MANILA, Philippines – Right of access to information as had been argued in various debates is a universal right and the most basic of all human rights. The Freedom of Information bill that was left by the wayside during the 14th Congress is now being “strengthened” with valuable inputs from stakeholders, including members of the Senate and House Committees on Public Information.

Participants in the APIN (Asia-Pacific Information Network) meeting which ended yesterday came up not only with plans on collaboration in information policies, access, and media and information literacy, but also an updated constitution. What will be a challenging strategy now is that of balancing the emphasis on physical infrastructure – national and community broadband initiatives, digital libraries, and e-community centers – with that of content development in priority areas – education, agriculture, health, environment, cultural development, and other information needs of their citizens.

In Malaysia, Dato Raslin Abu Bakar, Director of the National Library of Malaysia anchors his country's ICT development on this vision – “to transform Malaysian society into an information society, then to a knowledge society, and finally, to a valued-based knowledge society through high-speed broadband which will provide high-speed Internet connectivity.” This would make information accessible anytime, and anywhere. Its priorities are the development of a comprehensive content strategy which reflects the unique cultural society and values of the nation. The focus areas are mobile and TV content. Its creative multimedia content industry has about 200 companies involved in post-production, animation, game development, e-learning, and interactive content, and has generated over 7,000 high-valued creative jobs with revenues of over US$200 million. Its national broadband initiative has widened access in community centers, complementing programs of rural and regional development, women, and community development ministries, and libraries. It will launch the Ubiquitous Library which will “put a library in every home,” and its Universal Service Provision (USP) program will provide accessibility to all people in the world.

Ramon Tuazon, president of the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication who prepared the Philippine country paper, cites advances in policy and infrastructure development – the Public Telecommunications Policy Act of 1994, the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000, the Public Libraries and Reading Centers Act of 1994, the Service Areas Scheme where telecommunication companies give priority to underserved communities, all anchored on the bill of rights and principles and provisions on disclosure and transparency in the Constitution. The access situationer shows a widening digital divide and suggests providing access to the marginalized – persons with disabilities and out-of-school learners. Three priority recommendations could enable the country to achieve its vision of a knowledge society – adoption of a Universal Internet Access, a free and competitive market, delineation of roles among national and local governments, and private sector and community open access networks; public domain information and alternative forms of protecting intellectual property (such as the use o the Creative Commons license); and advocacy for Information Access – enactment of a Freedom of Information Act and Public Service broadcasting that can be broadened to include community radio/TV, and community e-centers.

The APIN regional network is an important mechanism as it could provide leverage to national and regional initiatives. But a challenging strategy will be that of promoting information literacy through development of the intellectual and cognitive domain of users of information. ICT policies must then link ICT centers with formal and nonformal learning institutions. Bridging digital divides means providing physical access to all citizens. More important, it is developing critical thinking and capacities to use information in solving problems. Beyond appreciation for (existence of traditional information policies and programs) and availability (access to ICT infrastructure), we need policies and programs that enable each citizen to develop skills in information literacy – capacity to identify and locate, evaluate and process, communicate use, and apply information and knowledge. My e-mail is florangel.braid@gmail.com