
information contents and to support initiatives to promote "Reading
for all".
33. The Chairperson introduced this item by underlining
the importance of supporting and strengthening the regional offices
in the field of the CII Sector and PGI, in particular, in order
to go along with the decentralization policy of the Organization.
Delegates stated that, under the present circumstances of the
Organization, they can only support initiatives which do not require
additional funds. The Delegates recommended assessment of the
programme of the regional offices and further reinforcement of
their activities, as appropriate.
34. The Assistant Director-General announced that
the Secretariat was examining the possibilities of de-freezing
the post of the regional adviser for Communication and Information
in Eastern Africa. Delegates welcomed this development.
35. In order to strengthen PGI's presence in Member
States, the Chairperson encouraged the establishment of National
Committees for PGI and the reinforcement of existing ones.
Item 13 PROGRAMME AND BUDGET FOR 1998/1999 (29
C/5)
36. The Chairperson, supported by Delegates, underlined
the importance of the decisions of the Executive Board at its
150th session concerning programme and budget 1998/99
(29 C/5) for planning PGI's activities. Once more, it was stressed
that in establishing the programme the underlying principle should
be that UNESCO has to stimulate rather than to produce. One Delegate
stressed that the issue of the freedom of access to information,
libraries and archives should be further stressed in the programme.
It was unanimously stated that the expanded mandate of PGI, as
intensively discussed under Item 8, must be duly reflected in
the budgetary provisions. This matter should also be stated in
the recommendations of the Council.
37. The Chairperson, in his capacity as Delegate
of Egypt, informed Member States about the progress of the building
of the Library of Alexandria. The total costs of the project are
estimated to be over US $200 million. US $57 million have already
been spent on foundations and a contract has been concluded (US
$117,5 million) for the construction of the building, which is
expected to be completed by end of 1998. The Delegate of Egypt
requested Member States to contribute to the completion of the
project which is a paradigm for UNESCO's devotion to the role
of libraries in the safeguarding of cultural and intellectual
heritage and the promotion of living cultures and creativity.
Item 15 USE OF PERMANENT PAPER
38. The Delegate of Canada presented a resolution
encouraging the use of permanent paper which Canada intends to
present to the twenty-ninth session of the General Conference
and requested the Council to support this initiative. The text
to be submitted for approval by the General Conference, recommends
Member States to encourage and promote the use of permanent paper
in their respective territories, invites the Director-General
to ensure, as appropriate, that UNESCO documents will be printed
on permanent paper carrying a statement to this effect, and invites
the Secretariat to evaluate the financial implications to UNESCO
related to the use of permanent paper. Support was given by Delegates
to this initiative which was also included in the recommendations
of the Council meeting.
Item 16 IMPORTANCE OF MAGNETIC
TAPE
39. The Delegate of Austria brought to the attention
of Delegates the fact that recently one of the four major manufacturers
of magnetic tape has ceased production, while another company
has sold its magnetic tape division. With modern technologies,
magnetic tape has become a carrier of ever increasing importance
for the safeguarding of audio-visual and electronic documents.
In response to this situation, the International Association of
Sound and Audio-visual Archives (IASA) released a resolution on
the importance of magnetic tape alerting the public and tape manufacturers.
The Delegate of Austria suggested that the Council takes note
of this serious threat and requests the Secretariat to take appropriate
action. The initiative received the support of the Council.
Item 17 ADOPTION OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS
40. The Chairperson introduced the draft recommendations
which has been prepared by a drafting group composed of the Delegates
of Canada, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland as well
as the Rapporteur. The recommendations were adopted with amendments.
The Intergovernmental Council for the General
Information Programme at its Eleventh Session,
41. The Council authorized its Bureau to undertake
appropriate actions to implement the expanded mandate of PGI and
agenda items which were not included in the recommendations.
Item 18 CLOSURE OF THE MEETING
42. The Chairperson thanked the Delegates and the
Secretariat for their contribution to the success of the meeting.
The date and place of the 12th Council meeting, to
take place before end of 1998, will be decided upon by the Bureau
in close co-operation with the Secretariat. The Chairperson declared
the session closed on 3 December 1996 at 6.17p.m.