Diego Merizalde

Studied business administration in Bogotá and has a Master’s degree in public policy from the London School of Economics and the Paris Institute of Political Studies. Diego is the coordinator of the project "ICT in public libraries", implemented by the National Library of Colombia. This project originated from a grant given to Ministry of Culture of Colombia by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as part of its Global Libraries initiative. The goal of this project is to strengthen library service and enhance their ability to connect people, using ICT as a tool to increase the capacity of these services to mobilize social capital in local communities. Through this approach, public libraries can contribute in new ways to the social development of their users and enjoy a greater recognition within their communities. Diego has also been a professor of economics at a university in Bogota, has published articles in local newspapers and has conducted investigations for institutions such as the ILO.

Relevant Projects

As part of the reach of the project "ICT in public libraries" which Diego coordinates, the National Library of Colombia has developed a strategy to implement innovative services in public libraries across Colombia. One of this services was designed in partnership with HistoryPin and resulted in a digital project to recover photographs and stories from local communities to build together the history of Colombia from the bottom-up and to create more connections in communities. This initiative was called "Comparte Tu Rollo" and has had a unexpected success across the Country: in 3 months more than 3200 pictures have been uploaded to HistoryPin and nearly 350 collections have been created. This project has allowed many Colombians to participate in a national project and strengthen their agency by getting others to hear their voice through the stories they add to their photographic collections. Also the National Library of Colombia has registered more than 2500 visits to this workshops across the Country in a 6 months period.

Affiliation

Ministry of Culture of Colombia / National Library

Sector

Other NGO or Non-Profit, Government (incl National and State libraries and archives)

Country

Colombia