EIFL has co-organized a session at the 15th Internet Governance Forum 2020 (IGF 2020) which will be held online this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The overarching theme of IGF 2020 is ‘ Internet for human resilience and solidarity’. 

This year, EIFL co-organized the meeting of the Dynamic Coalition on Public Access in Libraries (DC-PAL), which addresses issues relating to public access to the internet, and the role of public libraries in providing and improving public access. 

The theme of the DC-PAL session is ‘Equitable access to digital content: lessons from COVID-19’. Public access to computers and the internet through public libraries is a key topic, and Valensiya Dresvyannikova of IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) will present a paper co-authored with Ugne Lipeikaite, Impact Manager for the EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme, on broadband policy in relation to public libraries in several countries. Teresa Hackett, Manager of the EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme will speak on access to knowledge during a pandemic, reviewing library, government and  publisher responses, and options under global copyright laws and regulations. 

• Date and time: The DC-PAL session takes place on 5 November, from 12:40 to 14:10 UTC. Further details of the DC-PAL session and the agenda can be found here. 
• To register: To participate, or attend remotely, you must register for the IGF. Registration details can be found here. 

The IGF is a global forum that brings together stakeholders from government, industry and civil society to discuss public policy issues relating to the internet. The DC-PAL was founded in 2011 by EIFL and IFLA.