The Information Program is an initiative of the Open Society Institute (OSI) established “to increase public access to knowledge, facilitate civil society communication and protect civil liberties and the freedom to communicate in the digital environment.” It is focused upon enhancing the information access of the disadvantaged people in less developed countries and uses new tools and techniques to empower NGOs and civil society groups in their efforts to promote an open society. Some of the projects funded include:
- supporting civil society efforts to reform global intellectual property rights rules so copyrighted materials can be more easily accessed by blind and visually impaired people;
- helping make legal information accessible and freely available online in 18 southern African countries; and
- continuing to expand the Electronic Information for Libraries project, which helps over 3,000 libraries in more than 55 countries provide information to almost 6 million users.
The program also has an important focus upon human rights. It is working in collaboration with the OSI’s Human Rights and Governance Grants Program for using human rights data for carrying out effective advocacy. “The program is also helping human rights groups and communications companies to develop a set of principles and code of conduct that will protect the free expression and privacy rights of people using information technology services.”
There are three main areas under this program:
- Access to knowledge;
- Civil society communication; and
- Open information policy
Next>>>
