Cultural Diversity in Cyberspace: Challenges for the Asia-Pacific Region
08-01-2003 ()
As the Asia–Pacific Region prepares the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) through a conference in Tokyo next week, a UNESCO Panel on "Cultural and Linguistic Diversity" intends to contribute to define principles and actions to foster a culturally divers cyberspace that are specific to the region.
The Panel Discussion that takes place in Tokyo on 13 January, the first day of the three-day "Asian Regional Conference for WSIS", first looks at the basic principles and challenges related to cultural diversity in cyberspace, both from a general perspective and from the perspective of a eminently multicultural nation in the region (India). Contributing to the debate on establishing legal, regulatory and policy frameworks, it discusses the implication of the notion of 'fair use' and "users' rights" in digital network for fostering cultural diversity.
The Panel than focuses on concrete examples for providing local contents as indispensable ingredients for culturally diverse global cyberspace both from the perspective of an heritage organization in Japan and of local communities in New Zealand. A particularly attention will be given to Cyberspace as an area for new cultural expression. As the creation and dissemination of all these contents are intrinsically linked to the availability of technical solution, the Panel concludes with a presentation of the present status of the use of non-Latin languages on the Internet.
Through the Panel, UNESCO promotes the concept of knowledge societies rather than that of a global information society since enhancing information flows alone is not sufficient to grasp the opportunities for development that is offered by knowledge. Therefore, a more complex, holistic and comprehensive vision and a clearly developmental perspective are needed.
The Panel than focuses on concrete examples for providing local contents as indispensable ingredients for culturally diverse global cyberspace both from the perspective of an heritage organization in Japan and of local communities in New Zealand. A particularly attention will be given to Cyberspace as an area for new cultural expression. As the creation and dissemination of all these contents are intrinsically linked to the availability of technical solution, the Panel concludes with a presentation of the present status of the use of non-Latin languages on the Internet.
Through the Panel, UNESCO promotes the concept of knowledge societies rather than that of a global information society since enhancing information flows alone is not sufficient to grasp the opportunities for development that is offered by knowledge. Therefore, a more complex, holistic and comprehensive vision and a clearly developmental perspective are needed.
Related themes/countries
· News Archives 2003
· Japan: News Archive
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