Sharing Digital Content in the Arab World
On October 23, 2010, ictQATAR and Creative Commons will be hosting Digitally Open: Innovation and Open Access Forum.
The Forum will address how innovation can thrive in the digital age through sharing and openness, covering issues such as digital content rights, the open cloud, open source software, openness in government, creativity and making money in an open world.
Donatella Della Ratta, Arab World Media and Development Manager with Creative Commons, is working with ictQATAR in planning the Forum and shared her views with ICT Connector on the importance of being Digitally Open, the great potential in the Arab World and why she is excited about the event.
What is Creative Commons and what is your goal in the Arab world?
Creative Commons is a global, non-profit organization that has volunteers working in over 70 countries around the world. With the advent of digital media, the sharing of creative, educational, scientific and other kinds of works has become technically and technologically very easy, even while it remains complicated from a copyright perspective.
Creative Commons (CC) works to enable sharing of all kinds of content by providing tools that make it easy, scalable, and legal. Our flexible copyright licenses allow scientists, scholars, governments, musicians, teachers, cultural heritage institutions and many others to choose how to distribute works so they can be easily accessed and used by others.
In the Arab region, Creative Commons tools can provide the necessary infrastructure for those seeking to increase the production of culturally and scientifically important works in Arabic. If embraced, our licenses and legal tools can be leveraged to encourage and grow a culture supportive of original, Arabic content while simultaneously promoting a respect for others’ rights.
What opportunities do you think exist here?
The population in the Arab world is young. About 65% of the region’s population is under 25 years of age. A young population means energy, ideas, and innovative thought. The Arab world has the opportunity to invest in this future generation and encourage a sharing culture built on respect for copyright.
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