MISTICA: Methodology and Social Impact of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) in Latin America and the Caribbean

This think tank through the following tools: the MISTICA site, a methodology for e-conferences with language translation linked to this site, a remote participation methodology for face-to-face meetings, an Internet social impact compensation office, the financing of pilot applications, and multiple on-line evaluations.

Based on the premise that the process is as important as the objective, this project has been designed and is carried out with the close involvement of the virtual community itself. The 250 participants work to achieve cultural and linguistic pluralism, which allows them to contribute in the following ways: by participating in the e-conferences (which average two per day), by acting as members of the jury to select the pilot applications or by writing a report), by collaborating on some of the pilot applications, by directly writing to the coordination team or to other members, and by completing on-line evaluation forms.

Technology.

Organisers observe that the project has had a multiplying effect on collaboration among users and on project coordination (1/4 of the budget is devoted to financing for collaboration projects and/or to converting virtual community members into project consultants). MISTICA organises the access of structured information that is useful for training (the Web page now receives an average of 5,000 visits a day).

Some barriers to MISTICA's continued growth are the number of existing e-conferences with a similar focus (which threaten users with an information overload); the cultural characteristic of low participation in social movements; and the complexity of the projects (which is reflective of the number of interrelated components).