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21 January 1997
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) is mandated by its 184 Member States inter
alia to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image and
to foster international co-operation in the fields of communication,
information and informatics in order to narrow the existing gap
between the developed and the developing countries in these areas.
UNESCO's medium-term strategy for 1996-2001 foresees a special
focus on the application of communication and information technologies
for development, democracy and peace. The present document
gives an overview of the opportunities and challenges related
to these technologies and outlines a framework for UNESCO action.
I. OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
The dramatic acceleration in the development and use of
information and communication technologies during the last few
years has set in motion a worldwide process of transition from
the "Industrial" to the "Information Society".
The depth and non-linearity of this process seem to have much
greater social, economic and cultural implications for humanity
than the industrial revolution of the past. Business, education,
training, research, entertainment - indeed, all aspects of life
- are increasingly affected by electronic networks and multimedia
technologies, which are opening up new opportunities and challenges
for all. As we move towards the third millennium, it is of the
utmost importance to understand and to influence the fundamental
changes brought about by the "communication and information
revolution". The complexity and interrelation of today's
world problems defy traditional explanations and solutions and
require a completely new approach which must be both comprehensive
and interdisciplinary. Moreover, individuals, groups and communities
will need to develop not only new tools of analysis but also very
different mentalities and attitudes in order to adapt to the emerging
"new" civilization based on information and knowledge.
At the heart of this transformation are technological
advances which include the digitalization of various types of
information - text, numbers, sound and images - and their integration
into a single commodity, so-called "multimedia"; artificial
intelligence and the incorporation of user-tailored, interactive
interfaces into information products and services; digital compression
and switching techniques which facilitate the communication of
ever greater volumes of information; an exponential increase in
computing power coupled with dramatic reductions in cost; communication
satellites with vastly increased power and accessibility, inexpensive
optic fibre cable and new wireless technologies; and, perhaps
most impressively, the explosive growth of computer networks and,
in particular, of the largest among them, the Internet, which
links millions of individual computers and users all over the
world.
This combination and interaction of technologies is resulting
in new products and services based on video, advanced image and
voice processing, powerful techniques for automating information
retrieval and routine transactions of all sorts, which are increasingly
becoming accessible worldwide through interoperable networks.
These "new" technologies - or, to be more exact, the
new uses of technologies - are stimulating the convergence of
industries. In industrialized countries, the last few years have
seen strategic moves towards partnerships and alliances among
cable companies, telecommunication operators, broadcasting networks
and computer, publishing and entertainment enterprises. Markets
for new information and interactive services are being aggressively
explored and developed, as information providers and carriers
seek to expand their activities beyond their traditional borders.
Most important of all, there is now a political will in
many countries to support and encourage these processes. New legal
frameworks and standards are being set up to promote the development
and interconnection of national information infrastructures. Well-conceived
information highways would further stimulate the already burgeoning
national and international markets for information services and
products.
Today the industrialized countries have an overwhelming
lead in all these advances, while for a great number of developing
nations even "old" technologies, like television, telephone
or even electricity, are still only a dream. However, a closer
look reveals that the new information and communication technologies
offer immense opportunities to all societies and individuals for
alternative, truly universal and often cheaper ways of accessing
and disseminating information.
Examples already abound of developing countries' using
information technology in education or health to help break the
vicious circle of poverty and isolation, or leapfrogging heavy
industrialization by the creation of new sectors of sustainable
economic development like software production or data processing.
The importance of the information revolution has been recognised
at the highest political levels in many developing countries.
One recent example is the resolution of the Conference of African
Ministers responsible for Economic and Social Development and
Planning (Addis Ababa, May 1995) to set up a High-Level Working
Group of African experts to develop a regional plan of action
on information technologies - called Africa's Information Society
Initiative - and to mobilize the necessary financial resources
for its implementation.
The concerns of developing countries regarding their participation
in the Information Society thus bear less on whether it
should be accorded high priority, than on how to effectively
apply information technologies to development so as to reduce,
rather than widen and deepen the gap between "haves"
and "have-nots" and worsen inequality across the technological
divide. The major problems are posed not by the technologies as
such, which can in general be acquired and adapted if appropriate
resources are mobilized, but rather by political, social, organizational
and ethical issues involved.
Whether humanity as a whole is to benefit from these opportunities
will depend not only on the transfer of technology, but first
and foremost on enhancing human capability to make the best possible
use of information technology. Only on that condition can the
Information Society hope to attain its ultimate goal - empowerment
of all its citizens through access to and use of knowledge.
New opportunities for development
The economic and commercial opportunities of information
highways are certainly significant, but the impact of information
technologies on sectors of public concern is perhaps of even greater
significance. Of particular interest and relevance to UNESCO is
the impact of information highways and multimedia technologies
on "intellectual" areas which are at the core of the
development process.
In the field of education, information technologies are
viewed as a means of complementing traditional educational techniques
to enable education systems to adapt to the different learning
and training needs of societies. Computer simulation, telematics,
and teleconferencing, alongside educational TV or radio, have
great potential to reach larger audiences than the traditional
classroom process, and to make learning more effective, attractive
and stimulating. The increasing variety of interactive media (e.g.
compact disks and interactive TV) enlarges the scope and possibilities
of self-directed learning. These tools provide an unparalleled
opportunity for "reaching the unreached", particularly
the 900 million illiterates in the world and the 130 million children
unable to attend primary school, and for making lifelong education
for all feasible, particularly for learners for whom access is
limited by time and space, age, socio-cultural environment, work
schedules and physical or mental handicaps. Modern distance education
systems, of which UNESCO's "Learning without Frontiers"
initiative is a forerunner, can not only give learners access
to knowledge available in different parts of the world, but also
ensure dialogue - the main factor in effective learning - both
among learners and between learners and sources of learning.
Scientific research, where computer networks and many
telematics applications originally developed, remains one of their
most active consumers. For scientists, the major advantage of
information highways is the possibility to access, disseminate
scientific information and share research facilities more quickly,
on a larger scale and in a more interactive way. Research groups
in the natural and social sciences will increasingly become "virtual"
- composed of interconnected specialists working on the same problem
in different parts of the world. Electronic publishing will provide
faster and cheaper access to the scientific literature, and facilitate
the maintenance of an international archive of scientific accomplishments.
These trends will be particularly beneficial to scientists in
developing nations who would otherwise not have easy access to
laboratories, documentation and databases; they will provide new
opportunities to collaborate with colleagues elsewhere in the
world, and mitigate, if not solve, the problem of South-to-North
brain-drain.
In the field of environment, information technology will
help to expand humanity's capacities to understand and manage
physical and ecological processes, and to forecast and respond
to disasters and catastrophes. The Global Observing Systems for
environmental monitoring, being set up through a UN system-wide
initiative in which UNESCO has a major role, are possible only
because of advances in data sensing, processing, communication
and presentation. Information technologies will also enable the
establishment of better disaster warning systems and systems to
help plan and coordinate response and relief efforts; the function
of these systems to limit mortality, injury and loss of property
will be facilitated by seamless links with the communication media
available in the home and workplace.
In the field of culture, multimedia technologies already
offer tremendous possibilities for the promotion and sharing of
physical and non-physical cultural heritage. The availability
of multimedia cultural products and services on information highways
will provide limitless possibilities for everyone to enjoy the
world's culture in all its diversity. At any time, one will be
able to listen to a concert or visit a museum in a virtual mode
without the necessity of travelling or queuing. Moreover, three-dimensional
imaging and interactive interfaces open up vast new horizons for
experimental art. On the whole, these technologies have an immense
potential for enhancing cultural identities, promoting intercultural
dialogue and stimulating artistic creativity.
The mass media have already adopted major technological
innovations such as electronic editing and generation of images
in TV programme production, as well as computerized and communication-assisted
publishing of the printed press. Interactive television and multimedia
open up yet unexplored perspectives not only for entertainment,
but also for educational and cultural programmes and for the popularization
of science, and are likely to enhance the role of public service
broadcasting. News agencies are obvious beneficiaries of computer-based
technologies which allow more efficient news production and distribution.
If the rapidly developing media technologies are made available
over a truly universal broadband network, the media's capacity
to provide information and entertainment will increase almost
beyond imagination.
Libraries - whether school, university, public or specialized
- are certainly destined to play an ever greater role in the dissemination
of knowledge and experience. Computerized and interconnected,
they will be able to pool their resources and provide to their
clients access to immense stores of information. Moreover, they
are ideally placed to serve as public gateways to information
highways, providing as they do both access and guidance and training
to users. Archives will adapt their storage and preservation function
to the impermanence of digital information which in many cases
will replace paper documents. They will also become increasingly
involved in electronic information provision as their clientele
in government, research and the general public develops ever more
sophisticated needs.
Professional and institutional distinctions in the dissemination
of information and education will blur as new services develop
and gain ground, driven by a market of aware and active citizens.
While the focus for these services in industrialized countries
will be the home and the workplace, in many developing countries,
especially in rural areas, community-level access will be particularly
important. Community tele-centres offering library, information
and media access, social services like education and telemedicine
and fora for participatory democracy, as well as personal communication
facilities, will become possible, based on the cooperative organization
of services and on enabling "last-mile" communication
technologies.
New challenges to society
At the centre of the challenge posed by the emerging
Information Society is the concept of universal service and how
a "right to communicate" will evolve in a digital world
where the basic services required by all citizens are becoming
more extensive and complex. Access in this context involves not
only physical availability and cost, but also ensuring that the
user can benefit from the services concerned, through a minimum
level of "digital literacy" and through appropriately
adapted interfaces. In the increasingly competitive and commercial
world of information and communication, the risks of exclusion
of disadvantaged populations are substantial - both within and
among societies. These risks are of particular concern to the
developing countries which need clear and resourceful policies
if they are to benefit from the emerging communication revolution.
An important facet of the "right to communicate"
concerns access to telematics facilities at affordable cost by
the "intellectual" sectors - education, science, culture,
media, libraries and archives - which have a crucial role to play
in the development of national information infrastructures. A
study jointly carried out by the International Telecommunication
Union (ITU) and UNESCO,,, offered a promising three-fold
strategy to be pursued collaboratively in this context: (i) cooperation
among the users in order to consolidate their demand for telematics
services, (ii) partnership between telecommunication operators
and users to develop and expand services based on market principles,
and (iii) enlightened public policies to promote the building
and use of telematics infrastructure in developmentrelated
sectors.
Another important issue is the maintenance of linguistic
and cultural diversity in the Information Society. Technology-induced
globalization is seen by many as a threat to local customs, values
and beliefs, as exemplified by that fact that, today, 90% of the
databases on the Internet are in English. Technology also offers
possibilities for the development of specialized services to cater
for diverse cultural needs and there is every reason to suppose
that these will flourish where legitimate cultural, educational
or scientific demands exist. These advantages are, however, counterbalanced
by a danger that these groups of media users may prefer cultural
specificity to diversity and dialogue, and thus run the risk of
shutting themselves into a cultural ghetto. At the same time,
it must be kept in mind that many small or even medium-sized countries
do not have the critical mass, in either economic or demographic
terms, to guarantee adequate national content and may thus largely
depend on imported programmes and services. The rapid development
of broadcasting technology and its convergence with computing
and telecommunication give this issue a new complexity.
Increased access to interconnected networks and databases
raises major ethical and legal issues. These include: privacy
of information and the right of individuals to check data pertaining
to themselves, which is widely recognized as a fundamental human
right; regulation of content of information circulating through
information highways (e.g. information of an intolerant, racist,
violent or pornographic nature, and particularly its access by
children); computer piracy and other informatics crimes; and copyright
where efforts are required to extend legitimate intellectual property
protection to the rapidly changing multimedia digital environment
while maintaining access to information needed to promote societal
and economic development. In all of these cases, the risks and
advantages of coercive measures should be carefully weighed, and
other solutions, for example involving consumer action or voluntary
codes of conduct of information professionals, may well prove
to be more attractive. This issue is not fundamentally altered
by the fact that information technologies themselves are providing
partial solutions to these problems.
The effects of computer technology on individuals and
their social behaviour are also controversial. Already today,
one can do almost anything on a computer: study, work, shop, watch
a film or chat with a friend, visit a library or a museum, read
a newspaper or play games. This provides immense opportunities
for access, but it can also unduly privilege the "man-machine"
relationship to the detriment of reflection, self-reliance and
personal capacity-building. At a wider level, the emerging information
highways constitute an important factor in major social transformations,
such as the internationalization of trade and the development
of a world economic market, the globalization of news and personal
communication, and changes in the labour force due to the increased
use of telematics. The risks associated with many of these phenomena
are poorly understood, and deeper scientific analysis will be
needed before they can be adequately considered by policy-makers.
II. THE ROLE OF UNESCO
Under its Constitution, UNESCO is required to contribute
to "advancing the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples,
through all means of mass communication", "to promote
the free flow of ideas by word and image", to "maintain,
increase and diffuse knowledge", and to "give fresh
impulse to popular education and to the spread of culture".
With the advent of the information age, these tasks have
not only retained their relevance but, indeed, have taken on a
new urgency, and concrete ways to fulfill them will need to be
adapted to the new technological environment. In an era where
the distinction between different forms of information is blurring,
the principle of the "free flow of information" - which
until recently had been considered only in terms of mass media
- must inevitably be applied to all types of information needed
for the advancement of education, science, culture, peace and
democracy.
Once accessible to all - irrespective of race, nationality,
gender, location, occupation or social status - information and
communication technologies can be instrumental for achieving a
truly humancentred development.
It is true that economic and commercial interests now
seem to be the main driving force for the building of information
highways. But it is also obvious that culture, education and science,
as distinct and integral parts of our civilization, cannot be
left totally at the mercy of market forces. Information highways
must not simply provide new and more powerful channels for electronic
consumption. They must have large spaces for knowledge and value
sharing, artistic creation and public debate. Just as the existing
media do, new electronic networks must transmit the widest possible
variety of opinions together with information which may not be
commercially profitable or may interest only minority groups.
In this regard, it is of the utmost importance to reaffirm the
mission of public service media to meet the very basic educational,
scientific and cultural needs of people in the new technological
environment.
The above conceptual framework is reflected in UNESCO's
current Medium-Term Strategy (1996-2001) and biennial programme
(1996-1997) which foresee that the Organization, in collaboration
with the United Nations system and the international community
at large, will:
as part of its international intellectual co-operation function,