ALIA Board Blog

How do we stop Australians from becoming roadkill on the information superhighway?  ALIA’s submission to the 2020 summit has great suggestions - it will shortly be available on the ALIA web site and www.australia2020.gov.au  during the week commencing 14 April.

 While it is disappointing that no librarians were successfully nominated to the summit we hope that the submission and others will raise the important issues we have noted for the summit.

regards
Roxanne

As you will see from Michelle’s post below the ALIA Board has discussed our submission and possible participation in the government’s Australia 2020 national summit to be held in April 2008.  We have discussed the submission which is being prepared in conjunction with Public Libraries Australia and TAFE Libraries Australian and which we are also discussing with National and State Libraries Australasia and the Australian School Libraries Association.

The Summit is a very important means to raise national issues of literacy, reading and access to information to support education, business, communities and, in line with ALIA’s first objective “promote the free flow of information and ideas in the interest of all Australians and a thriving culture, economy and democracy”.

In addition to the submission, which must be submitted by 5 April, a number of librarians have nominated for the summit including me as ALIA President.

If you have comments or ideas for the summit please do not hesitate to contact me

regards

Roxanne Missingham, ALIA President

The ALIA Board is discussing attendance at and submissions to the Prime Minister’s Australia 2020 summit to be held on 19 and 20 April 2008.

The media release outlining the purpose of the summit and the key issues is available at http://www.australia2020.gov.au/news/index.cfm  In summary:“The Summit aims to bring together some of the best and brightest brains from across the country to tackle the long term challenges confronting Australia’s future - challenges which require long-term responses from the nation beyond the usual three year electoral cycle. Details of the ten critical areas that will be discussed are outlined along with the channels for involvement for the Australian public.”

We think that it is very important to have the LIS profession represented and that the key area proposed in the media release that we should focus on is:

Economic Infrastructure, the digital economy and the future of our cities
The Australia Government is committed to building world class infrastructure to improve the competitiveness of our businesses and quality of life in Australia’s cities and regions. Our priorities for advanced infrastructure include modern, safe and efficient freight and passenger transport networks, a high speed National Broadband Network, and reliable water and energy infrastructure. World class broadband infrastructure alone could add $20 billion to the Australian each year according to some estimates. Modern infrastructure is critical to reducing costs for business and building the platforms for future economic growth.The Australia 2020 Summit will examine ways to:

· Boost public and private investment in economic infrastructure

· Improve planning and coordination of infrastructure investment across different levels of government and the public and private sectors (including maximising the most efficient future design of our cities)

· Ensure that digital technologies are harnessed to improve consumer services, business productivity and the delivery of government services.

We have started on a draft submission. ALIA’s advocacy for public access to information and library services fits remarkably well within this topic.The Australia 2020 summit web site is now up with dates and further information.

Some key dates:

Nominations for attendance: COB Monday 25 February 2008
Submissions due:  COB Wednesday 9 April 2008

Do have a look at the web site - http://www.australia2020.gov.au/

We are working with other library groups and will keep ALIA members informed as the issue progresses.  Regards