A thought about UNESCO and the Knowledge Society

I like to think of information as that which is transmitted from source to receiver, from person to person. Knowledge is an internalization of information. I know something or I do not. I may not understand or remember information that is provided to me.

UNESCO and the ITU held the World Summit on the Information society in the last decade. The International Telecommunications Union naturally focuses on information, for that is what is transmitted through telephone systems. I suggest that UNESCO also has a focus on information within its communications and information program, but the more important cross-cutting theme of UNESCO is knowledge.

UNESCO's flagship program, the education program, seeks to improve knowledge by helping people to learn. Interestingly, it also these days includes an emphasis on "information literacy", or the ability to judge the credibility of information and information sources.

UNESCO's science programs can be seen as promoting the global scientific system's ability to generate high quality information and the ability of that system to organize knowledge.

In my opinion, one of the most important aspects of UNESCO's culture program should be to promote cultural change that strengthens information and knowledge related institutions while fostering appropriate values and attitudes towards knowledge.

A key element of the overall program of UNESCO is to promote the improvement of knowledge in the societies of member states about the societies of other member states, and to do so in ways that promote peace.

Thus it seems to me that promotion of knowledge societies might be seen as a cross cutting priority of UNESCO -- an area in which synergies among its programs can and should be fostered.