Tuesday 22 February 2005
PrepCom2 – Sub-Committee
Discussion of the Report of the Group of Friends of the Chair
Section
'Improvements and Innovations of Existing Financing Mechanisms'
Madam Chair, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen
This contribution is presented by Sinikka Sipilae, Secretary-General of the Finnish Library Association,.member of the Scientific Information Working Group. Recognizing that subsidizing access to costly information resources only last until the subsidies are over. An effort towards a sustainable development policy must be proposed. Therefore we propose that :
In the section 'Improvements and Innovations of Existing Financing Mechanisms"the following paragraph should be added :
We recognize that innovative financial mechanisms that should contribute to bridge the digital divide may rely on lowering the costs of access to information and software resources and by making those resources freely available to all. Such innovative efforts should include :
a) Supporting the implementation of Open Access initiatives to Scientific, Technological and Cultural information.
b) Raising awareness about the existence and use of Free Software, Open Source Software, and low-cost proprietary Shareware.