Date/Time
Date - 6 Nov 2012 until 9 Nov 2012
12:00 AM - 12:00 AM

Session No. 130: Digital Inclusion and Public Access to the Internet: What Policymakers Need and how Libraries and Other Community Services can Deliver

About the Workshop:

Building on discussions at the 2011 IGF and 2012 EuroDIG, this workshop will take the form of a dialogue between policymakers, technology companies, funding bodies and representatives from the regional and international library communities, and others on the subject of digital inclusion policies and practices. Taking as its starting point recent research which shows that in many countries’ libraries still remain largely overlooked as community development partners despite idealistic support for their activities from policymakers and communities, the workshop will explore the case for future investment and support of public library and community services to ensure sure that libraries and other services meet existing community needs today and can continue to work to meet the changing needs of communities in the future.

Placing public access to the Internet through libraries on the agenda of IGF cuts across a number of key IGF themes such as Internet governance for development (IG4D) and Access and Diversity. Findings from the Beyond Access conference in Washington DC in October 2012 will also be made available. Beyond Access will sponsor participation in the IGF for selected public librarians from around the world.

Who

Stuart Hamilton, IFLA

Monika Elbert, EIFL

Siri Oswald, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation