L I R N E . N E T

DIRSI network members Hernan Galperin, Roxana Barrantes and Amy Mahan (also LIRNE.NET coordinator), will participate in a panel entitled “Are new communication technologies reducing or increasing inequalities?” in the XXVIII International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association - LASA 2009 [June 11-14, 2009; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil]. “Rethinking inequalities” is the main theme of this edition.

Saturday June 14, 2009 - 9:00 - 10:45 am

Hernan Galperin [Chair]

Presenters:

1. Hernan Galperin, Roxana Barrantes
Can the poor afford mobile telephony? Evidence from Latin America

2. Amy Mahan
Measuring the impact of access to ICT infrastructure in Latin America

3. Antonio Jose Botelho
New communication technologies and MSME’s in Latin America and the Caribbean

4. Sebastian Ureta
Jóvenes y tecnologías móviles en Santiago de Chile

5. Fernando Jose Barrio
The digital paradox in Latin America: The simultaneous pursuit of policies facilitating and restricting access to digital information in the region

The University of Southern California (USC) Annenberg School for Communication research seminar by Joe Straubhaar and Jeremiah Spence (both of University of Texas at Austin) is available for online viewing.

“This talk will trace the waves of thinking in Brazil about digital inclusion in terms of social thinking, policy choices, technology choices and programs, as well as the adoption of technology at local and national levels. We will compare Brazilian thinking about digital and social inclusion with that of the U.S. and Europe. We will examine the impact of social networking in Brazil, including how it has accelerated Internet use deeper into society. We will also look at how some very new technologies, like virtual worlds, are being used to address concrete social problems like distance education for teachers.”

This talk is part of the Annenberg Research Network on International Communication speaker series.
Click here to view the presentation From digital inclusion to social networks and virtual worlds in Brazil.

Click here for the USC Annenberg School for Communication Event Calendar.

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Two new resources prepared by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) explore economic growth in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

Click here for Latin America and the Caribbean: GDP growth per country (2004-2009).

Click here for Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2007-2008.

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LIRNE Coordinator, Amy Mahan and Bruce Girard, Director of Comunica, are participating in the LACNIC Consultation Meeting, being held in Montevideo on 19 -20 August 19.

LACNIC is summoning a consultation meeting with the aim of informing the actors of the regional Internet community (governments, civil society organization, business chambers and associations, academic networks) its activities, projects, achievements and goals, as well as to receive their opinion on the issues most relevant to the community.

LACNIC is committed to the agreements of the World Summit on the Information Society, which concluded in 2005 with the adoption of the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society, and particularly to the calling these agreements make to reinforce cooperation between all parties interested in the issue of Internet Governance and the administration of critical Internet resources. Consequently, this meeting represents one further step to facilitate the participation of different actors in relation to issues that are of regional interest.

For more information: comunicaciones [at] lacnic.net
Click here for online streaming of the event.

Bruce Girard, director of Comunica, will participate in a panel entitled, “New digital scenes: Real support to the development, the education and the professional update?” at the Congreso Comunicación y Transmisión Digital (Digital Communication and Broadcasting Congress) in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Click here to go to the conference website, or here for the English version.

The event is organised by the Instituto Nacional de Aprendizaje (INA) and the Radio Nederland Training Centre (RNTC) with the objective to create an arena to present, analyze and discuss – from educational, commercial and institutional angles – the implications of the new information and communication (NITCs), the transition toward digitization and media convergence in order to modernize and develop technological infrastructure in Central America and the Caribbean.

Issues to be addressed include:

• New digital information and communication technologies as tools to encourage citizen participation and to support professional / vocational training and upgrading.
• Current standards for digital broadcasting and reception.
• Systems and tools for production, digital post-production, and e-business. High-definition audio and video (HDTV – HDR) systems.
• Producing audiovisual contents for educational and cultural purposes.
• Freedom of speech and cultural diversity in the digital age.

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Congreso Comunicación y Transmisión Digital - 16 -19 de junio de 2008, San José, Costa Rica- el Instituto Nacional de Aprendizaje (INA) y Radio Nederland Training Centre (RNTC) organizan este evento que tiene como objetivo ser un punto de encuentro entre la ciudadanía y los especialistas para resaltar la importancia del uso de la tecnología de información y comunicación (NTIC) en la producción de contenidos mediáticos y educativos.

Algunos de los temas que se abordarán son:

• Las nuevas tecnologías digitales de información y comunicación como herramientas para el fomento de la participación ciudadana y de apoyo para la capacitación y actualización profesional.
• Normas actuales para la transmisión y recepción digital.
• Sistemas y herramientas para producción, posproducción digital, y comercio electrónico.
• Sistemas digitales para radio y televisión.
• Producción de contenidos audiovisuales con fines educativos y culturales.
• Libertad de expresión y diversidad cultural en la era digital.