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RITS Observatory on ICT Public Policies

Information Network for the Third Sector – RITS
Rio de Janeiro Brazil
IDRC reference: 101383

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Introduction
Background

This project – which, for expediency, is called “OPPI project” in this document1 – has provided RITS with the opportunity to continue and significantly expand on its policy formulation and implementation strategies regarding ICT2 public policies, with focus on digital inclusion, or infoinclusion, as RITS prefers to call the process of providing universal ICT access to as many people as possible together with empowering them to appropriate these tools for their personal development, for the development of their communities, and for human development in general. RITS has been active since 1998 as a reliable information source on public policies related to universal access and digital inclusion in Brazil. During the year 2000, with support from a number of agencies, RITS has produced studies and disseminated articles and interviews in the mainstream press as well as through its online magazine, basically focusing on strategies for supporting the development of a knowledge society through universal access and digital inclusion initiatives. During 2001 RITS has received support from Infodev, IDRC and Ford Foundation to continue its activities and to support pilot projects on community-based digital inclusion initiatives, as well as to start developing e-learning activities to enable NGOs to make more effective use of the Internet to disseminate and exchange information. RITS also participated in the organization of the I Workshop on Digital Inclusion (Brasília, May, 2001), partnering with the e-government development team of the federal government, research institutions and other NGOs in carrying out the workshop. RITS was one of the organizations in charge of coproducing a recommendations report derived from the workshop (which had the participation of hundreds of organizations, private sector representatives and specialists), which was widely disseminated throughout the federal government, private companies, academia and among CSOs in Brazil. Our analyses of scenarios for the Fund of Universalization of Telecommunications Services (FUST), which have been circulated in the mainstream media, have influenced policy-makers in proposing reorientation of priorities and on the decision-making and project presentation processes. Our views have also influenced proposals to change the Internet governance structure in the country. Since 2000 RITS has been actively participating or leading public policy discussions on ICT public policies through several conferences and workshops, some of them of national impact. RITS continues to be actively involved with several international projects and networks, among which:. The OPPI project has been partly supported by grants from IDRC and Ford Foundation (both partly covering the first two years of the project).