Information Society

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

What's New in Information Society?

Turning toward Sustainability? Looking at the Third Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (PDF - 250 kb)
IISD advisor Maja Andjelkovic offers her insights on the third meeting of the Internet Governance Forum.
The ICT Sector and the Global Connectivity System: A sustainable development overview (2008) (PDF - 1.24 mb)
This paper is IISD's first effort to gain greater clarity on what more broadly constitutes the information and communications technology (ICT) sector and its role in sustainable development.
Critical Internet Uncertainties: How will governance, evolution and growth of the Internet affect sustainable development? (2008) (PDF - 1.02 mb)
The Internet offers great potential to help move the world toward sustainability, but this potential may now be at some risk, given a number of critical uncertainties related to the governance of the system, the evolution of the technology, and concerns over its security and stability.
Mapping the Future of the Internet onto Global Scenarios: A preliminary view (2008)
(PDF - 559 kb)
IISD has observed that consideration of the impact of the Internet and its associated technologies has been either absent or quite narrow in most sustainability scenarios. This paper seeks to address this shortcoming.

The Internet of Things: A killer app for global environmental sustainability?
(Google Video - 13:43 min)
What is the "Internet of Things"? It is the integration of the physical world and the Internet, an information space created by emerging applications that enable humans to monitor and interact with their environment. Tony Vetter discusses at the Internet Governance Forum in Hyderabad, India how "Internet of Things" policy and architecture should be built on sustainable development objectives.
Global Connectivity focuses on new challenges for sustainable development
IISD announces the new Global Connectivity program, which describes our broader, ongoing focus on new and emerging challenges for sustainable development. Global Connectivity replaces the Knowledge Communications program to incorporate how technology, in particular communications technology, is supporting and changing how we organize our governing systems, our economies, and our cultures in unprecedented ways.
Digital Wish List: Heather Creech
Heather was asked by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to think about what Canada needs to do now in order to be considered a major innovator in the future. Her "digital wish" is for a return to the vision of Canada as a connected country. This means establishing a set of national policies for broadband access and cellular phone services, and making sure these tools are accessible to all Canadians. Canada used to be a global leader in broadband access, but as the rest of the world catches up and passes us, Canadians are finding it harder to participate and compete in the digital global arena.

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).

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.
Globalization of ICT enabled services
IISD's primer on Responsible Competitiveness in the Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) explores an ambitious agenda for countries, cities and firms to create an outsourcing model that is genuinely sustainable.
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.

[1] Dahlman, Carl. "World Bank Knowledge Economy: Products and Strategy: emerging lessons" in Knowledge for Development." Washington, DC: World Bank Institute, 2003.

[2] Chen, Derek H. C. and Carl J. Dahlman. "The Knowledge Economy, the KAM Methodology and World Bank Operations." Washington, DC: World Bank, 2005. 14.

[3] See, for example, Human Development Report 2005, p. 17, the official UNDP Web site, and the official World Bank Group Web site.

[4] Netherlands Development Assistance Research Council (RAWOO). "Mobilizing Knowledge to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals." 2005. 1. http://www.rawoo.nl/pdf/Rawoo27.pdf

	· Heather Creech Director - Global Connectivity
	· Carolee Buckler Project Manager
	· Don MacLean Associate
	· Terri Willard Associate
	· Tony Vetter Project Officer

» Themes

» Initiatives

» Information Society and Sustainable Development Policy

» Internet Governance

» Globalization of ICT enabled services

» Global Processes

» Youth and ICTs

Key Message

Team