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Information Society

Exploring the potential of information, communication and knowledge for sustainable development

As the world moves from an industrial-based economy to a more connected, knowledge-driven, "information society," it faces new and old challenges for sustainable development. The application of knowledge—as manifested in areas such as entrepreneurship and innovation; research and development; software and design; and in people's education and skills levels—is now recognized to be one of the key success factors in the global marketplace.^[1] It is also crucial for ensuring that such success is environmentally, socially and economically sustainable.

There are indeed countries that show that significant advances are possible in the short and long run through implementation of strategies for increasing a country's ability to generate, obtain and apply knowledge.^[2] In developing countries, reduction of poverty, child mortality and disease pandemics, as well as improvement of education, gender equality, maternal health and environmental protection, are the priorities articulated by the Millennium Development Goals. There is wide recognition^[3] that the world possesses the knowledge necessary to meet these goals; the gap between the production and the use of knowledge in policy and practice, however, is also widely acknowledged. The Netherlands Development Assistance Research Council finds, for example, that the gap exists "due to weak linkages between knowledge producers and knowledge users, and between knowledge production and innovation."^[4] Our own research supports these conclusions.

Over the years, IISD's research and work on the links between the emerging information society and sustainable development have focused on two areas:

• Information Society and Sustainable Development Policy, and
• Engagement of young people as researchers, leading creators and earliest adopters of information and communications technologies.

IISD publishes periodic informal notes on our observations of trends and key issues in ICT for sustainable development. You can download the 2004 note (PDF - 143 kb) and the 2005 note (PDF - 151 kb).

Contents

• Information Society and Sustainable Development Policy
  For sustainable development to be effective and efficient, it must harness the institutions and tools of the information society; and for the information society to sustain itself, it must pay careful attention to the stocks and flows of resources (both material and human) that underpin it.

• Internet Governance
  Internet governance is a combination of legal and non-legal tools and frameworks, developed by governments, industry and civil society in order to establish the respect of shared principles, norms, rules and procedures that shape the evolution and use of the Internet. A major challenge for effective Internet governance is achieving a balance between the Internet's dynamic nature and potential for fostering innovation and creativity on the one hand, and, on the other, the need to ensure the respect of broader societal values like universal rights and freedoms and the principles of sustainable development.

• Global Processes
  For over a decade, IISD has been involved in international policy processes on the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), from the World Summit on Sustainable Development, to conferences like the Global Knowledge series and the World Summit on the Information Society.

• Youth and ICTs
  One of our major areas of focus is the engagement of young people as researchers, leading creators and earliest adopters of information and communications technologies.

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