Libraries Issue Report On Global Information Environment

By Alessandro Marongiu for Intellectual Property Watch

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) has issued a report analysing emerging trends in today’s global information environment.

Against the background of a fast-changing information ecosystem, the IFLA Trend Report, conceived as a dynamic online platform instead of a static document, identifies five emerging trends in the fields of access to information, online education, privacy and data protection, hyper-connected societies and new technologies.

An “insights paper,“ titled “Riding the Waves or Caught in the Tide? Insights form the IFLA Trend Report,” was launched at the World Library and information Congress in Singapore on 19 August as a way to summarise the findings contained in the Trend Report website.

According to IFLA, the development of new technologies will expand access to information for those that are familiar with digital tools, while people lacking digital literacy will experience additional access barriers.

At the same time, online education will increase learning opportunities, and expanding data sets held by governments and companies may have significant consequences for individual privacy. In addition, hyper-connected societies will ease the coordination of collective actions, empowering non-state actors at the expense of traditional political parties. Finally, new technologies will redefine existing business models and transform the global information economy, IFLA said.

Additional resources and a compilation of past contributions to the IFLA Trend Report online platform can be found here.