The Information Programme has two overarching aims: First, to allow those in the poorer parts of the world to benefit from accessing, exchanging, and producing knowledge and information; Second, to use new techniques and tools to empower civil society as a force for good citizenship in national, regional and global arenas. 

The Programme runs its own projects in three focal areas: access to knowledge; civil society communication; and open information policy. The Programme also works closely with a majority of the national and regional Soros foundations, and has specific collaborations with most of the OSI network programmes and initiatives.

A. Access to Knowledge

1. Intellectual Property Reform & Open Knowledge Models  – This initiative aims to expand access to knowledge through two strategies. First, to reform inequitable intellectual property (IP) rules, by making the governance of global institutions more responsive to the needs of poorer countries, and promoting fairer IP provisions at both global and national level – especially as these impact on access to education, health care and poverty alleviation. A major effort in this area is an international “Access to Knowledge” advocacy movement we have seeded and which we continue to support. A second strategy is to support experimentation with new open models of knowledge production and exchange.

2. Open Access Initiative – Until recently, most research articles were published in closed-access journals which only wealthy institutions could afford. The Initiative has supported efforts to change the way scholarly and scientific publishing works by shifting it to an open-access model (using open journals or repositories).  We fund a wide range of projects on advocacy and awareness-raising, development of business and policy models, and the consolidation of a global advocacy movement.

3. EIFL library consortium – EIFL (Electronic Information for Libraries) is an independent network of library consortia in more than 50 countries. Its members include several thousand libraries which serve an estimated 5 million students, teachers, researchers and other library users. EIFL collectively negotiates affordable but unsubsidized prices for access to about 7000 journals and databases in social science, business and economics, as well as health and natural science. The EIFL network also represents the interests of libraries in poorer countries in global policy forums, and acts as a conduit to make available locally produced content from member countries.

4. Translations – consists of three projects: 1. an Arabic translation project designed to help address the “knowledge deficit” in the region; 2. an “East Translates East” project across the new “EU divide” in Europe; and 3. a long-term project to develop Romani-language publishing. These projects are operated by the Next Page Foundation, a spin-off of the Information Programme.

B. Civil Society Communication

5. Capacity for Civil Society Communication – An initiative to enhance the information and communications capacity of key organizations and networks of concern to OSI.

6. Tools for Open Society – Supports the provision of software tools for the unique needs of civil society. Activities include mapping of needs and available tools; building networks to support the development, customization and adoption of these tools; and occasional direct funding for the creation of new software.

C. Open Information Policy

7. Open Information Policy – Supports policy interventions to broaden access to communications, especially the internet, in the most disadvantaged countries, as a tool to promote education and poverty alleviation; and initiatives to protect the freedom to communicate in the digital environment.

8. New Opportunities – As the programme operates in a fast-changing area, it occasionally makes small and medium-sized grants to explore new areas and programme possibilities.

Please note that OSF London programs form part of the wider program operated by OSI. For further details please use the following link: http://www.soros.org/initiatives/information