INFORMATION, INNOVATION AND DEVELOPMENT: WHICH PUBLIC POLICIES FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN?

SUSANA FINQUELIEVICH; CELINA FISCHNALLER

Paris

Conferencia; Intergovernmental Council for the Information for All ProgrammeIFAP Special Event: Information and Knowledge for All, Emerging Trends and Challenges; 2013

UNESCO

Information for development is a tool for citizens´ empowerment, e.g. through transparent and competitive bidding processes, through facilitating access to the planning numbers of government budgets, through improved accountability of government offices, etc. It is also a tool for increasing social and economic opportunities and income security. The central core issue is the need to stress not only the importance of access to information, but also the significance and usefulness of information and the social appropriation of information.  This paper focuses on the role of innovation and information and communication technologies (ICT) in the access and social appropriation to information and knowledge for development. We strongly agree with UNESCO´s criteria about a free press being intensely related with a good level of development and reduced poverty, and on the key importance of press and digital media as development tools. As a complementary and key dimension we have considered the role of innovation and the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in information for development (I4D).