Report by Dr. Francis MUGUET
Director of the Scientific Information Development
Laboratory of ENSTA
18 November 2005
Excellencies, Ladies & Gentlemen
Our report, where only some aspects can be mentioned,
concerns the following multi-stakeholder events : Open
Access to Scientific Information, event of the Scientific
Information Working Group 4 ; Free Software, event of the
Working Group on Patents, Copyrights & Trademarks5; several
events6 organized or co-organized by the Education &
Research Family7 Engineering, Knowledge Society and the
challenges of the 21st century, event of the World
Federation of Engineering Organizations8 ; Impact of the
high bandwidth networks on the exchange of scientific and
technical contents, event organized by the Khawarizmi9
center; ICTs and scientific knowledge sharing organized by
the Tunisian Assistance Association for Scientific Research
on the Net 10.
Let us focus, in a few minutes, on the essential :
First of all, concerning Open to Scientific Information, it
must be underlined, which is often ignored from the public
as well as those who are governing us, that scientists are
donating for free accounts of their costly research to
journals, and their works are evaluated and validated for
free by their peers.
However, the cost to access those journals is exorbitant,
creating a digital divide at the content level.
As it has been underlined by one of the contributors, in
Medicine, the lack of Open Access to scientific journals has
certainly resulted in the loss of many human lives.
However, we are not only killing people, we are also
killing jobs. It happens to be so, when companies small or
large, are deprived from resources financed by public or
philanthropic funds in order to contribute to economical
growth. Countless opportunities of technological
developments are lost at inception. It is therefore quite a
paradox to request Science to be the ultimate recourse in
order to meet the challenges of a world in serious trouble,
without implementing Open Access, in a quick and efficient
manner.
This absurd and hazardous situation was born from an
historical evolution that shall not last during the new
Information Society that shall become a Knowledge Society of
Shared Knowledge.
The remedy to this situation is quite simple: it suffices
to change current evaluation criteria that are constraining
scientists to publish in old prestigious journals that have
become preys of financial interests. One requirement in
order to obtain funding for research investigations should
be publishing through free and open resources. Considerable
savings shall be realized in developed countries, while
shall be removed this vice that chokes completely scientific
efforts in developing countries. It is a win/win situation.
Concerning Education, it is rather obvious that Open
Access to educational resources constitutes a key to
worldwide development, in all domains of human activity,
while respecting cultural and linguistic diversity.
Removing barriers that prevent to gain access to software
tools that are themselves needed to access content is an
obvious and urgent necessity. It is also necessary that
interoperability, free from any right, should be made
possible.
Concerning the implementation of the Summit
recommendations, Multi-Stakeholders Partnerships are often
quoted. The time has come when the United Nations should
consider the question of providing them with an
international legal framework. A specific proposal in that
direction does exist11. This should make it possible to
limit excesses by certain quasi-monopolies. This should
foster also the creation of healthy partnerships in the
service of sustainable development as well as
multi-stakeholders governance.
As a matter of fact, one of the most original features of
the Summit has been the birth and recognition of the Digital
Solidarity Fund12. as a voluntary, alternative,
multi-stakeholder financing mechanism. In this context, it
has been proposed yet another new alternative financing
mechanism13. It is based on the concept of natural
obligation. Companies and entities that are realizing
substantial savings thanks to the use of Free Software
should feel obliged to voluntarily donate a percentage of
those savings, which could then be used to finance Free
Software projects to bridge the digital divide.
Therefore, with the help of those initiatives and
proposals, and if the Civil Society that contributed to the
long preparatory process is truely included in the follow-up
coordinating body, this Summit will possibly constitute a
major evolution landmark in the history of the United
Nations and of this troubled world.
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