IREX congratulates Biblionet [8] Program Director Paul-Andre Baran on his nomination to serve as European Union Digital Champion [9]for Romania. In its nominating letter, the Romanian Minister of Communications and Information Society Valerian Vreme wrote, “Through his work, Mr. Baran has constantly advocated for the role of ICT in today’s society and …managed to bring a strong contribution to reducing the Digital Divide in Romania.” Digital Champions are nominated by their government to raise the profile of digital inclusion and support efforts to get every citizen in the EU online. Vice President of the European Commission Neelie Kroes [10] described their role as, “They would work with education authorities, industry, and grassroots activists; independent of central government, but reporting to it.”
Paul Andre Baran [11] is the program director for Biblionet, Global Libraries program in Romania administered by IREX. On the nomination he said, “While I am pleased to have this honor and recognition from the government of Romania, I am most proud to represent the hard work of the remarkable IREX Biblionet staff, our partners and the countless librarians across the country working every day to serve their communities.”
Biblionet has equipped 959 public libraries with computers and equipment so that they can offer free internet access to communities. Librarians are trained to use this technology to provide new services to their patrons and help them with tasks like finding jobs, communicating with relatives, and researching medical information. Biblionet will equip over 2,000 public libraries by the end of the five-year program.
Paul’s background:
Prior to joining the Global Libraries team, Baran provided technical assistance to the British Council in developing the capacity the Romanian public administration Regional Training Centers. Baran has managed USAID-funded local governance reform programs that increased the capacity of local governments to provide citizen services and has acted as a consultant for the Romanian Presidency on the subject of local governance. Mr. Baran was the Executive Director of the Romania Think Tank, where his main duties included strategic planning, policy formulation, resource mobilization, and representing the think tank at major conferences. Baran holds a masters degree in industrial and labor relations from the Faculty of Law at the University of Bucharest and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from San Francisco State University. Baran is fluent in Romanian and proficient in Polish.