Photo courtesy of Laura Santana

Meet Laura Santana — joining us as presenter at this year’s 2021 CC Global Summit (September 20-24). Laura is a librarian from Latin America and holds a Master’s degree in Information Science from the University of São Paulo, Brazil. She is a researcher in the field of Information & Culture, and specialist in User Engagement and Customer Experience. She has been advising educational and governmental institutions across the Americas for 10 years, with international scientific publishers in the areas of Technology and Healthcare. Currently, she works with the British Medical Journal to implement education technologies, in particular with initiatives aimed at advancing scientific research on COVID-19. Laura is now supporting the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning’s Library in literacy programs for emerging countries.

Based in?: São Paulo, Brazil

Summit Session: The role of digital repositories in shaping Open Education strategies in Latin America.

How many times have you been to CC Global Summit?

This is my second time attending the CC Global Summit. I was amazed by the network of people I met during my first attendance, and how my presentation about OER resonated with researchers from other parts of the world!

Why are you an advocate for Open?

I truly believe the path to equality is through Open. We need to guarantee access to data, information and knowledge to every citizen of the world.

“We can only achieve equality and social justice in the world by sharing resources, knowledge and experiences. It is together that Humanity will achieve its greatest potential!”

What is your proudest achievement?

Over the past 7 years, I have been directly involved in the medical education of over 40,000 healthcare professionals across Latin America. I’m proud of this achievement because through education, we can promote better patient care and make the world a healthier place.

What is the best part of what you do? What is the most difficult part of what you do?

Listening to people’s stories and diverse backgrounds brings me such an incredible perspective of the world. The most difficult part is accepting my desire to help people can only come to one extent, even though I wished I could do so much more.

What is your favorite GIF?

via GIPHY

What tool/platform/app are you loving right now?

I’m loving Figma and Jamboard because of its potential to drive collaboration and explore creativity, especially during times we can’t be collaborative in person.

What’s one new trend that you think the CC community should look out for?

Definitely how evidence-based information should be at the forefront of every decision-making, especially when it comes to policy development.

If you could only leave people with one message from your summit presentation, what would it be?

Embrace the Open. Collaboration is the key to achieve the development of not only the Latin American region, but the Global South as a whole. 

What would you like to say to Creative Commons on our 20th anniversary?

It’s thanks to the Creative Commons initiative and team, information has been democratic over the past 20 years! Congratulations!

What does ‘Better Sharing, Brighter Future’ mean to you?

We can only achieve equality and social justice in the world by sharing resources, knowledge and experiences. It is together that Humanity will achieve its greatest potential!

Join us from wherever you are for the 2021 CC Global Summit, taking place 20-24 September! Register here >>

Want to know more about this year’s Summit presenters? Discover all the ‘Meet the CC Summit Presenter’ Q&As here>>