FUNREDES

FUNREDES is an NGO for research, reflection, and action which works to support the establishment and management of thematic virtual communities. FUNREDES believes that developing countries should respond to their problems with their own sustainable methods - centrally, by acquiring the capacity to produce their own information. FUNREDES envisions democracy as being stimulated in developing countries through access to information in a way that fosters regional identity. Thus, promotion of respect for and diversity of languages and cultures is key to its work. A key commitment is that a developing country must conceive its own process of creating network structures, a process which will not be the same as in developed countries.

In concert with these commitments, collaboration is a key FUNREDES strategy, based on the belief that linkages (between groups and/or regions) are an intrinsic part of the network society paradigm. The organisation has begun and led "a vibrant virtual community of actors" whose interest is the social impact of ICTs, as expressed through such FUNREDES-led initiatives as the MISTICA (Methodology and Social Impact of ICT in Latin America and the Caribbean) Community. The goal of this community is to use ICTs to create bridges between academia and civil society in the region, fomenting collaboration and creating opportunities for collective work through networks. It is from this community that OLISTICA (Latin American and Caribbean Observatory of the Social Impact of ICTs in Action), which is also coordinated by FUNREDES, came into existence. Click here to access information about these and various other FUNREDES projects initiated since 1993.

As an instigator of new visions for development, FUNREDES also has the mission of being the guardian, with respect to new ICTs, of a certain ethic in the work of international communities. FUNREDES has worked to cultivate a strong awareness of the issue of linguistic and cultural diversity in the information society (click here to learn more) and seeks to contribute thinking on this topic - one "where civil society is not very present", according to FUNREDES' Director. The need to increase the visibility of the ethical dimensions of ICT is central to FUNREDES' research-action efforts. Another of the issues that permeates FUNREDES' work is gender (although the organisation does not carry out specific gender-related activities).

In 2006, FUNREDES began a transformation away from an organisation focused on project coordination and toward a study, consulting, and education group (a think tank). The new orientation of FUNREDES is to give priority to the transfer of its knowledge and experiences to the field. The intention is to create more space to research and study - broadening its introspective work in order to affect public policy and yet also serving as a catalyser, facilitator and companion of other projects. The main emphases of the FUNREDES think tank are:

• Linguistic and cultural diversity in the Information Society and the ethics of information and online participative democracy, as described above
• The development of multistakeholder participation and approaches, and the fostering of a paradigm of international cooperation - through FUNREDES' various memberships
• The social impact of ICT, its evaluation and indicators (e.g., by continuing to accompany the MISTICA Transition Team)
• The management of virtual communities and continuing collaboration with them (see, for example, La Red sobre el Impacto Social de las Tecnologîas de la Información y Comunicación (RedISTIC), which FUNREDES inspired)
• The digital divide and the relation between human development and ICT4D, as explored in publications such as "The Hurdle Track from ICT to Human Development" and as expressed in activities such as FUNREDES' social and technological watch on ICT4D matters

FUNREDES offers the following services:

• Project design and implementation for professional sectors on the use of new ICTs
• Stimulating, moderating, translating, and surveillance of electronic discussions
• Courses, workshops, and seminars on the internet - its uses, functions, and impacts
• Implementation, support, creation, management, and hosting of websites, databases, and discussion lists
• Consulting to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) on formulation, structuralisation, organisation, and technical schemitisation - as well as political strategies
• Network consulting in academic, scientific, and non-profit networks

Technology.