Adoption of Council of Europe Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)2 on the Internet of Citizens
19 February 2016
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PRESS RELEASE
Adoption of Council of Europe Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)2 on the Internet of Citizens.
The Hague, 19 February 2016.
EBLIDA is proud to announce the adoption of Council of Europe Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)2 on the Internet of Citizens.
EBLIDA, the European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations, welcomes the adoption of Council of Europe Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)2 on the Internet of Citizens on 10 February 2016.
As highlighted in the recommendation, the Internet of Citizens promotes the human and cultural dimension of the internet as a complement to the Internet of Things. It is a new notion which calls for a people-centered approach to the Internet, in particular to empower everyone who uses and relies upon it for their everyday activities [1].
EBLIDA President Jukka Relander said, “I am proud of EBLIDA’s contribution to the recommendation of the Internet of Citizens. Whereas we are working closely with the European Commission and Parliament on greater harmonization of exceptions and limitations available to library and archives in Europe’s member states and continue to advocate for better access across Europe’s borders, the Internet of Citizens recommendation of the Council of Europe is a milestone in promoting equal access to information and use of digital opportunities for the citizens of Europe and in recognizing the key role of Cultural institutions such as libraries in shaping the digital future of access to information.”
Under the motto of building a culture of democracy, democratic citizenship and participation and a human rights approach in relation to digital culture, the Internet of Citizens provides policy guidelines of particular interest for the library and archives community.
The recommendation highlights in particular :
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The modernisation of cultural institutions, and their role in shaping the future digital ecosystem, (…) notably through the promotion of creativity and the permanent preservation of all relevant human creative expression for future generations through mass digitisation programmes for libraries (...)
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The role of the citizens in creating and participating to the new digital environment (prosumers), and the need to reinforce people’s access to creative material where this has been hindered through the imposition, for example, of costly commercial access models,
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The importance of multiliteracy skills for access to, creation and management of digital culture.
EBLIDA will ensure that the Internet of Citizens and the human rights approach to the digitization of Culture is fully considered through the full participation of the European library community.
To learn more about the recommendation, read the full version here.
About EBLIDA
The European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations (EBLIDA) is an independent umbrella association of library, information, documentation and archive associations and institutions in Europe representing 100+ member organisations and by extension 70.000 libraries in Europe.
Contact: vincent.bonnet@eblida.org +31(0)6 31 96 55 11
[1] Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)2 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on the Internet of citizens http://bit.ly/1o1dATI
