Day two of our consultation on IFLA’s response to call for contributions launched by the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation focuses on how libraries can make a difference to the challenges set out.

Why cooperate? Libraries have long worked with others – governments, partners – in order to provide better services, going beyond what they can do alone. Libraries are often as much of a platform for others to deliver as an actor themselves.

This is logical – everyone has different strengths, roles and possibilities. It makes it possible to achieve goals, and tackle problems, effectively.

The same goes for the online world. The emergence of a digital economy and society both changed the way we think about existing challenges, and created new ones. These can be linked to a lack of cooperation or shared understanding between players.

To respond, it is necessary to cooperate, bringing together different actors – governments, private companies, individuals, organisations, and of course libraries!

What these actors can do, together, is one of the key areas of focus of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation.

So our second question is about what libraries can contribute to responding to these challenges. The Panel suggests inclusive development, inclusive participation in the digital economy, data, protection of human rights online, human voice and human agency in the digital age, digital trust and security, and building the capacity of individuals, institutions and governments for the digital transformation as particular challenges.

Let us know what you think!

You can read IFLA’s initial submission to the High Level Panel on our website. See all of our blogs on Digital Cooperation here.