International Developments - Seoul Declaration
The Seoul Declaration for the Future of the Internet Economy – 2008
Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy, Australian Government Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy attended the OECD Ministerial Meeting on The Future of the Internet Economy in Seoul, Korea on 17–18 June 2008. At that meeting,
As part of the Declaration, signatories stated that they would:
“Foster creativity in the development, use and application of the Internet, through policies that:
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Maintain an open environment that supports the free flow of information, research, innovation, entrepreneurship and business transformation.
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Make public sector information and content, including scientific data, and works of cultural heritage more widely accessible in digital format.
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Encourage basic and applied research on the Internet and related ICTs.
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Encourage universities, governments, public research, users and business to work together in collaborative innovation networks and to make use of shared experimental Internet facilities.
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Combine efforts to combat digital piracy with innovative approaches which provide creators and rights holders with incentives to create and disseminate works in a manner that is beneficial to creators, users and our economies as a whole.
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Encourage new collaborative Internet-based models and social networks for the creation, distribution and use of digital content that fully recognise the rights of creators and the interests of users.”
The Declaration follows the “OECD Recommendation of the Council for Enhanced Access and More Effective Use of Public Sector Information [C(2008)36]”. The recommendation was adopted by the OECD Council at its 1172nd Session on 30 April 2008, and became Annex F of The Seoul Declaration.
The Recommendation has now reached the highest level of approval available to the OECD on an international scale. It is designed as a general framework for member countries to foster wider and more effective use of public sector information and content, and the generation of new uses from it. It lays out principles for openness and transparent conditions for re-use, quality and integrity, new technologies and long-term preservation, copyright, pricing, competition and redress, and international access.
In late June 2008, Dr Graham Vickery from the OECD (Information Economy, Information, Computer and Communications Policy Division, Directorate of Science, Technology and Industry) visited the Office of Economic and Statistical Research, Queensland Treasury and provided a presentation on the OECD recommendation. During these discussions, the Government Information Licensing Framework (GILF) project was discussed, including the GILF information licensing principles that will form the basis of a whole-of-government policy.
Dr Vickery noted that the work done by the team was unique and could very well provide a best-practice framework for other countries. The principles noted in the OECD recommendation are very similar to those independently drafted by the GILF project team.
For more information on the OECD Seoul Meeting, please see:
http://www.oecd.org/site/0,3407,en_21571361_38415463_1_1_1_1_1,00.html
