1. Access to ITU information / documents KEY CONCEPTS

2. Definition: Access In the work of the Dedicated Group, “access” refers to: – The right of members of the public to locate and retrieve information for use (consultation or reference) – The right of private individuals to request and receive information from the Organization

3. Decisions required What types of information could/should be made available to the public? What types of information should not be made available to the public? Why not? May wish to consider when access could/should be provided.

4. Access could vary over time Early proposals, preliminary drafts, working papers Development, discussion/negotiation, testing Review, revision, final drafts Decisions, approvals, outcome documents Issue: Which stages of the process should be open to public access? When should access be provided?

5. Different forms, different purposes The same information may exist in different forms at different times for different purposes. It may be important to consider the purpose: – Background document for discussion (restricted access) – Report of discussions (may be available to the public?) – Publication of outcome (for public dissemination)

6. What the discussion is NOT about It is essential to first decide what types of information could/should be made available to the public. Issues of implementation and procedure can only be addressed later – Cost of access – Method(s) of access

7. Right vs Cost Information may be made available to the public at a cost or free of charge – For example, ITU produces a wide variety of publications for sale Must not confuse discussions about providing the right to access types of information with discussions about providing cost-free access to information

8. Availability of information How information is made available is a separate issue from the right to access Public access may be provided in many ways: – Information routinely posted on ITU website – Publications for sale – Information provided upon request (e.g., for documents not regularly posted on the website; for historic documents only available in paper format)