EU/UNESCO: NEW REPORT CALLS FOR KNOWLEDGE, NOT INFORMATION, SOCIETIES.

The report attempts to draw a distinction between information and knowledge societies. While information societies are based on scientific breakthroughs that improve access to technology, knowledge societies are more concerned with the content of the information provided, as affected by the quality of a country's research, development, education and cultural facilities. UNESCO claims that the development of knowledge is essential if developing countries are to avoid the "brain drain" of their brightest minds, and thus develop their own scientific, research and knowledge-based industries.

The report, compiled over two years by UNESCO researchers, puts forward a number of policy recommendations aimed at national governments. These include investing in education, improving access to technology, improving systems of knowledge-sharing, and protecting linguistic diversity. Many of these aims, however, have already been set down in the UN's Millennium Development Goals and in the Dakar Framework for Action (2000), which includes a commitment by UNESCO members to provide primary education for all by 2015.

Speaking at the launch of the...