Access to ITU information / documents

KEY CONCEPTS

Definition: Access

• In the work of the Dedicated Group, “access” refers to:– The right of members of the public to locate and

retrieve information for use (consultation or reference)

– The right of private individuals to request and receive information from the Organization

Decisions required

• What types of information could/should be made available to the public?

• What types of information should not be made available to the public? Why not?

• May wish to consider when access could/should be provided.

Access could vary over time

Early proposals, preliminary drafts,

working papers

Development, discussion/negotiation,

testing

Review, revision, final drafts

Decisions, approvals, outcome documents

• Issue: Which stages of the process should be open to public access? When should access be provided?

Different forms, different purposes

• The same information may exist in different forms at different times for different purposes. It may be important to consider the purpose:– Background document for discussion (restricted

access)– Report of discussions (may be available to the

public?)– Publication of outcome (for public dissemination)

What the discussion is NOT about

• It is essential to first decide what types of information could/should be made available to the public.

• Issues of implementation and procedure can only be addressed later– Cost of access– Method(s) of access

Right vs Cost

• Information may be made available to the public at a cost or free of charge– For example, ITU produces a wide variety of

publications for sale• Must not confuse discussions about providing

the right to access types of information with discussions about providing cost-free access to information

Availability of information

• How information is made available is a separate issue from the right to access

• Public access may be provided in many ways:– Information routinely posted on ITU website– Publications for sale– Information provided upon request (e.g., for

documents not regularly posted on the website; for historic documents only available in paper format)