FUTURE OF INFORMATION ACCESS

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FUTURE OF INFORMATION ACCESS

• OVERVIEW OF OECD AND LATIN AMERICA PERSPECTIVE

Roberto Aguerrebere, IMT, Mexico
ACCESSING TRANSPORTATION INFORMATION RESOURCES
WORLDWIDE
July 29 - August 2, 2001 - St. Petersburg, Florida
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Content

• Some characteristics of LA
• (OECD Acapulco questionaire)
• Some basic context diferences between OECD and
  Latin American countries

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Content

• Some characteristics of LA
• (OECD Acapulco questionaire)
• Organisation of origin, information requested and
  usual sources consulted
• Access to information highlights
• Access restrictions profile
• Suggestions for access improvment

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Type of organization of origin
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Type of requested information
Other Rates, O-D Travel times
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Sources of information and documentation
Access to Information

• Government Agencies
• Research Centers
• International Agencies
• Universities
• Associations

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Access to information

• 2/3 have easy access to own country information
• 1/3 have access to information from other
  countries

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Access to information

• 1/3 use a computer to access information
• less than 1/5 use Internet

Other Postal mail, Internet and attendance to
courses
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Access to Internet
Access to Information

• 86 have access to Internet
• Only the 36 use it as main tool of search.
• 94 had interest in knowing a wider use of
  Internet to obtain information and documentation.

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Paying information services
Access to Information

• Only a couple of persons responsibles for
  information searches had access to Internet
  other paying-services

• With Internet access 10
• Corporative account for Dialogue-TRIS 2
• STN/ITRD -OCDE 0
• Silver Platter/CD TRANSPORT 2

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Access restrictions 1
Access to Information

• Distortions in communications
• Lack of dissemination
• High costs of information
• Old information
• Confidentiality
• Language (foreign)
• Lack of computers or Internet access
• Unknown channels for accessing

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Access restrictions 2
Access to Information

• Reduced time available for searching and reading
• Bureaucratic paperwork to obtain information
• Lack of budget for acquiring information and
  equipment
• Not all sources do have website
• Scarce documentation
• Lack of contacts in countries with information

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Improving access to information 1

• Institutional agreements for information exchange
• A common place where transportation departments
  could publish news/papers about technological
  advances
• (web-based technology clearing-house?)
• Disseminate innovations for information access

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Improving access to information 2

• Greater dissemination about companies and
  organisms related to the handling of information
  
• Brochures informing the location of data sources,
  including websites
• To implement e-mail in all government agencies
  levels
• To facilitate Internet access to recent
  publications

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Improving access to information 3

• To improve computing equipment
• Greater budgets

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Some fundamental differences

• OECD
• More economic development
• More mobility and transportation activity
• Larger transportation market and more
  participants
• More research and technological innovation

• Latin America
• Less economic development
• Less mobility and transportation activity
• Smaller market and less participants
• Little research and technological innovation

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Some fundamental differences

• OECD
• More information documentation demand
• More bussiness opportunities
• More investment in information and documentation
• More information documentation offer - in
  quantity and quality

• Latin America
• Inhibited information documentation demand
• Market to develop
• Less investment in information and documentation
• Smaller information and documentation offer - in
  quantity and quality

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FOR YOUR ATTENTION,THANKS