Picture of two mountain tops. Text: Twin Peaks: 10 questions raised by the UN Summit of the Future to answer at the IFLA Information Futures Summit

Just a week separates the UN Summit of the Future from the IFLA Information Futures Summit. What are the implications of the discussions and results of the latter for the conversations that we will be having in Brisbane soon? This article explores further, proposing 10 questions for delegates to answer.

The UN’s Summit of the Future comes to an end today, having already agreed on the Pact for the Future, a landmark text for the United Nations this decade. The Summit and Pact come from a sense of a need to renew and reinvigorate the multilateral system (i.e. the UN and other international bodies) in order better to respond to the challenges and crises the world faces.

With IFLA strongly engaged in the work of the UN, just as libraries are engaged in the work of their communities, we have a duty to consider what the UN meeting (and its key output, the Pact for the Future) say, and how we can respond.

This article highlights some key points, and relates them to questions to address when the field meets in Brisbane.

The power of knowledge: already in its third paragraph, the Pact for the Future offers a strong positive message about the importance of knowledge: Advances in knowledge, science, technology and innovation could deliver a breakthrough to a better and more sustainable future for all. This is a major improvement on the 2030 Agenda, which included no such high profile statement.

The Pact nonetheless underlines that this is a choice. Realising the impact of knowledge is not a given – we need to act in ways that allow it to fulfil its potential. This poses a major question for discussion in Brisbane:

  1. What is the path to ensuring the strongest possible contribution of knowledge to development, and what is the role of libraries in this?

Knowledge for emergencies: in its call to ensure that people affected by humanitarian emergencies receive the help they need, the Pact underlines the need to deploy knowledge resources in a way that allows response and relief efforts to work. IFLA has already signed onto the Cochrane Call on information in health emergencies, and arguably the same principles will apply in other situations.

This leads nonetheless to an important pair of questions to explore:

  1. Do we fully understand ourselves how we can best support the resilience of our communities through information, and what more do we need to do to achieve this?
  2. How resilient are our own systems and practices? How well can we continue to support our communities in times of disruption?

Connecting science to policy-making: within a strong overall chapter on science, technology and innovation, the Pact highlights the need for more effective science-policy interfaces – i.e. ways to ensure that scientific insights feed into policy-making. Linked to this, it also underlines the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to support the development of responses to complex challenges.

There are strong potential roles for libraries in responding to both of these calls, but are we ready to do so? Specific questions to discuss would be:

  1. What role can government and parliamentary libraries in particular play in facilitating the flow of scientific information into government? How can other libraries support this in situations where government and parliamentary libraries do not exist or are not so strong, for example in local government?
  2. What might we need to change in our practices in order to support more interdisciplinary research?

Building science, technology and research capacities around the world: the Pact highlights the need for every part of the world to have the ability to support researchers to seek solutions to challenges. Not only does this contribute to a stronger global research field, but it also makes it possible to respond better to local contexts and needs. The role of the UN itself is also underlined, both at the global level and in building capacity nationally.

Clearly, there are already exciting efforts underway to build capacity amongst research libraries in developing countries, as a core part of the wider research infrastructure. The Pact makes an important reference to the need to support policies towards open science as well. In terms of questions therefore to address:

  1. How can we make sure that the application of new technologies to support research does not lead to a new divide between those able to invest in these and those who cannot?
  2. Can we come to a consensus about our wider approach to research and open science that builds positive spillovers and promotes collaboration? How can the UN help in this?

Protecting and building on local knowledge: The Pact is strong in underline the need for synergies in science, technology and innovation policies with local, Afro-descendent and Indigenous knowledge systems, recognising the value and relevance of different ways of knowing. This raises the following question, amongst others:

  1. What can libraries do to support the meaningful and thoughtful consideration of and integration of Indigenous knowledge into wider science, research and innovation?

A knowledge toolkit for success: the Pact highlights the need for people, throughout their lives, to benefit from the knowledge, skills and capabilities that they need to thrive throughout their lives. It mentions in particular the value of early childhood education, lifelong learning opportunities tailored to needs, and digital and information skills, and while basic literacy is not mentioned, it is implicit in all that is mentioned. The Declaration on Futures Generations which is annexed to the Pact further emphasises the need to build autonomy and fulfil rights among young people today and tomorrow.

Ahead of the Information Futures Summit in Brisbane, this suggests the following question for discussion:

  1. How well are we aware of the skills that young people today and tomorrow will need in order to be able to enjoy their rights and fulfil their potential? Are we part of the wider conversation on this?

A positive programme for information integrity?: The Global Digital Compact annexed to the Pact for the Future, and agreed at the Summit for the Future includes a section on information integrity. This makes the important step of recognising the need for access to relevant, reliable and accurate information and knowledge as a basis for an inclusive, open, safe and secure digital space.

The Compact offers an arguably more positive take on information integrity than the Global Principles released in June, referring to the need to promote diverse and resilience information ecosystems, and to provide and facilitate access to and dissemination of independent, fact-based and timely science-based information. While concrete recommendations still focus on technology companies, the focus on building a healthy information environment is welcome.

A key question then for discussion in Brisbane will be:

  1. What is libraries’ agenda for information integrity, and how can we realise our potential as the premier infrastructure for delivering on this?

We’re looking forward to hearing your answers in Brisbane!