The second half of the 20th century will long be remembered as the beginning of the so-called “information age” - one of the most exciting and revolutionary developments of our times, brought about by the significant advances in digital technologies.

The new technologies have had - and will have - a profound impact on the information industry, virtually dissolving geographical barriers and allowing the production and transmission of news and content in previously unheard of formats. This will all be done at a fraction of the cost of traditional, paper-based information.

IPS has rapidly assimilated the changes in the communication field, transforming itself from a print news agency to a multi-media player, offering services in a variety of languages and formats. Partnering with other communication organisations has been an important tool, enabling IPS to increase its scope and reach.

IPS is profoundly aware of the huge imbalances in access to media and ICTs within and between countries, social classes, generations and genders. In adopting new technologies and allocating our own scarce resources we never forget our mission.

Ever since the Internet has emerged as a new, democratic platform for information sharing, IPS has worked very hard to increase its presence on the Web through a number of news and project-related websites (see column on the left), which, in 2006 alone, have generated over 30 million page views per month. As of 2007, all stories in English and Spanish can be shared by readers over social media pages (digg, del.icio.us, newsvine, reddit, stumbleupon, yahoomyweb), allowing IPS to increase readership and circulation.

The IPS websites generate 40 periodic newsletters in 6 languages (Arabic, English, French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish), sent to some 150,000 email subscribers. Two of IPS’ most prolific writers, Jim Lobe (USA) and Costanza Vieira (Colombia), keep their own blog on the IPS site, with many other IPS staff and writers also active in the blogosphere.

In recent years, the Internet has become a lot more than just plain text. Audio and video broadcasting has become increasingly common, thanks to greater bandwidth and the creation of new, compression formats. IPS is working towards expanding its capacity in this field, opening up new venues to reach its audiences. To this end, IPS has already produced an institutional video (in English, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish), currently hosted on YouTube. Video coverage of the IPS ceremony held to honour Kofi Annan’s four decades of service is also available on the events page. Besides videos, IPS produces weekly podcasts on the Millennium Development Goals (in Spanish and Portuguese). A weekly podcast is also produced for Tierramerica in Spanish, lasting six or seven minutes and handling four issues related to the environment and development in the Americas.

Finally, selected IPS stories are repackaged for radio on a daily or weekly basis and distributed by radio stations and partner radio networks, notably in Southern Africa and Latin America. The Tierramérica podcast is broadcast weekly by hundreds of community, commercial and cultural stations; IPS Africa produces the Rip and Read Radio Service, available at the Africa news site (English). A Rip and Read radio service on the Millennium Development Goals is also available in Portuguese.