"Internet for Social and Economic Development. A toolkit to Empower Communities in Latin America“

1. INTERNATIONAL ICIE SYMPOSIUM 2004Localizing the Internet: Ethical Issues in Intercultural PerspectiveKarlsruhe, Germany4-6 October, 2004 "Internet for Social and Economic Development. A toolkit to Empower Communities in Latin America“ Susana Finquelievich Research Program for the Information Society Gino Germani Research Institute University of Buenos Aires susana@finquel.com.ar LINKS, Civil Association for the Development of information Society http://www.links.org.ar

2. ICTs impacts on social and economic development, and on poverty alleviationin LAC • LAC´s governmental strategic policies for incorporating ICTs into economic, social and political development efforts. 2. How can communities integrate themselves into the New Economy?

3. Lack of regional projects for disseminating ICTs for social ends by macro-regional LAC organizations. The fact that Mercosur countries produce strategies and policies in this direction does not mean that Mercosur as an entity creates plans for ICTs use in reducing poverty or stimulating sustainable development.

4. ICTS, DEVELOPMENT AND POVERTY REDUCTION LAC´s national policies towards promoting sustainable development and fighting poverty are not oriented towards empowering communities, but focused on current problems. LAC countries have implemented piecemeal plans to reduce poverty, but few have set concrete, feasible goals for substantial and structural reduction of poverty. This is a grave deficiency: poverty does not refer only to family income, but rather is a multidimensional phenomenon.

5. At the regional level • Lack of coordination among the LAC countries and regions. The production of projects, plans and strategies related to the IS is entrusted mainly to national and state institutions that do no interact through inter-regional networks. • Lack of coordination among national policies with regard to the IS and provincial, state and local policies. This frequently leads to overlapping of parallel programs, as is seen in examples of connectivity. • Lack of integration among social actors. In general, state policies are reluctant to alliances, and links with other social actors: the academic world, private companies and civil society organizations. In certain sectors, such as e-government and connectivity, there is a closer relationship between the state and private enterprise.

6. ICTS, DEVELOPMENT AND POVERTY REDUCTION • Many countries have the financial resources for their assistance programs, and infrastructure networks for Internet access, but these resources are not used for massive training of the population in ICT use. • Employment policies are frequently linked to policies aimed at developing SMES. • Disconnection from community development policies and food plans. The use of ICTs tools would facilitate such coordination. • Few strategies, policies, or programs consider the potential of ICTs for these objectives.

7. THE NEED FOR A NEW ECONOMY In LAC countries it is essential to build a new economy, the economy of the Information Society, adjusting it to the needs, advantages, challenges, obstacles and potentials of the region (Even though we do not yet know if this would effectively reduce poverty in the region)

8. It is not enough to connect citizens, or to expand e-governments To develop and redistribute the wealth of the New Economy, it is necessary to have control over it. Internet access, more computers or telecentres networks do not necessarily insert communities in the new economy. This jeopardizes the proposals that governments may develop, as their objectives are aimed at measuring how connected their citizens are, how many e-government portals they have, or the number of connected schools. This alone, although a necessary first step, does not develop an IS economy nor does it help fight poverty.

9. The dynamic of a new economy will not produce results in the short term in reducing poverty in the LAC countries: it is a medium and long-term wager, that involves risk. Strategies and plans for sustainable development and poverty reduction will not only have to continue: they must also be intensified in this period, but making maximum use of the tools of the Information Society. This implies learning from past experience in LAC and from best practices and mistakes, as well as studies of possible social impacts.

10. How can communities integrate themselves in the New Economy? The New Economy (NE) “… has meant a transcendental change of dimensions: the displacement, from the production of goods to the production of ideas, which bears the treatment, not of personnel or stocks, but of information” Joseph Stiglitz (2003) • The NE is the dynamic system of interactions between a nation’s citizens, the business and government, that capitalize upon technology to achieve a social or economic good. • Four major stockholder groups: citizens, business and governments, and the Science and Technology sector. • The new economy is based on innovation: managerial, technological, social, and political innovation

11. The risks • Since there is new labor flexibility, there’s also new labor insecurity. • The need for adaptability to fast cultural and geographic changes (migrations, etc.). • The NE drives a need for innovative education. An aggravation of the educational gap will emerge, which will influence labor opportunities.

12. The risks • Most governments place emphasis on connectivity. But sustainable development and reduction of poverty are not achieved merely through access to ICTs. • Gender-related factors are not taken into account when promoting and disseminating the use of ICTs for economic goals. • NE is based on electronic infrastructures. But the populations of remote, low-populated or low-income areas are often deprived of ICTs infrastructures.

13. The opportunities • The new economy provides developing countries with an opportunity to develop their economies faster and the hope of sustainable development. • Increased possibilities of economic and technological “leap-frogging”: the opportunity for acquiring a state of the art ICT Infrastructure similar to the infrastructure which enables industrial innovation in more advanced countries and economies • The possibility of developing national and local economies though offshoring (offshore outsourcing) • The possibility for CSOs to participate in the generation of local and regional innovation environments.

14. The opportunities (2) • To take part in policies and strategies –together with other social agents- in order to ensure that technological innovation will be used as a tool for sustainable development and poverty alleviation. • Empowering women in their communities through NE-oriented education and training. • To be able to participate in the generation of new educational environments • Creating new knowledge within a country and disseminating it throughout the country or the macro-region. • The increasing mobility of individuals as students or faculty or researchers,

15. Citizens’ e-readiness Citizen e-readiness describes the readiness of a nation’s citizens to participate as proactive agents in the different sectors and levels of the New Economy, and to capitalize on the opportunities to participate offered by the new economic and technological environment

16. Citizens’ e-readinessrequires: • Access to ICT infrastructures: hardware, software, connections, etc • Training on ICTs use (not only ICT literacy, but the means of managing enterprises using ICT benefits). • Education and lifelong training in the NE-related careers and skills • Fast and low-cost access to Internet connections. • Information, awareness of the benefits of participating in the new economic environment. • Awareness and creativity to identify the opportunities in the NE. • Access to public information about state-private sector initiatives in the NE field.

17. Citizens’ e-readinessrequires (2): • Information and social organization to claim to the governments for the required ICT infrastructures, innovative education, legislation, and public information. • Information and social organization to denunciate the negative impacts of the NE on society, and to negotiate with the public and the private sectors the measures to eliminate these negative impacts. • Effective Use of ICTs:The capacity and opportunity to successfully integrate ICTs into the accomplishment of self or collaboratively identified goals.” Gurstein (2003)

18. The role of CSOs in the New Economy • Understanding the full scopes of the NE for development, and disseminating this knowledge among citizens and CSOs. • Understanding that NE implies new opportunities for citizens and CSOs, and for development. • Participating in national, Macro-Regional, and global policies to build technological capacities in developing countries. • Intervening to diminish the negative impacts of the NE on fragile economies, and on vulnerable social groups. • Working to increase citizens’ e-readiness.

19. The role of CSOs in the NE (2) • Creating a new vision, to aim at controlling, at least partially, the Internet infrastructures. To develop and redistribute the wealth of the New Economy, it is necessary to have control over it. • Identifying priorities: information systems with capacity to national and Regional economies should be considered strategic. • Claiming for access to ICT services through the extended and equitable deployment of national information infrastructures and integration into international communication and information Backbone.

20. The role of CSOs in the NE (3) • Participating in the negotiations between the national governments and the telecommunication enterprises, to ensure the regulation of telephone, wireless communications and access costs for users, and the equitable distribution of infrastructure throughout national territories. • Encouraging multi-sectorial synergy (with the participation of public and private sectors, civil society, academic sector, and the international cooperation institutions), for the promotion of social and economic development through the use of ICT. • Achieving constructive alliances among these sectors to attain the development goals.

21. The role of CSOs in the NE (4) • Requesting to public institutions and the S&T sector for Information Society indicators that reflect the economic and social impacts of ICTs, in order to assess and monitor the public policies, as well as the private sector and the associative sector’s initiatives in this area. Alternative measurement methodologies are needed to evaluate the social and economic appropriation of technologies by the communities. • Participating in the public-private sectors discussions and decisions on systemic improvement in the functioning and competitiveness of key sectors of the national and Regional economy through strategic policies and implementation plans.

22. Thank you! Susana Finquelievich susana@finquel.com.ar You can download the complete presentation at: http://www.links.org.ar