The Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) launches its Access to Knowledge (A2K) electronic platform which has been developed over several months to become the leading source of information on Access to Knowledge.
This platform aims to raise awareness about the importance of A2K and its role in accelerating development efforts around the world, and in the Arab region in particular, by providing an interactive forum that will be continuously to include latest news and international developments in the field, in addition to the latest articles published on the topic, some of which will be also translated into Arabic to make it available to the widest audience possible. Visitors will also be able to interact and contribute through several discussion forums and periodical consultations that will also host prominent international researchers and practitioners.
The BA’s activity comes against the backdrop of the need to remedy the negative effects of obstacles denying developing countries access to international knowledge that would contribute to their development processes and to the advancement of human intellect.
Such obstacles result from the rising trend of using international intellectual property protection rules and regulations by developed countries for the purposes of exclusivity, therefore, blocking the use of such knowledge by developing countries to create new knowledge.
Being aware of such challenges, and in view of its role in disseminating knowledge and contributing to scientific progress and consequently economic and social development, the BA has undertaken the responsibility to promote for the importance of A2K, especially on the regional Arab level, and moving on to the international level.
Within this context, the BA has organized two regional seminars on intellectual property and its relation to development in the year 2005, and A2K and its impact on supporting creativity and innovation in 2006. Various regional and international stakeholders have participated in both events, which enriched the discussions and resulted in practical recommendations. These include the update of the A2K website.

Comments
Post new comment