Social Science Research Council

The Information Technology and Social Transformations (ITST) program held its initial workshop in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on April 18-20, 2002. There, the five core research teams presented their projects to Latin American scholars and practitioners.  The goal was to test the framing and scope of these international projects, with particular attention to their relevance to Latin America.

On issues of conflict and security, Rafal Rohozinski made connections between his project “Glocal War: Re-Imagining Conflict in a Networked World” which focuses on the use of information technology (IT) in Eastern European conflict zones and the work of two Colombian scholars on conflict in their region. Ron Deibert and research affiliate Adam Jones presented their project “ICTs and Global Civil Society: Security and Design of Global Networks” which includes sub-projects on ICTs and Civil Society Organizations and on ICTs and Virtual Civic Activism.

Shari Cohen, research affiliate on Steven Weber’s project “Open Source and the Political Economy of Cooperation in the Information Revolution,” posed a question about using collaborative models to transform society.

Catherine Mann presented her project “The Internet and Transformation: On the Art and Practice of Policymaking” which uses local collaborators familiar with the opportunities and constraints for Internet policy in their regions. On another public policy topic, Rohan Samarajiva discussed his project “ICT Infrastructure Policy and the Role of Participation in Extending Connectivity” with two Brazilian Internet experts who commented on local IT policy issues.