Changing development policy for information management:

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Changing development policy for information
management

• an academic view
• Louk Box

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Argument

• Is there a development policy for information
  management?
• The WSIS what happened?
• An academic case study EADIs search for a
  publisher
• Inside out Upside down?
• A cautious lesson PLoS for development studies?

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Is there a development policy for information
management?

• The obvious need for policy priority
• The emergence of the knowledge society
• The policy statements offor rich countries
• The various divides digital and other
• The obvious absence of policy priority
• The Dutch case present yet peripheral
• The quiet constituency
• The European case

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The Dutch Case

• Presence
• Large information industries
• Substantial civil society interest Hivos.com,
  ICCO, IICD, OneWorld.nl, Euforic
• Interest in Foreign Affairs / DGIS
• Yet peripheral
• Low priority in current policy

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The WSIS what happened?

• Considerable participation of civil society in
  preparation platforms
• Summitry fatigue conflicting interests among
  states
• And with civil society

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Civil Society's critique In a press statement
released 14 November 2003 the Civil Society group
warns about a deadlock, already setting in on the
very first article of the declaration, where
governments are not able to agree on the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the
common foundation of the summit declaration.
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• It identifies two main problems
• On the issue of correcting imbalances in riches,
  rights and power, governments do not agree on
  even the principle of a financial effort to
  overcome the so-called "digital divide", which
  was precisely the objective when the summit
  process was started in 2001.
• In its view, not even the basis of human life in
  dignity and equality, the Universal Declaration
  of Human Rights, finds support as the basis for
  the Information Society. Governments are not able
  to agree on a comittment to basic human right
  standards as the basis for the Information
  Society, most prominent in this case being the
  freedom of expression.

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Failure success at the WSIScivil societys
next moves
23 February 2004. The depth of disappointment
with the formal outcome of the World Summit on
the Information Society cannot be fully explained
by reference to the usual process of Summit
attrition, governments horse-trading down to the
lowest common denominator. Yes, a mutually
convenient alliance of powerful and autocratic
governments blocked action to tackle the erosion
of civil and human rights in electronic
space Source Heinrich Boll Foundation
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An academic case study EADIs search for a
publisher

• EADI as the prime professional association in
  development studies in Europe interest in
  exchange with South and open science
• Termination contract Frank Cass merger with
  Taylor Francis
• Journal Book series wither we go?
• Longest unresolved issue in Association
• Conflicting interests in Association

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Conflicting interests

• Do we go for open access, quality publication
  through the internet?
• See EADI work on Eland, Euforic, OneSite
• See EADI commitment to S-partners
• Or do we go for publisher-based, limited-access
  publication?
• EADI tradition for Journal and Book series

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Lessons learned

• Academics are locked into the unholy alliance of
  publishers and professionals
• Especially young academics bear the brunt because
  careers are increasingly made in the publication
  market (bibliometrics, reference journals,
  promotion criteria)
• Southern academics may increasingly share
  Northern interests (see work Caroline Wagner)

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Inside out Upside down?

• Need for radical change in information and
  communication practices
• Argument at WSIS
• But also true for EADI
• See lessons of ECDPM

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Inside out and Upside down a Case Study on the
Harsh Realities of Going Virtual Louk Box   Many
small organisations face the challenges of rapid
adaptation to the demands of the information
society. This paper presents a reflection on the
changes made in one such organisation, ECDPM, the
European Centre for Development Policy
Management. It is argued that the organisation
needs to turn itself inside out, by bringing
its internal communication system into an
external network. This requires that it also
turns itself upside down, by giving great
responsibilities to people who have traditionally
worked at the very base of the organisation
documentalists and information specialists.
Through the generation of virtual knowledge
networks can small organisations multiply their
influence at the international level. In so doing
they can face the harsh realities of competing
for attention in the information society.

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Lessons learned

• For the new ICT to be effective radical changes
  are needed in the organisation
• The costs of these are high, both in terms of
  investments (risks) and internal conflict
• Yet in the end they are worth it new roles
  emerge, private interests are reconfigured and
• South North cooperation can be improved as well
  as policy debates strengthened

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A cautious lesson PLoS for development studies?

• PLoS is a recent (2003) yet effective example
  that alternative is available
• Plos Biology and PLoS Medecine
• Institutional funding obtained from Foundations
• Recognition at WSIS through

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• Our goals are to
• Open the doors to the world's library of
  scientific knowledge by giving any scientist,
  physician, patient, or student - anywhere in the
  world - unlimited access to the latest scientific
  research.

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• Facilitate research, informed medical practice,
  and education by making it possible to freely
  search the full text of every published article
  to locate specific ideas, methods, experimental
  results, and observations.

• Enable scientists, librarians, publishers, and
  entrepreneurs to develop innovative ways to
  explore and use the world's treasury of
  scientific ideas and discoveries.

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Conclusion

• Academics Get Out of the Box
• Need for a PLoS type journal in Development
  Studies
• Co-sponsored by Northern and Southern Institutes
• Supported through foundations and who knows
  DGIS?

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