Information Policies and Strategies        Governance in the Information Age    Information Policies and Strategies National information policies, including considerations of informatics and telematics, are a key to coping with the challenges of the Information Society. There has to be a complete re-examination of traditional information policies in the virtual, interactive, highly volatile reality of cyberspace, particularly in the framework of legal and ethical issues. Many developing countries are now struggling to "catch-up" with the industrialized countries in terms of information policies and particularly information and communication technologies. Early, careful and organized attention to planning, designing, implementing and maintaining information policies is essential to enable Member States to effectively manage national information and informatics resources. Regional cooperation on information policies and strategies is also encouraged by UNESCO as a useful tool in attaining these goals. In pursuance of these objectives UNESCO is undertaking the following activities: Advice and support for developing countries in advancing their information policy process, particularly in establishing national information infrastructure plans and information society policies, in organizing consortia of telematics users to facilitate affordable and effective access to the Internet in the sectors of public concern. In Africa this activity contributes to the United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa and the African Information Society Initiative (AISI). A series of Regional Symposia on Telematics for Development organized in collaboration with the International Telecommunication Union and other international and regional partners. Exchange of experiences on information policies and publication of policy guidelines: National Information Policies - A Handbook on the Formulation, Approval, Implementation and Operation of National Information Policies Workshop on Information Strategies in the 21th century. Krems, Austria, 1-2/03/99 Internet Service in Small Countries. Expert Meeting, Malta, 17-19/03/99 UNESCO/FID study on national information policies and strategies          Contact - John Rose, UNESCO, Information and Informatics Division    Governance in the Information Age  Governments and communities world-wide are seeking to improve their efficiency and impact in response to rising expectations of citizens and financial constraints in the public sector. The information technology revolution is providing major opportunities to respond to these new needs. Developing countries, in particular, are poised to benefit from these opportunities, which fall within several areas: Improved efficiency of government through access to internal and external information. Telematics technologies can be used within governments, particularly internal networks ("Intranets") integrating groupware, decision support tools and databases providing secure access to policies, regulations, procedures, documentation and correspondence, and ensuring access to external databases and to the Internet. Information technologies are particularly useful to community governments in developing countries, which are widely receiving increasing authority and responsibility but often lack adequate infrastructures and financial means. Computer based access to government services and public domain information. Government services are more efficient if citizens can rapidly access them through on-line services containing information on administrative requirements. Interactive applications can save citizens' time and government expense by enabling people to make rapid provision of information needed by government. In developing countries, computer-based government services can readily be provided in government offices or community centres, using an appropriate mix of on-line and off-line (i.e. CD-ROM) access and custom interfaces accessible to the target populations including illiterate citizens. Public and community libraries can play a major role in providing access to such services as part of a wider pool of public domain information. Multipurpose Community Telecentres for on-line government services The role of archival institutions in on-line governance projects Community development. Communities need information to develop through democratic processes. Informatics, telematics and media based applications can enable the civil society to receive, generate and disseminate information on community life, can put communities "on the map" nationally and internationally, and can facilitate feedback on policies and services of the local and national authorities to poll opinion. Many such applications can be developed within a single multipurpose community telecentre.          Contact - John Rose, UNESCO, Information and Informatics Division   cii.webmaster@unesco.org © Copyright 1998 - UNESCO