AToolkit to Empower Communities in Latin America

FINQUELIEVICH SUSANA

Localizing the internet. Ethical aspects in intercultural perspective

Schrftenhreihe des ICIE

Lugar: München; Año: 2007; p. 301 - 323

Can information and communication technologies (ICTs) have effective impacts on poverty reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)? Can these impacts be seen in the short and medium term? How does this affect the differentiated way in which women and men experience poverty and unemployment? Since the 1970s, a correlation has been suggested between the dissemination of ICTs and poverty. Various authors propose that ICTs contribute to the economic development of nations, as in the case of the United States. But they also agree that ICTs tend to deepen inequalities, and that their impact on the economies of the countries of the periphery will be rather different than on the economies of the United States or other developed countries. There are several reasons for this: the initial innovators are the ones who benefit most; ICT infrastructure is more profitable and easier to develop in urban areas, which accentuates inequalities with regard to rural areas; ICT-related employment requires specialized labor and is managed through flexible labor policies; unlike developed countries, the countries of the periphery do not have social security systems backed by adequate and structured public policies, or networks of civil society organizations that help mitigate the effects –unemployment, underemployment– of the transition from the economy of the Industrial Society (which some LAC regions have not reached yet) and that of the Knowledge Society. This paper consists mainly of identifying the strategic policies of governments in Latin America and the Caribbean for incorporating information and communication technologies into economic, social and political development efforts. At the same time government strategies and policies in LAC countries to stimulate socioeconomic development and fight poverty have been identified. The paper analyzes the role of communities in the New Economy, and finally, it features a toolkit of strategies and policies for the utilization of ICTs to drive development in LAC within the New Economy.