Public access evolutions – lessons from the last 20 years

Matias Centedo

According to the analysis, there has been a significant increase in global internet connectivity since 2015, with a 20% rise in the number of people and households connected to the internet worldwide. This positive development indicates that more individuals are benefiting from internet access and its associated opportunities.

However, despite this progress, there are still notable disparities in internet access between different income groups and countries. In low-income countries, only 30% of the population has internet connectivity, whereas in high-income countries, this figure jumps to 90%. This disparity highlights the existence of a digital divide, where individuals in low-income countries are at a disadvantage in terms of accessing the internet and the opportunities it provides.

Furthermore, the analysis reveals that the progress towards greater internet connectivity is slower than anticipated. Only five regions have managed to achieve the United Nations’ goal of 70% of individuals using the internet by 2030. This slower progress raises concerns about the ability to bridge the digital divide and ensure equal access to internet resources for all communities.

The analysis also highlights that internet connectivity does not uniformly impact communities, particularly when considering economic factors. The fact that low-income countries have lower rates of internet connectivity reinforces the notion that economic inequality can affect access to essential resources such as the internet. This observation underscores the need for targeted efforts to address this issue and ensure that everyone, regardless of their economic situation, can benefit from internet access and its advantages.

Additionally, the analysis brings attention to the negative consequences of increased internet access, specifically in terms of democratic development and quality of life. Despite the rise in digital infrastructure, there has been a decline in freedom indicators and internet freedoms. Civil and political rights have decreased across all regions, suggesting that increased internet access does not necessarily lead to improved levels of participation and democratic development within societies. This finding raises questions about the potential negative impacts of increased internet access on society as a whole.

In conclusion, while there has been progress in global internet connectivity, disparities still exist, particularly between low-income and high-income countries. The slower progress towards universal internet access and the negative consequences on democratic development and quality of life raise concerns. It is crucial to address these issues to ensure equal access to the internet and its benefits for all individuals and communities.

Maria Garrido

The analysis explores the topic of inclusive connectivity and access to information within the context of the UN 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It examines the three dimensions crucial to achieving inclusive connectivity: connectivity, gender equity, and freedom. Inclusive connectivity is defined as the rights and capacity to use, create, and share information in ways that are meaningful to each individual and their community.

The analysis highlights the marginal progress made towards gender equity in internet use. While 52 percent of women in the world use the internet, there is still a significant digital gender gap, with 208 million more men connected compared to women. However, there are positive examples in Latin America, where more women than men are connected to the internet, showcasing successful initiatives addressing the gender digital divide in that region.

Furthermore, the analysis emphasizes the role of public libraries in improving internet access. Public libraries are seen as vital for enhancing connectivity and providing access to information, thereby addressing the roots of inequality. They remain at the heart of helping to resolve social problems such as inequality and lack of access to education.

One of the main challenges identified in the analysis is the scarcity of reliable and comprehensive data regarding the digital divide. Only 86 countries collect internet population data by sex, and there is limited data on digital skills, types of use, motivations, and the impact of connectivity in everyday life. Additionally, there is no specific data addressing online violence and harassment affecting women and LGBTQ+ communities. This lack of data hinders a full understanding and effective addressing of the digital divide and its impact on various communities.

In conclusion, the analysis calls for more focused efforts to achieve inclusive connectivity and meaningful access to information that tackle the roots of inequality. It emphasizes the importance of public access and libraries in addressing these issues. The insights gained highlight the need for robust data collection and support for institutions like public libraries to ensure equal opportunities for everyone in the digital age.

Donald B. Means

Libraries have emerged as key players in the adoption and integration of emerging technologies into communities, making them accessible to a wide range of individuals. They serve as pioneers in introducing these technologies, providing first-hand experience and understanding to community members. In addition to their technological role, libraries also become the frontline for assisting individuals in navigating online services when government agencies move their services online. This makes libraries critical in bridging the digital divide and ensuring that all members of the community have access to essential services.

During times of crisis, libraries serve as invaluable resources and information hubs. They act as second responders, stepping in to support and assist communities in times of need. Libraries become helping centres, providing communication facilities that are vital in emergencies. Whether it is a natural disaster or any large-scale event, libraries play a crucial role in connecting individuals, disseminating information and facilitating communication among community members.

The impact of climate change and the increasing frequency of severe weather events further underscore the importance of resilience and adaptability in libraries. As the incidence of extreme weather events continues to rise, libraries need to be equipped to effectively serve their communities in times of crisis. They become resilient hubs of communication and resource-sharing, providing assistance and support during disasters. Utilising low Earth Orbit satellite technologies, libraries can have robust broadband connectivity, enabling them to maintain communication and serve as a reliable source of information during critical moments.

Furthermore, libraries have a fundamental role in ensuring universal access to the Internet. They function as community hubs where individuals can engage in digital conversations without any or with a very minimal fee. Recognising the importance of robust internet connections, libraries with reliable and high-speed internet become the minimum accepted baseline for universal access to the Internet. This can be achieved using available technologies, allowing communities to engage in online activities and bridge the digital divide.

Donald B. Means, a prominent advocate, emphasises the significance of strong internet connections in libraries as a means of achieving universal internet access. By providing free or low-cost access to the internet, libraries contribute to reducing inequality and promoting inclusivity in society. This aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 9 (Infrastructure, Industrialisation, and Innovation) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), as it recognises the critical role that libraries play in advancing these goals.

In conclusion, libraries hold essential roles within communities. They are early adopters of emerging technologies, the human face of e-government, and second responders in times of crisis. Libraries must also be resilient and adaptable in the face of climate change. Additionally, they contribute to reducing inequality by providing universal access to the internet. With robust internet connections, libraries become invaluable resources, fostering digital conversations and enabling individuals to fully participate in the digital era.

Ugne Lipeikaite

Public access to the internet plays a crucial role in promoting digital inclusion and providing opportunities for education, civic participation, and social engagement. In countries like Canada and Uganda, where many public access users do not have alternative internet access, public libraries have become invaluable in providing these services.

Public libraries in Canada and Uganda have been found to deliver a wide range of secondary benefits. They provide meaningful education, encourage civic participation, promote social engagement, and foster digital inclusion, thus promoting equality. These libraries serve as hubs for individuals who lack access to the internet in their homes or communities, ensuring that they have an opportunity to bridge the digital divide.

In Canada and Uganda, over half of public access users do not have a viable alternative to accessing the internet. Hence, public libraries play a crucial role in providing these individuals, especially vulnerable groups, with the resources they need to connect with the digital world. This is particularly significant in promoting digital inclusion and reducing inequalities.

The effectiveness of public access initiatives in breaking down barriers preventing certain groups from benefiting from the digital age is evident. In Uganda, for example, 56% of public access users are female, signalling the positive impact of these initiatives in promoting gender inclusion. Furthermore, public access users in both countries have experienced significant improvements in their academic results and increased levels of social engagement.

Libraries have especially played a significant role in facilitating internet access and contributing to gender equality. They have successfully brought people online, creating opportunities for individuals, especially women, to access online information, resources, and services. This is a notable achievement in promoting gender equality and reducing inequalities.

While libraries have made significant progress in enhancing these freedoms, a neutral stance remains on the need for libraries to explore further ways to improve freedoms. This suggests that more research and analysis may be required to understand the potential role libraries can play in promoting freedoms in various contexts.

In conclusion, public access to the internet, particularly through public libraries, is crucial for promoting digital inclusion, education, civic participation, and social engagement. Libraries have shown their effectiveness in breaking down barriers and promoting equality, as evidenced by the high percentage of female users in Uganda. They have also played a significant role in bringing people online and contributing to gender equality. However, further exploration is needed to understand the potential role of libraries in enhancing freedoms.

Woro Salikin

The implementation of internet access in Indonesian libraries has had a transformative effect on these institutions. Previously, libraries were primarily used as places to access printed materials. However, since 2011, Indonesian libraries have been provided with internet access, turning them into hubs for learning from both printed and digital resources, as well as facilitating the sharing of knowledge among the community. This positive change has resulted in increased community engagement and prosperity.

Furthermore, the National Library of Indonesia plays a vital role in the development of the national library system. As the national advocate for all types of libraries in the country, the National Library provides training, coaching, mentoring, grants, and funding to libraries. Being directly under the President’s authority, the National Library also possesses the power to build and establish the national library system. This demonstrates the significance of the National Library in shaping the library landscape in Indonesia.

Expanding internet access to rural areas of Indonesia is deemed necessary considering the low internet penetration rate in these regions. Currently, rural areas contribute only 35.43% to the total number of internet users in the country, highlighting the stark disparity between urban and rural connectivity. To address this issue and accelerate human resource development, the President has issued a directive to improve and expand access to digital libraries in rural areas. This initiative aims to bridge the digital divide and ensure that individuals in remote parts of the country have access to digital resources and opportunities for learning.

The National Library of Indonesia is also actively working on providing access to a wide range of digital resources and e-services. They have developed the Indonesian Knowledge Discovery, a single search portal that allows users to access public collections from libraries, museums, and archives throughout the country. Additionally, the National Library has distributed Inlislite, a library automation software, free of charge to all libraries in Indonesia. This effort highlights their commitment to making digital content readily available to the public, including eBooks, e-newspapers, e-magazines, and other forms of digital content.

It is argued that libraries should provide internet access, as not everyone has access to the internet at home. In many cases, individuals lack the necessary tools or infrastructure to connect to the internet outside of libraries. By offering internet access, libraries become valuable community resources that enable people to engage in various activities and access educational content based on the internet. This view aligns with the belief that providing equal access to information and digital resources is crucial for achieving quality education and promoting industry and innovation.

In conclusion, the introduction of internet access in Indonesian libraries has revolutionised the way these institutions function, promoting learning, knowledge sharing, and community engagement. The National Library of Indonesia plays a pivotal role in developing the national library system and driving access to digital resources and e-services. Expanding internet access to rural areas is necessary to bridge the digital divide and ensure equal opportunities for learning. Overall, libraries providing internet access is crucial for enabling individuals without internet access at home to benefit from the vast wealth of knowledge and opportunities available online.

Moderator-Stephen Weiber

Public access in libraries is crucial for enabling and ensuring meaningful connectivity. Libraries have a mission to provide access to information for development and play a significant role in exploring new technologies and delivering change during crises. They act as partners in enhancing public access, responding to shocks, and backing up support systems during emergencies. Public access in libraries is not an alternative to private access but a complementary means of connectivity, offering different activities and supporting private access for meaningful connectivity.

There is a decoupling between connectivity and meaningful connectivity, as good connectivity does not always lead to positive change. The success of the internet should be measured by the positive change it brings, not just the number of people connected. Investment in data collection is crucial for evidence-based governance decisions, rather than superstition.

Libraries also act as digital gateways, providing access to information and online resources, adapting to the digital age, and localizing internet access. Their global relevance is not restricted to a specific region or group, as public access has brought unforeseen changes in various parts of the world with different socioeconomic conditions. Public access in libraries is essential for socio-economic development, fostering digital inclusion, entrepreneurship, and skill development.

Due to their multi-purpose nature and adaptability, libraries remain resilient and relevant in the long term. They respond to changes in connectivity landscapes and have the ability to remain significant over time.

In conclusion, public access in libraries is vital for meaningful connectivity. Libraries serve as platforms for accessing information, exploring new technologies, and responding to crises. They complement private access and contribute to the global relevance and importance of public access. Investment in data collection is necessary for evidence-based decision-making in internet governance. Libraries’ role in providing access, fostering socio-economic development, and their adaptability contribute to their resilience and long-term relevance.

Moderator-Stephen Weiber:
Great, so thank you to everyone who’s here and I think in particular to everyone who is online. We’re going to get started, I’m sorry about starting a few minutes late but we just needed to set things up. So welcome to the session of the Dynamic Coalition on Public Access in Libraries this year. We’re conscious that there are three different lengths of session given on the IGF website but we’re going to go with the one that gives us most time. So we’re going to go for the 90 minutes that we think we have and if someone turns up we’ll have to stop. So the focus of this session is on evolutions in public access, evolutions in the nature of public access as a contribution, as part of the broader infrastructure, as part of the broader means that we have of ensuring that there’s meaningful connectivity for everyone. My name is Stephen Weiber, I work for the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. So the reason why we are talking about this one this year is that just under 20 years ago in Tunis, the world came together and put together the plan of action for the World Summit on the Information Society and they said lots of things but one of the things they said was that it was important to have multi-purpose community public access points providing affordable or free of charge access for citizens to various communication resources including the internet and that these access points should have sufficient capacity to provide assistance to users and the first example that they gave on this list in 2003 was libraries and on this basis the dynamic coalition on public access and libraries was created around 10 years ago in order to explore this, in order to develop thinking on this idea, to bring together different actors, to reflect on what does it mean, what does it include and how can we maximize this impact. Now of course we are almost 20 years later and we’re getting to the stage where we’re beginning to think about what’s going to be there in the WSIS plus 20 agenda, what elements of that plan of action and those action lines from between 2003 and 2005 are still relevant, still have their place, how effective have those ideas set out in 2003 actually been and so the exam question for today which we have probably 90 minutes to answer is effectively how has the nature and place of public access and libraries in the wider connectivity landscape evolved over the last 20 years. Now in advance of this session we went out and we asked a few people what their thoughts were, how had they seen the role, the contribution of public access changing over that time and so we’ve already just this morning put out an initial report, very much a draft version focusing on what those expert views are, what those experiences are, we’ve got the QR code up on the screen in order to take a look at this. I’d note of course this is a zero draft and one of the key outcomes, one of the things we’re really looking to achieve from this session is to bring in further ideas, to get further inspiration about what those evolutions are so that we can really understand how it’s changed, how we would hope it’s still relevant today. So there are already some conclusions, some key themes that have emerged from those contributions the first set are to do with things that I think are we’re calling eternal, so factors, characteristics that mean the public access and libraries should technically always be relevant, should always be useful as a way of ensuring meaningful connectivity. First of all there’s simply the ongoing relevance of that fundamental mission to work through information, through knowledge in order to provide access to information for development so that transformational connection between making the link between people and knowledge in order to deliver change, better lives, better decision making. Another ongoing function is while of course a much larger share of the global population is online now than was the case in 2003 there are still billions of people who do not have access to the internet and we know that for many maybe the internet’s available but they don’t see the value, they don’t see the interest, they don’t feel the confidence necessary to get online or to invest in some of their own private connectivity. So there’s still that first taste of the internet for the unconnected as a function. But there are also some ideas that have come out that focus on what are the evolutions, what’s actually changed in there. So a first point and perhaps this wasn’t clear back in 2003 but it’s become increasingly clear that public access is not an alternative to private access, it’s not in competition with private access but rather as our understanding of what a full and meaningful engagement with the internet looks like, public access has come out, has been demonstrated to be complementary, offering possibilities to do different things, to do the same things differently as you would at home with your own devices. We’ve seen it becoming clearer that public access has the possibility to be flexible, it’s not a set thing that only needs to be provided in one way, in one context, it’s been able to provide a means of responding. A really strong example was during the Covid crisis, back in 2003 public access may not have been seen as part of crisis response but from 2020 onwards we saw libraries really working out how they could step in, how public access could actually step up, complement education, complement employment, complement efforts in other policy areas in order to make sure that people could continue with their lives and so that broader function, that broader role that it plays is becoming clearer. We’ve seen public access proving its ability, proving its possibility to help realise the potential of new connectivity solutions. We’ll hear talk shortly I think a little bit about how public libraries are proving that they’re a good place to actually make use of, to actually turn the potential of for example low earth orbit satellites into reality, into real change on the ground and so public libraries can be that first opportunity, that first contact and actually help realise that potential. We’ve seen it as providing a response to shocks and we’ll hear a little bit further later about the role of libraries as second responders, as organisations, as places where even in emergencies, even in disasters, public access plays a key role backing up, supporting, making sure that when private connection isn’t possible people can still get online, can still carry on with their lives as best possible. We’ve seen libraries prove their ability to work in partnership and libraries of course bring much to the table but they’re even more powerful when they can work with other people, when they can work with other organisations that bring in skills, that bring in programmes, that bring in activities and really combining public access with other things. Public access doesn’t exist on its own but it can be really mobilised, it can be utilised when we actually work with other partners. And finally we’re seeing examples when we’re seeing public access become a basis, a sine qua non for actually helping people explore new technologies, new tools, new possibilities that may be open to them. And so by having public access libraries become a kind of sandpit, a place where people can get to discover things, find new possibilities, be creative and then potentially adopt personally. So these are just some of the ideas that appear in that zero draft of our report and clearly what we’re trying to do here is dig further, gather new ideas, gather new perspectives that hopefully we can really use to develop that report to produce something really helpful. So just before we go on to our speakers we have a Mentimeter set of slides that will hopefully be, helps you to sort of engage and start thinking. So for our participants online in particular I hope that you can see at the top of the screen that you should go to menti.com and with the code 19088703 if I can read properly. And so what we’re interested in is getting an idea at the start of the session on what you think, your initial impressions of this role and I think the evolving role and the continued role of public access within a broader framework, within a broader set of policies in order to ensure meaningful connectivity. So we’ll give people a couple of, give people a minute to respond on this. Great first response in. Glad to see people being very positive. It’s always interesting I think on the second answer that you can see that there’s some people who are very favourable and some people who are, who believe that public access may compete. So actually having that, it’s always interesting when you have that difference in views. Let’s go for a minute or so more. We’ve had a few responses. Excellent. Okay so it’s good I think we’ve got, I was hoping that we could use this as an evaluation metric and that at the end of the session people would give even higher scores than they do now but there’s not much room for improvement so I think we’ll just have to give up on that as an evaluation metric for ourselves this time. But anyway, so thank you for those initial views but we will be asking those questions again later but also giving opportunities for you to feed in. But what I’d like to do now is actually hand over to our speakers and so we’re going to get a series of contributions, we’re going to get a series of, I’ve got the biographies on my phone. So let’s get this up. There we go. And so we have five speakers who are going to be joining us in order to give their sense in order to share views about public access. We’re going to start with a little bit of context which is always valuable from Maria Garrido and Matias Centeno and Maria is a Principal Research Scientist at the Technology and Social Change Group at the University of Washington in Seattle and her research area is focused on gender digital equality and the future of employability skills for youth and Matias Centeno is a social researcher and lecturer at the National University of San Luis as well as the head of the Rural Extension Agency in San Luis for Inter and his areas of expertise include family agriculture, digital transformation and youth studies. They’re going to be talking about a wider context of access to information which I think is particularly important when we’re talking about meaningful connectivity as opposed to just connectivity, the possibility to connect and I’ll introduce the others so then we can go straight through. We’re then joined by Dr. Ugnele Pikaete who is an expert with over 15 years of career experience dedicated to the development of impact evaluation methodologies and tools for assessing the outcomes of public library services and her work includes numerous research projects focused on measuring the impact of public internet access in libraries and the critical role libraries play in providing connectivity and digital skills to communities. In addition to the research she’s developed a number of training programs and conducted training for public and community librarians in Africa enabling them to assess community needs and evaluate the transformative impact of library services. Then we’ll have Wawatiti Hayanti who is a senior librarian at the National Library of Indonesia. She holds a master’s from Sheffield University and has been working at the National Library of Indonesia for over 30 years. Previous to this she was in charge of the library training center and the library and information services center where she assisted in the development of capacity capabilities of librarians and library technicians all over Indonesia. Today she’s still an active member in the Indonesian Library Association and the library forums for all types of libraries. And finally we will have Don Means and Don has over 25 years experience in the IT industry and he’s a co-founder and principal of Digital Village Associates a consulting firm founded in 94 that focuses on information and communications technologies as transformational tools and subjects for local communities. Ten years ago Means founded Don founded the Gigabit Libraries Network which is an open collaboration of innovative libraries cooperating as a distributed testbed and showcase environment for high performance applications and equipment in the service of educational civic and cultural objectives. The Gigabit Libraries Network has created the library’s white space project in 2015 to explore how integrating unlicensed open wireless communication technologies can benefit library users by combining the near universal compatibility of Wi-Fi with the range and penetrating capabilities of white space devices. This is not the last technology that Don has engaged with that I know we’ll hear about. So with that I will hand over to Maria and Matthias in order to give us some of the context about access to information and what that means today.

Maria Garrido:
Hello thank you very much Stephen and for the invitation to share this panel and I’d like to start thank you for initiating the presentation. So as Stephen mentioned this is the context in terms of the progress that we’ve made in the past seven years you know the UN 2030 agenda celebrates midway in 2023. So what is the progress that regions of the world have made towards inclusive connectivity and meaningful access to information. Next please. This is part of an initiative called the A2I development and access to information. I joined initiative between IFLA the International Federation of Library Associations and the University of Washington and has three main objectives demonstrate how meaningful access to information contributes to advancing the sustainable development goals and of course within that context demonstrate the contribution of libraries and providing equitable access to information and connectivity in the context of the agenda. Next please. So it answers a very basic although very complex question given the unprecedented ability we have today to share create and exchange information how can meaningful connectivity and inclusive access to information advance poverty and diminish poverty advance equality give young people more opportunity etc. Next please. We it’s the rights and capacity that’s the way we define inclusive connectivity and meaningful access to information the rights and capacity to use create and share information in ways that are meaningful to each individual community organization and we have three different dimensions connectivity gender equity and freedom 29 indicators public publicly available indicators mostly through the UN agencies the World Bank and for freedom Freedom House so we’re going to tell you we’re going to walk you through these three dimensions and to let you know and share with you the progress that we’ve made in the past seven years since the UN 23rd agenda began in 2015. As I said it’s midway through the agenda so let’s see the progress of regions and countries I’ll hand out to you Matias for connectivity.

Matias Centedo:
Okay the first pillar of the triangle of aspects of three aspects that are considered in the meaningful access to information research that we conduct shows the next please show more people and more houses connected to internet if we saw if we saw the progress in connectivity between 2015 and 2022 the next we can see that today the 60 percent of the world’s population are internet users which means an increase of 20 percent from seven years ago but this access has asymmetric impacts I mean if we saw for example from the economic side the low-income countries exceed a 30 percent of people connected against to the high-income countries when in this scheme of countries the percentage increased to the 90 percent so however we have more people connected. The next however this progress is more slower than expected if we take the United Nations connected 2030 agenda as a compass we can see here in this slide the internet population growth by regions and the goal is to 70 percent of individual worldwide using the internet and today we have only five regions managed to reach the goal. The next please according to our research in 2022 the world is still behind in achievement the target 1.2 and 1.1 and the next this is the case of households when we can see that the situation is the same. Maria the next. Thank you

Maria Garrido:
so this is important context to support of public access and support of the role of public libraries libraries in general and it’s still not only very relevant but it’s necessary in terms of gender equity. Next please. Unfortunately the progress was not as great as connectivity we have very marginal progress towards gender equity we have more women using the internet 52 percent of women in the world there’s still 208 more men than 208 million more men than women connected and you see that in the other three indicators a very marginal progress. Could you go to the next please and the gender inequality index had a very marginal drop and which is almost you know unseemly and but it’s declining but very very marginally. Next please. In terms of gender digital divide again we are behind the connect 2030 2.8 target by 2030 gender equality we’re still behind and this is the world average of course this does not show the difference in regions but if you see on the left side in low-income countries four out of five women are still offline. Next please. If you look at the regions the only region that has achieved gender digital equality is Latin America with more women than men connected and northern Africa and southern east Africa were the two regions that made more progress in the past seven years connecting both more men and also more women. Next please. Unfortunately women continue to be three times or two times as likely to be not in employment education or training compared to men and in southern Asia and western Asia young women are three times as likely so still the opportunity even though we’re more connected and the opportunities for women are still less than for men in many regions of the world. Next please. Similar with women in science and women in politics we have a marginal progress of 1% for women in science to 37% and that’s a difficult indicator because we really don’t know what exactly are they doing what positions are they advancing in science especially in the creation of knowledge and the designing of technology and 22% in politics. Next please. Okay in terms that freedom we don’t have the good news also

Matias Centedo:
so sorry. if we have a look at the progress between 2015 and 2022 shows a decline in all freedoms indicators. Next. We can see we measure the progress according to freedom aggregated scores, civil rights, political rights, and freedom on the net index. In all of these indicators we have decreasing between 2 and 7 points. Next. So more digital access has not meant an improvement in the levels of participation and also democratic development of our society. We have seen right now in the in the in the screen that evolution and progress between 2015 and 2022 exceed that an increase of number of countries that are the cleaning freedom scores between 71, 7 years ago, to 120 in the last year. So civil rights and political freedoms have declining across all regions and when I say all regions, regardless their economic development, as we can see in the screen, the worst situation are in developing regions. 32 countries of developing regions declined freedom scores, followed by the sub-saharan Africa and Latin America. Next. Internet freedom declined for 12 consecutive years. 12 consecutive years we have bad indicators related to freedom. So we are increasingly digital but less and less free and subject to rights. This trend confirmed that more digital infrastructure don’t lead necessarily to an improvement in quality of life or better societies or better quality of life. Next. We can see the freedom on the net in measure of losses and gains by regions. This remark, the relevance to qualify the gap, the digital gap, go beyond of infrastructure access because if we saw only the digital access penetration, we are losing some part of the history. I mean, this shows some pending matters. We saw in terms of gender, in terms of freedom, but also in terms of rural and urban divide, for example. In my country, in Argentina, the National Institute of Agriculture Technology measured that today, 30% of rural towns don’t have access to internet but 80% of people living there had bad connections so they can’t enjoy the rights of digital life today. Next, please. So one of the elements that we like to highlight is

Maria Garrido:
the very scarcity of data. So all the analysis that we brought to you today, although it’s from 2022, it was released in 2022, many of the countries do not have data that is recent or that shows the impact of the pandemic and the dynamics of the pandemic in the world. So we don’t only need more data, we need better data that reflects the realities of communities and reflects why connectivity is important, why inclusive connectivity should be promoted and addressed, and of course in the context of public access. Next, please. So as I said, limited or no data. Of course, gender disaggregated, binary, there is limited and different gender dissidents or gender fluid identities, there’s nothing available. Next, please. So just quickly to wrap up, only 86 countries in the world collect internet population by sex, not gender, sex. Of these, only 60 have historical data so it’s very difficult to assess progress in terms of gender digital equity and even fewer countries have data on digital divide by other intersectional factors, age, locality, education, etc. Limited data on digital skills, of course, no data on types of use, motivations, and impact of this connectivity in everyday life, and of course no data on online violence and harassment that, as we know, affects particularly women and members of the LGBTQ plus communities. Next. So the road ahead, what it will take to guarantee inclusive connectivity and meaningful access to all information to all people, and what is the role of public access and of course of libraries in addressing the roots of inequality, not only public access in terms of connecting people to the internet, but the roots of inequality. And with this, we end. Thank you very much for your time.

Moderator-Stephen Weiber:
Thank you very much. Thank you very much. I think that’s, you know, it’s powerful. I think the thing that for me that underlines is that we have seen a sort of decoupling between connectivity and meaningful connectivity, and that that word meaningful is so important, because despite the good results when it comes to connectivity as a whole, it’s not feeding through into other things, and I know that should be a bit of an alarm call that in a place like this, where, you know, we shouldn’t be measuring the success of the internet in terms of the number of people connected, we should be measuring it in terms of the positive change that it brings about, and that’s just not happening right now. So I think there’s that, and I think that this is obviously one thing that hopefully can be taken away from the IGF in general, just the need to invest in data collection, and that’s something that, you know, it’s kind of crazy that we’re talking about governance, and we aren’t really talking anywhere near enough about the evidence on which governance decisions might actually be made, rather than just sort of superstition, and yeah. Just one second, we forgot to show the

Maria Garrido:
part of the initiative. We developed these dashboards, you have the QR code on your screen if you would like to explore, and as an example today of the analysis that you can do with our visualization tool. Thank you very much. So I

Moderator-Stephen Weiber:
definitely recommend take a look, it’s a fantastic resource, it really is, and allowing you to look across different sections and different questions is really, really powerful. So with that, I’m going to hand over to Ugnay, who is joining us from yesterday, because she’s in Chile. It’s already past midnight, so now I am also… Oh, you’re also on today, excellent. Welcome to today, Ugnay. So I’m going to hand over… Thank you, thank you so much. Okay, over to you. Thank you

Ugne Lipeikaite:
so much. I will just try to share my screen, because as everyone, you know, you make last minute changes in your slides, so I have a newer version of my slides. We sympathize entirely. All right. So good morning, everyone, in Kyoto and also online. Really thrilled to participate in this session. Thank you to my colleagues from Washington, University of Washington for amazing presentation. And I will be speaking today about role of public access through two examples. And these two examples actually illustrate what colleagues just showed on the screen. So these graphs, where there are big differences between developed countries and, for example, Sub-Saharan Africa. So two examples that I chose are Canada and Uganda. And I will be showing the role of public access through the lens of these two countries and presenting evidence how public access in these countries is filling gaps of connectivity and also addressing most pressing needs of communities in these countries. For Uganda case, it’s our study. We did it in earlier this year. For Canada, I just used publicly available data and research and I will give you the references at the end of my presentation. So let me start by just giving you a very brief overview of both countries. So naturally, in Canada has strong Internet infrastructure, with over 90% of people having high speed Internet access at home, even in remote areas. However, I think it is important to emphasize that it is not true that in Canada, digital divide is non existent. If you look a bit deeper, and for instance, among low income populations, more than half of them lack access at home, and mainly it’s an issue of affordability. Canada has extensive network of public libraries, over 3000 of them providing all sorts of resources and all sorts of formats, including, obviously access to computers, Internet and digital skills training. Now, when you look at Uganda, over recent years, Internet penetration in Uganda has been growing as well. But if we talk about home connectivity, it’s still heavily lacking behind. And there is a very big rural and urban divide, as well as big gender disparities. Uganda has 45 public libraries funded by government, about half of them are connected to computers and Internet. And they have also a very vibrant network of community libraries, around 100 of them, but very few are connected to the Internet. So let’s see how how public access looks at both countries. First of all, who are the users of public access in Canada, almost half of public access users fall below the age of 35. Notably, public libraries in Canada demonstrate really high utilization by vulnerable populations. So if we look at statistics for low income individuals, immigrants, visible minorities, people over 55 years of age, they are really big users of public access. Now, what is really striking me is that over half of public access users in Canada, don’t have alternative place to access Internet. That that is a statistic that surprised me, actually. In Uganda, you know, it’s a very young society. So almost 80% of users fall between the age of 15 and 25. And again, we see a really big use by vulnerable populations. So you remember, I mentioned gender divide. So 56% of users are female. So it’s a big contribution to gender inclusion in Uganda, as well as 22% coming from rural areas. Again, it is very important figure in terms of urban and rural divide. Again, really high number of people over 70% who have no alternative place to access Internet. Now, when I started to look about into patterns of use of public access, I was against quite surprised because I found striking similarities and communication and education seem to be dominant areas of focus both in Canada and Uganda. For communications, individuals mainly use online tools, social media to connect with friends, family, educational activities thrive in Uganda, especially over the last few years, where people seek study related information, they take online courses, engage with video tutorials, webinars, educators via Zoom teams, Google Classroom, and so on. In Canada, it’s quite similar. Most popular educational activities include completing coursework, taking online courses, workshops, and so on. Now, employment related activities is the next area, which is, again, really popular in both countries, especially in Uganda, where people look for jobs, fill in their CVs and use public access for skills enhancement. Concerning e-government, again, very similar usage patterns in Canada, people looking for government programs, subsidies, in Uganda, looking for forms for applying for different programs online. And lastly, for business related activities, in both countries, again, we have very similar percentages of people who are looking for information to start businesses, to maintain existing businesses, and so on. And in Uganda, what was very popular is people looking for ways to deploy online tools to promote their services or to sell their services or the products online. Now, I’m getting to, I think, the most important part of my presentations, where I would like to highlight key outcomes arising from the use of public access in both countries. And first one, without much doubt, is related to digital literacy. In Canada, digital skills training programs and libraries are widespread, and they range from basic use of internet and email to quite sophisticated courses on web design and programming, as well as one-on-one support and consultations. And Canadian studies show that over 80% of users report increased confidence and comfort in using technologies as a result of public access use and training programs. Also, about a half of them report that in public access venue in the library, they were first introduced to a new technology. In Uganda, over the last two years, we have been implementing a digital skills program in 27 libraries, and this library has trained over 22,000 people to use computers and internet. And we serve those people, and 94% of them credit library for improved digital skills. Many of them became continuous internet users in the library. And when we went back to them and asked again, they said that two-thirds continue to use librarian as an advisor when they need help to use technology. Another area, very important area of outcomes is related to education. As I mentioned before, education is a big part of activities are related to education. And for Canada, I found statistics that 45% of users report that through public access, they managed to develop employable skills. And in Uganda, over 85% of people saw improvement of their academic results. And 78 report that they managed to develop vocational skills, which are aimed at generating income. Another area that I analyzed was community, social and civic engagement. And it is not a mistake. It is the same percentage for both countries. It’s maybe a coincidence. So in Canada, 81% of public access users experience some kind of increase in the level of social engagement through participation and learning about local groups, volunteering opportunities, issues of local politics, and so on. And in Uganda, the same percentage of users says that library improved their social linkages. Almost 70% became more active in society by learning about local issues and contacting local authorities. The last area that I analyzed is related to entrepreneurship, workforce and business development. So again, the statistics that I could find showed that 26% of Canadians report that they use public access to manage existing business, conduct business related search or start new business. A lot of people come to learn job seeking skills, and nearly half of them successfully managed to get jobs afterwards. In Uganda, the situation is quite similar. We see very similar percentages of people who use public access to earn some additional income, as well as improved their work performance as well as many people finding jobs. The studies that I analyzed provide so much data and evidence about positive effects of public access, and I could continue along these lines. But I will stop here and try to emphasize what these percentages mean to me and how I interpret them. So first of all, also to confirm what Stephen said in his introduction, public access continues to be relevant regardless of whether individuals have internet access at home. In both Canada and Uganda, the importance of providing access to information, to technology, to digital resources in public spaces cannot be underestimated. Secondly, major outcomes of public access in both countries revolve around fostering digital inclusion and promoting equality. And these initiatives really show effectiveness and positive impact in breaking down barriers that prevent certain groups of people enjoying benefits of digital age. Thirdly, beyond digital inclusion and equity, public access in libraries deliver a wide range of secondary benefits. These encompass meaningful education, encouraging civic participation, engaging citizens in community initiatives, promoting social participation, allowing them to share with each other, engaging in online communities, and so on. And lastly, public access in libraries makes significant contribution to livelihood gains, so expands opportunities for online job seeking, skills development, entrepreneurship, and so on. So to wrap up, I could say that public access in both Canada and Uganda serves as a powerful catalyst for the growth of individuals, for the growth of societies, and this is really an evidence that we can put on the table to show that libraries not only provide access to technologies, but also serve as catalysts for empowerment, education, social and economic advancement, and really contribute to more inclusive and equitable future for everyone. And this is what I had today for you, and these are the references that I promised. Those first two studies are linked to the data that I mentioned about Canada, and the remaining two are about Uganda. So if you are interested to look deeper, you’re welcome to check these out. Thank you so much.

Moderator-Stephen Weiber:
Thank you very much, Ugnen. I might actually ask if you can include those links in the chat so that people can click on them, but that’s fantastic, I think. I think the comparison between Uganda and Canada is really good because it underlines firstly that this is a relevant concept around the world, it’s not something that’s just for one subgroup, it’s not for one country, it’s not for one continent, that it’s got that relevance everywhere and I think all those examples of the different dimensions, the different ways in which the different areas in which public access makes the differences is powerful. I’m sure, you know, plenty of these will not have been foreseen, they will not have been imagined 20 years ago and yet it’s happening now, public access is giving rise to, it’s making possible to make these sorts of changes, so that’s really fantastic. Thank you so much. I’m now going to hand over to Waro who’s going to talk from the Indonesian

Woro Salikin:
perspective. Thank you, Stephen. Yes, can I have the slide on? Okay, we can start with the second slide. Okay, since 2011, actually, we start to transform in managing the library, especially those in the village or remote areas by providing them with internet access and the transformation has made that the library has become the place to learn from the printed or digital materials, can be also audio-video materials as well, and then also this is the library become a place to share, to share knowledge amongst the community itself and then also it’s the place to do activities, play music, also play creativity with handicrafts and then make products, make cookies and also discussion about other things and this one of the this can see that this is the products that the village library has made and they learned this also from the internet and also from their colleagues in the village and this actually the transformation to empower the community and to preserve the local content and all of those things is to increase the community engagement and also to increase the community prosperity. This can be reached faster if the library is provided by internet access. Can we go to this next slide, please? Yeah, this is, just want to show you that this is the fact that how big we are in here, that the population is 275 million and the land area you can see that and the district, we have the 34th province and the district is 514 and the villages we have is 80,820 and the schools you can imagine that we have a lot of schools, elementary school itself that 174,373, senior high is 58,800, senior high is 36,000 and university is 3,994. Next, please. Yes, that is another this is the picture of the library, Stephen. This is a library that we have, this is mixed between the librarian, professional librarian and the technicals, it’s 10,000 and the total number libraries Indonesia is 164,610 and the provincial public libraries is 34 because in each province we have one public library and district libraries, part of the 514, we only have that 496 libraries and sub-district libraries we have 1,685, village library, sorry, village library is, hang on, that is elementary school, sorry, yeah, and then that is 33 something, 33,000 and the elementary schools, oh, sorry, village library 33,000, that is recorded and then school library, elementary school library is 76,000 and junior high school library is 19,900 something, senior high school library is 17,000 something and university is 2,557. Special libraries, it is government, that’s 2,202, special and private libraries is 872, Islamic boardings library is 3,478 and school library community is 1,000 something and then the community reading garden, it’s in the garden, it’s a park actually, there’s 5,928, that is the total of the altogether is 1,064,610 and 10,000 of it is being accredited and then not yet accredited is 154,000. Next please. Yes, here is the National Library as the national advocate all the types of libraries in Indonesia. We advocate them with trainings, coaching, mentoring, grant and funding. One of the privilege of the National Library of Indonesia is that it is non-ministry governmental institution which directly under the president. The National Library of Indonesia is under the coordination of the Ministry of Education and Culture but we responsibility directly to the president. So this gives us the more power to decide to do to establish the national library system in Indonesia. That we are not depending from other ministerial, no, but we can do that ourselves. That’s why we can publish, we can establish the accreditation, we can also the standardization of the libraries. Okay, next please. Yes, this is the policy here, the rules of the function of National Library. Yes, this is as other libraries, yeah, this is the first is library as the library development center that no one has this functions because with this we can give a vocation to the public, other libraries and also we can, what is it, we can help them, we can develop them, yeah, those the six 164,000 we have, we can, we have to help them to develop and then this is for the reference library and depository center, research center. I think this is almost the same with other libraries. Next please. Yeah, this is the obligations of the National Library that is, this is the number one, so develop library national system in supporting the national education system. We have a quote unquote that this we are very powerful in the field of libraries in here. The guarantee and sustainability of the library is the community learning center guarantee availability of the library services and also the guarantee of the availability collection through translation, transliteration, transcription and transmedia and also because of the reading habits not too high yet that we have to promote the reading habit and library services and develop library collection and also we have to also develop ourself and to also to appreciate the preserved manuscript. Yes please, next. Yes, another click, I think that is for the library transform and by expanding. Yeah, yeah, next please. This is yesterday as mentioned that the directive, that’s the first, no, okay, sorry. Yes, that is the policy that we have to make, that is the problems actually. We have that three, we have to make it actions in here, there’s a problem connectivity, content and human resources. That’s the problem that we have to face. The connectivity judging from the huge area that we have and then that is the, we have to do it now. The how to encounter with that problems and we cannot go to the one place directly so what we have to do that we have to provide them with the internet access and then also with the content that is also difficult to get to produce the digital contents. So, a physical contents that we cannot distribute all over because it’s too far so we have to create the digital contents and we also provoke actually the local government to create also the local digital contents so we can share with each other. Next please. Yeah, and yeah, this is the presidential directive that we have to do this. We said that, the person said that improve and expand access to the digital libraries in order to accelerate the human resource development who will master science and technology, improve creativities and innovation to create job opportunities. That is job opportunities reduce unemployment rate and increase income for per capita as well as increase foreign exchange to create prosperity. Okay, next please. Yeah, this is talking about the internet access in Indonesia. Yeah, it’s quite big. In 2023 that who have the access of internet is 215,000 million, 626,166 million that is out of our populations. It means that is 78.19% of the total populations and then for the gender, the penetration is 79.32% and the contribution is only 51% and then for women’s, the penetration is 77% and the contribution is 48.8% and then your urban areas that is the penetration is 87.55% and the contribution is 64.57% and rural area that this penetration is 79.79% and the contribution is only 35.43%. This is what we are going to push to make it people more give a contribution in the rural area. Next please. Yes, this is the occupation for the penetration for the students and college that is 90.8% almost 100% in here but the contribution is only 16% and then for the housewife, 77.8% the contribution is only 19.85% and for the workers that is quite big that is 84.72% the contribution is 60.32% and then for the teachers retirement and then for the government officers is 71.84% and the contributions is not too much. It’s only 0.62% and then for the unemployment, 72% they access internet quite a lot but the contribution is only 3.11%. We get that this from the Association of the Internet Provider in Indonesia and then the incomes, from the incomes we have that in let’s say one US dollar is equal to 15,500 rupiahs so this those who whose income is under 1 million is 76.99% and then for those who is what is it for those who has the the above 15 millions it’s almost 100% contributes yeah and then again the contribution is only 0.18% and then for the those who’s 5 millions up to 15 millions that’s 95.62% and the contribution is 8.76% and this what we see from the internet that we have the data and then next please yeah that main reason for using the internet is finding informations that’s quite big yeah it’s but 60% 80% yeah that is 80% percent sorry and then this is for the after that they’re finding new ideas in inspiration and there is okay next please yes expanding connectivity yes this is what we have in libraries it’s not yet fully integrated yesterday also I mentioned this into the national data infrastructure because the president directly said that we have to have to create the data center the National Data Center and this National Library of one part of the 65 ministries and councils in Indonesia that we have the obligation also to provide our data that public the data there are two public services and then the other one is for the administrative that is for the internal use the public that is for given to public if that is we have the in this slide we also have the one search Indonesian one search and also a business next please okay this is an examples of the Indonesian knowledge discovery yesterday I also mentioned this is Indonesian one search that is a single search portal for all public collection from libraries museum and archive or over Indonesia it is used as union catalog and it’s also provide access to international electric resources it’s as subscribed by the National Library and and for all registered member yeah that is for the what is it the e-resources should be a registered members but for the Indonesian one search itself it’s not registered just you can tell comes and in the purpose not go dot ID next please yeah this is the contributors and this is the the members of the Indonesian one search you can see the number it’s quite big next please yes yes this is in this slide this is that the latest is in this in this slide 3.2 is the latest version of the library automation software developed by the National Library of Indonesia and this is given free to those the library a library in Indonesia to use it and this way we put it in the Indonesian National Data Center to be part to become part of the public services that can be used for everybody next please yeah next place this is this next yeah this is e-mobile yes e-mobile we have the e-business this is for the sorry this is the e-mobile for the social media base for e-business yes and this in here just like yesterday I mentioned we have the e-dip e-donations that if you write books and then you want to donate your books we don’t want to talk about the royalty just forget about the royalty but just put it your book there and we will publish it yeah and then a digital and then people can access to that books because mostly that let’s say governors they like to write books and then say okay I just want to write this and people will I wants to note what I’ve done so far this is my achievement and if they this is they put it there and they don’t want to sell their books actually they just write the books for their achievement that I mean what is it that’s self-esteem or so yeah that’s this is what I have done so far this is what I do about that that is people should know so people should read for this book my my books okay next please yes this is our new that is a bintang personas this is we ask this is for the only force University and schools we work together with the Minister of Religion because School of Religions is under the Minister of Religion and the general school is under the Minister of Education’s the total collection the digital collection is that 1 million for 480 it for the 8,000 and 70 470 thousand books yes this can be accessible yeah it’s a cover live chat and video as well next please yeah okay this is the e-resources I think that’s everybody also the same with other library National Library they have the resources that was it can be accessed for everybody yes next please yeah this is another yes please ah this one part of that the the digital things that we also have the to make the the what is it the the collection information close to the people in the remote areas or in this city actually we distribute about 520 938 units mobile libraries yeah for the 520 locals and we provide also books yeah that is 90,000 and 75 70 750 titles book sorry yeah and then this is also for the mobile motorcycle yeah we also give them from the we have the 986 units and also we provide with pochadi pochadi it means is for joke bacha digital it is the digital corner readings yeah it provides also with digital books and the latest one is actually the National Library one is the tick bacha yeah it’s also provided with the digital contents that can be accessed by people next please yeah this is more collections yeah yeah this is actually we give books and for the others and also the the those who receive our grant and our what’s this book collections yes next please yes next please and yes this is what yes this property library transforms for what the prosperity please thank you yes next yes this actually is for the what we do for the the become one of the national priority in the national the program library transformation for the based on the economy based on the inclusions inclusion based libraries and this is what we developed so far with the the with our own money here because before that actually we got grant from the bill and mitigate four nations 2011 up to 2018 but now starting 2018 up to 2023 with our our own budget and develop more and more libraries get yes next please yes this is actually the library I said that is to empower the community to become a place for learning a place for empowering a community a place to share knowledge and also place to preserve their local culture and enhance also their local culture to be exposed to the people and also this is to empowering people and community next please yes finish Okay, we can skip this And actually, that is… Next, please Next, please. Sorry, this is not that good This one is what they got, and then this is an example in clay collections, and I think that’s all. Thank you

Moderator-Stephen Weiber:
Thank you very much, and sorry for cutting you off there, but I think first of all, just as a response to what Maria and Matthias were saying, the volume of data there is really powerful, especially the disaggregated stuff, that’s excellent, and just all of that effort and all of that work to localize and proving public access as a way of localizing efforts to actually provide meaningful connectivity is powerful, so without any further ado, I’m going to hand over to Dom

Donald B. Means:
Thank you. Thank you, Stephen. And thank you all I don’t have any slides. I’ll relieve you of that Actually, I’m not going to present any data today because I think we have seen an extraordinary amount of data from our colleagues at the University of Washington and from Eiffel and from the National Library of Indonesia I just wanted to touch on some conceptual points related to the roles of libraries and how they may be changing or have changed in the last 10 or 20 years To us, it doesn’t seem like the roles have changed so much it’s the circumstances have changed tremendously I come at this from, as Stephen mentioned, a technology background, and most of our work has dealt with technology-related issues more specifically in communications technology We, and I need to update the website because we’ve been doing this since we started the Gigabit Libraries Network in 2007 with the Fiber to the Library campaign. In the U.S., we said that the most expedient, the most inexpensive and the most effective way to deliver next-generation broadband in every community is to run fiber to all 17,000 public facilities in the U.S. We’ve worked on that advocacy campaign since then. We have expanded into wireless, of course, because the world has expanded into wireless. We identified, at that time, we identified three roles for libraries technology-related roles that we’ve continued to work on and the roles, as I say, are still there. The circumstances have changed. The first one is the library is an early adopter of information technologies, and this, of course, is not a new role. Books themselves represent an early information technology that libraries have led in, but it’s just progressed on from there, so jumping ahead to the arrival of the World Wide Web in the mid-’90s, we were all doing dial-up, maybe. Some of you are here, been around long enough to remember that. And broadband, the always on service was arriving at that time, and people were going, well, what are you talking about? You’re comparing straws to fire hoses, and you’re telling me about bit rates. It doesn’t mean anything to me. They go to a library, and they sit down, and they’re connected to streaming media through the Internet, like their radio station or hometown across the country. I’m talking about the mid-’90s here, and they go, wow, that’s really cool. I want that at home. And that example, and there are more, of course, is how libraries have introduced emerging technologies to their communities as a showcase environment, as a demo site, and this is such a powerful thing, because describing technologies in any kind of meaningful way is extremely difficult without direct experience, and that’s what libraries provide, is direct experience to that. They’ve also played the role, we say, as the human face of e-government. So this has been an explosive area since, well, since 2000, that every agency and every level of government has been automating services for the same, you know, for the typical reasons. It’s efficient, it’s convenient, it saves money. Well, great. But who are those, and as they do that, they find new things you can’t do with paper. It starts out automating a paper process, and they do things you just do with software. And you ask them, okay, that’s great, but those are just for the people that are connected, right? And they go, well, yeah, of course. Well, what about all the people who are not connected? And they go, oh, well, yeah. Well, they can go to the library, they’ll help you. Well, yeah, okay, they will. Did you ask them to help? No, we just know they will. Okay, are you sharing any of your savings with the library to take on this support role that you’ve given them without them asking for it? Well, no. Well, why not? Well, we don’t have to. Okay, great, thanks again. But yet it’s important, because these are daunting applications. They don’t work alike. They don’t look alike. And even if you have a connection, they can be difficult to navigate. But the librarians are the ideal people to confer with in the development of these programs. They have more experience in what it’s like for people to use these programs than anybody else. They need to be drawn into the development phase of government applications. Another drum that we beat. The third role that we’ve focused on is as so-called second responders. In large-scale events, the first responders, the police, the ambulances, the firemen, are completely overwhelmed in large-scale events. And then everybody is on their own at that point. Well, they turn to public facilities like schools and libraries as places to get help, to get communication, to get information about what’s going on, as common distribution points for supplies in those kinds of events. So we refer to these as second responders that have a special category and need to be accommodated with communication technology that’s resilient to these outages, which is a condition that doesn’t necessarily represent the presence of a large-scale disaster, like an extreme weather event that knocks out the telecommunications infrastructure. When it does, these systems are out for days, weeks, or longer. I live in a county just north of San Francisco, and about four or five years ago, suddenly the lights went out. There was no disaster, well, at least not where we were, but the utility company had turned off the electricity in the county to all quarter of a million people living there to support the needs further north where we’re having these fires. And it’s really interesting, if you’ve not been through an outage longer than an hour or two, what happens after about 24 hours? You start wondering what you’ve got in the freezer, and you wonder what your phone is going to do, because your Internet, your Wi-Fi, is out, and your phone battery is dying, and you really don’t have any other source of information about what’s going on. So you have to go somewhere, and so people did. They went to a community center in every town, the library in my own town, and it was filled with people daisy-chained on surge suppressors, recharging their phones, and using the resilient Internet access to the library, which was a fiber connection. And that was a real eye-opener, that that really wasn’t planned, but it was just the way people respond to need. They just figure it out. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, everything was wiped out, and people just went to the nearest library. Even though they didn’t have a connection, people just went there, and then they started setting up Wi-Fi routers just to allow people to communicate with each other. It’s just what people figure out in these situations. The challenge of the topic here of roles for libraries is that the library plays so many roles. We’ve started referring to libraries as the Swiss Army knife of public institutions. They provide more different services to more people than any other institution by far. And it makes it a challenge for them because it’s not the best corkscrew, and it’s not the best knife, and it’s not the best bottle opener, but it’s all of those things in one place. And that’s a hard case to make for something special, but they are special because they do so much for so many. And I want to touch again on this point about the response in crisis, and I’ll kind of close with that, that it’s increasingly common for communities to experience these extreme weather events. This is climate-driven extreme weather, whether it’s inundated with rains or no rain at all or extreme high winds, all of these weather phenomena are being accelerated by the heating of the atmosphere. And this conversation is really, we would say, supersedes all other issues. I mean, every day we have to do something today, and that’s normal, but in the larger picture this is our number one challenge. And libraries are there. What can they do about this? Well, like each of us, not very much in terms of mitigating a circumstance that has gone on too far. But they can do something about adaptation because we have surpassed the point where we could fix it or we could reverse it. Maybe we can. We have to try. But the effects of it are baked in. We’re in for severe weather from here on, and these events are going to be more common and more severe. And so what we all can do at every level is try to adapt. And this is where libraries can play a special role in showing how to do that and being resilient. As I mentioned, we’ve focused mostly on communication technologies, mostly in wireless for the last 15 years or so, how libraries and other community anchor institutions can connect to each other and create an autonomous local community network that can be in touch with itself, even if it doesn’t actually have connection to the outside world. But now there is new communication technology, satellite technology, from systems in low Earth orbit, which is different than traditional satellite communication, which relies on satellites that are thousands and thousands of kilometers out, and the response time for the communication is very slow, and it wouldn’t support an event like this. It’s just the lag time is too much. These new systems, principally one from Starlink, the satellites orbit at under 1,000 kilometers, and the residual time, the feedback, the lag is very short. It allows any kind of connectivity. Actually, it’s robust 100 megabit type connectivity. The thing is, this is not just sort of a new wireless scheme, perhaps. What it is is a new global wireless network that can connect any point on the planet, can have robust broadband in a box. It goes out, you plug it in, it turns itself on, it wiggles around, it announces itself to the overhead satellites. It’s got a bundled router, and in 10 minutes you have that kind of connection. This is completely new. Now, will it work? Is it affordable? How usable is it? The availability is just one of the barriers to adoption. Affordability and usability being the two other principal needs. Without availability, the other two are moot questions. Libraries are there in their typical way to consolidate a resource for the community and then share it. This is something that we’re advocating that libraries try out if the service is available there and learn about it and decide if they want to use it. We are totally sold on the library as the quintessential public institution. They’re irreplaceable and they’re just marvelous. I’m pleased to be here today. Thank you very

Moderator-Stephen Weiber:
much. Thank you very much, Don, for those words. I was trying to draw out examples about those trends. I think the point you made, the original WSIS document talked about multipurpose. I’m wondering if we need to even talk about polypurpose or something that underlines just how many different roles there are, but also despite the complexity that brings, also the value that it brings. It’s really this one-stop shop. This role of the library is a place where you can localize. Internet access is not a one-way thing. If we only think about technical solutions, then we tend to only think about the supply side and not about the demand side. That aspect of localizing, applying, actually making the link between the potential and the output is really powerful. We’re into our last five minutes. We’ve got some people online. If you are still in Menti, we’d obviously welcome any further thoughts or questions you have about suggestions and your views about how public access has evolved, what you think we should be taking into account in subsequent versions of the report from the Dynamic Coalition on Public Access and Libraries. I suppose I would actually ask other panelists if you have any responses or views, having listened to each other, about themes that you think have come out that underline or angles that we should be thinking about in trying to assess what those evolutions have been over those last 20 years and why public access is actually as relevant, if not more relevant, than it was back in 2003.

Donald B. Means:
I’m going to jump in on that one because I think it’s a great question. I’ll try to make it quick, though. Our view is that libraries with robust Internet connection offer the minimal accepted baseline for universal access to the Internet. That’s what everyone everywhere should have, even if they don’t have fiber of the home and the rest of it. They have a community point where they can engage with a digital conversation for no fee or a very low fee. This is extremely doable. It’s nothing like the goal of everybody connected at home, but it’s very doable with today’s technology.

Woro Salikin:
I think I agree with Don that actually this library should be provided with the Internet that people can activate. Because sometimes Internet is difficult to get access to Internet at home. Not everybody can have the equipment, the tools to access and then they have to come to the libraries and the libraries must be empowered with the access of the Internet. That is the most important thing, that people can do activities, can access Internet there, can talk there and can learn based on the Internet access. Thank you.

Moderator-Stephen Weiber:
Thank you. There’s work that needs to be done, I think, for the libraries for which we have data. About two-thirds are connected. We don’t have data for so many, so there’s another data call. Coming on to the data and your response.

Maria Garrido:
Thank you for all the wonderful presentations. One thing that seems to me vital to understand is that in this narrative that in many ways the U.N. and many governments sponsor that connectivity will solve many social problems, libraries have remained at the heart of helping to resolve those root problems, right? Inequality, lack of access to education, lack of access to economic and educational opportunities. I think that shows that as institutions they are fundamental in social fabric of societies. It doesn’t matter how much connectivity we have. Apparently we saw the data. Connectivity is not solving gender inequality. Connectivity is not giving us more freedom. These social institutions are fundamental in that equation. I believe that we need to renew the narrative about the digital access. We are in a different point of part of the history of the human interactivity with technologies. I mean, AI, social and technical. I believe that we need to be on the digital connectivity and think about this second gap related to skills, related to gender, related to diversity. You are more and more ahead to qualify this in digital access today.

Moderator-Stephen Weiber:
Thank you. That’s probably one of the key messages we come out of. Ugne, did you want to add a last thing?

Ugne Lipeikaite:
Yes, just very briefly. I’m still thinking about the presentation made by colleagues from the University of Washington. I think that libraries have done amazing work in bringing people online. They have also contributed significantly to the gender equality. Now I was thinking, what else can we do to give more freedom? This is where we saw we are doing really badly on these indicators. I’m not only looking back 20 years back, but I’m thinking about the future and what else can libraries do to improve on the freedom?

Moderator-Stephen Weiber:
That’s my takeaway. Thank you. I think that actually leads to quite a good way of summing up that libraries are an infrastructure. They are a multi-purpose infrastructure. People come to the library in order to fulfill any number of different goals, any number of different activities. They are not just for health. They are not just for education. They are not just for employment. That means that they are spread across a number of areas, but they are multi-purpose. That actually opens up that possibility to adapt. As long as there is the skill and the support and the training available, it also means they are in a position to answer that question that Ugne just put up. Because it’s not purpose-specific, because it’s not goal-specific, actually it means it’s far more resilient and far more relevant over the long term as a way of actually answering some of those questions about how do we get to meaningful connectivity. With that, one minute over time. It was 91 minutes. We are over time. I will close and thank all of our panelists. Thank you to Maria, to Matthias, to Don, to Ugne online. Thank you, everyone.