The UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines, the Commission on Information and Communication Technology, and the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication are holding a one-day workshop on Public Domain Information. [PS: I can't find a web site for this workshop.] The workshop will address barriers to access, examine needed policy framework and resource requirements towards the goal of achieving information for all.
The current state is that much of what we call public domain information or PDI (information generated by government, international development agencies, academic institutions, online information on Internet), is available for free by the public but it is not maximally utilized. Too, much of PDI has been privatized or commercialized for market sale. But many are not aware that even information under copyright may be made available through permissive licenses from copyright holders under the "fair use" agreement as long as it is used for non-commercial purposes – teaching, development information to benefit greater public, news reporting, and providing information to the disabled and marginalized.
But for various reasons, there is little awareness of the above. One is the absence of a policy framework that is agreed upon through a consultative process with multistakeholders. This would spell out the legal framework and needed action – advocacy, areas of application (corresponding to mandates of each government department), and responsibility centers in the management and implementation of an Information Plan emanating from the framework.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 1/25/2006 09:25:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
