Information Society Policy, Media Literacy and Public Sphere Taghrid Baba, Erwin Spil, Wanda Mlodzick

The Digital Divide And The World Summit on The Information Society

Internet Connections Around The World

Connections Between Countries

Digital Divide Internet a right? A basic social necessity of the 20 th century. 5 billion people with no access to internet (Molinari 2011) “The most common references to the digital divide have been those which emphasize the varying gaps in access between social groups defined by race, gender and ethnicity” (Lievrouw & Livingstone 2002).

The World Summit on the Information Society Geneva & Tunis 1500 people from International Organizations, 6200 from NGOs, 4800 from the private sector, and 980 from the media. (United Nations General Assembly 2006) Discussing and bridging the global digital divide

The World Summit on the Information Society The divide is more than access “how and by whom and under what circumstances, and for what purposes ICTs can and should be used to benefit individuals, communities, and societies as whole” (Gurstein 2003)

Digital Divide Access is the core, but this core is surrounded by problematic issues on ICT literacy, media literacy and ownership of ICT’s.

How Strong Are the Ties?

USA & Europe Relations Fostering ICT’s and the Information Society creating a digital Single Market greater interoperability boosting internet trust and security much faster internet access more investment in research and development enhancing digital literacy skills and inclusion and applying information and communications technologies to address challenges facing society like climate change and the ageing population.

Bilateral Cooperation in ICT Initiatives

TechAmerica Europe Profile Established in 1990 in Brussels managing issues surrounding environment regulatory standards security policy and the impact of EU policies on transatlantic trade, investments, jobs, research, education and community affairs throughout Europe Mission Statement “Our mission is to inform our Member Companies of relevant EU policy and regulatory developments and to represent their interests at the EU level in the most efficient and effective manner so as to foster the sustainable growth of the global high- tech sector. Where appropriate we will address policy areas covered by the wider-EMEA region and NATO.”

Scale of Impact Employ 500,000 people in Europe - Employees and members are active throughout the high technology spectrum: software semiconductors and computers Internet technology advanced electronics telecommunications systems and services.

TechAmerica Europe TechAmerica Europe € 100 billion in European Business

TechAmerica Europe Commitment Attends the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP ‑ 17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Durban, South Africa Acts as official observer of COP process Companies engaged in TechAmerica Europe: 1. Intel 2. First Solar 3. 3M 4. RIM 5. Microsoft The objective is to use the unified voice of the information communication technology (ICT) and related advanced electronics industry (“high-tech”) to raise awareness about the opportunity of using high-tech to address climate change, and to engage with environmental stakeholders on the role that we can play. commitment.note.aspx

ICT for Energy Efficiency ICT for Energy Efficiency Forum (ICT4EE) was formed by DigitalEurope, GeSI, the Japan Business Council in Europe and TechAmerica Europe International collaboration to reduce greenhouse emissions with the use of ICTS Two aims of Forum: Improvement of ICT processes SHARE information about the optimal ICT processes that are ideal for environment commitment.note.aspx

Digital Agenda For Europe- 13 Goals The DAE contains 13 specific goals which encapsulate the change we want to achieve: the entire EU to be covered by broadband by the entire EU to be covered by broadband above 30% by % of the EU to subscribe to broadband above100 Mbps by % of the population to buy online by % of the population to buy online cross-border by % of SMEs to make online sales by the difference between roaming and national tariffs to approach zero by 2015 to increase regular internet usage from 60 % to 75 % by2015, and from 41 % to 60 % among disadvantaged people. to halve the proportion of the population that has never used the internet from 30 % to 15 % by % of citizens to use eGovernment by 2015, with more than half returning completed forms all key cross-border public services, to be agreed by Member States in 2011, to be available online by 2015 to double public investment in ICT R&D to € 11 bn by 2020 to reduce energy use of lighting by 20% by Accessed October )

Media Literacy “The ability to read and write – or traditional literacy – is no longer sufficient in this day and age. People need a greater awareness of how to express themselves effectively, and how to interpret what others are saying, especially on blogs, via search engines or in advertising. Everyone (old and young) needs to get to grips with the new digital world in which we live. For this, continuous information and education is more important than regulation.” (Reding,2008)

Thus: It’s not just about knowing how to read and write… it’s about the ability to express yourself with the tools that nowadays are being used to communicate.

media literacy is considered as a (communicative) human right by the UNESCO Why is media literacy so important? 3 reasons

Non-educating people can create a gap in the community

Biased and Ignorant Political Views “I’m going to vote for Mitt Romney because he is hot. “

Understanding that media not necessarily has to stand for reality.

Discussion Media literacy: According to Reding (2008) she states that “continious information and education is more important that regulation”. Do you agree, and if you do or don’t, why?