Information and access to knowledge due to cooperation among Portuguese-speaking countries

Abstract

Introduction: Information society and knowledge society have become common sense terms. The ability to problematize these terms or to recognize their historicity was lost. Actions and policies aimed at giving broader access to knowledge and cooperative networks can help recovering the theoretical and practical construction process faced by them. Objective: This paper focuses on the reflection about cooperation network formation in Lusophone countries by presenting a case study on the information about, and formation of, human resources for health, based on work experiences. The network is composed by Fiocruz, University of Minho and by institutions that projected themselves in the movement in order to broaden the access to scientific knowledge. Methods: Documentary and bibliographic research applied to identify South-South cooperation networks; Fiocruz’s performance in networks about health education in order to approach the origins of Open Educational Resources, as well as the experiences of Portugal and the University of Minho in institutionalizing the open access movement. Results: Bibliographic research focused on the work of Manuel Castells about cooperative networking. Cooperative work should be a model to broaden the access to knowledge, both in its political and strategic dimensions, and to create technical infrastructure for its operation, a fact has been decisive for the success of networks taken as the object of the present study. Conclusion: New perspectives about an old question were observed, namely: the right to knowledge, which is herein understood as citizen’s right to access to education, to knowledge. This is also one of the core themes concerning the construction of relationships among countries, international cooperation and the defense of democracy and national sovereignty in contemporary societies.