International cooperation in information systems and services

Abstract This article considers information exchange as an essential element in international cooperative arrangements. It examines in some detail the information systems of the United Nations and its specialized agencies and their impact on and contribution to international cooperation. The library, archives, and information programs of Unesco are described. The article considers recent trends observed in the establishment of a global information network, under the auspices of the United Nations, in order to facilitate a more equitable distribution of technological information and promote technical cooperation among developing countries. Certain features of Unesco's regional approach to information network development are reviewed and their advantages are described. The impact, both beneficial and disadvantageous, of information technology on international cooperation in the information area is examined. The special problems faced by developing countries wishing to benefit fully from international (cooperative) information systems are discussed as well as some of the strategies adopted in an effort to find solutions to some of these problems. The authors conclude that in the coming years the transfer of information will have to be considered as a whole encompassing the production, recording, processing, distribution and use of information, the economic aspects of related industries, the sociopolitical and socioeconomic characteristics of the countries participating in a given information system, and the contribution of the information communication industry to the economic development of nations.