Saturday 01 November 2008, San José, Costa
Rica
LATIN AMERICA:
Campus Party to Bridge
Digital Gap
By Ana Artigas
SAN SALVADOR (IPS)
- Seeking solutions for
closing the digital and
technological gap and
sharing innovative
experiences are the aims
of the Ibero-America
Campus Party, which is
being held parallel to
the 18th Ibero-American
summit of heads of state
and government this week
in El Salvador.
The gathering "has
brought together
talented people who are
involved in a variety of
initiatives, to give
them an opportunity to
share their concerns,
know-how and
experiences," Juan
Negrillo, coordinator of
the Campus Party, told
IPS.
"Participating here are
experts in robotics and
software, as well as
people involved in video
games. The aim of this
year’s edition is to
foment digital and
technological
inclusion," he said.
The Campus Party is an
annual event held since
1997 by the Asociación
E3 Futura, a non-profit
organisation created in
Spain whose stated
mission is to "bring
technology and society
together."
The event is sponsored
by Spanish government
agencies and companies
from Spain and other
countries around the
world.
The Oct. 28-Nov. 1
Salvadoran edition of
Campus Party has drawn
600 participants from 22
(mainly Latin American)
countries. The thematic
areas represented range
from astronomy to
robotics, innovation,
and "modding", which
refers to modifying a
piece of hardware or
software to carry out a
function for which it
was not designed or
intended.
Each thematic area is
holding its own
collective activity,
while some participants
are presenting projects
aimed at expanding
digital inclusion
(broader access to
computer and
telecommunications
technologies).
Technology appropriation
-- how people shape
technology to make it
their own -- is the
central theme of the
statement to be
delivered to the heads
of state and government
and other leaders from
Andorra, Spain, Portugal
and 19 Latin American
countries attending the
Oct. 29-31 Ibero-American
Summit.
"In our consideration,
the gap is no longer
technological, at the
level of software and
hardware, but cultural.
The most important thing
is to ‘appropriate’
knowledge and know-how,"
José Muñoz from
Colombia, who is in
charge of the Campus
Party area of digital
inclusion, commented to
IPS.
The document underlines
the need to do away with
the idea that technology
is an end in itself, and
to see it instead as a
tool. "We aren’t talking
about hackers taking
part in the Campus Party
to show off what they
do, but about people who
use their computers to
improve the quality of
life of the larger
community," said Muñoz.
"For example, there are
young Latin Americans
from indigenous
communities who are
using Internet platforms
for community
initiatives aimed at
keeping their cultures
alive," he said.
Jesús Laynes of the
Asociación Enlace Quiché
(roughly, the Quiché
Link Association) has
developed educational
software in the Quiché
language of his Maya
indigenous community in
Guatemala.
"Most people who are
excluded from the world
of technology don’t know
they are excluded. To
teach them how the
Internet works, we have
to do it in their own
language, to facilitate
their learning process.
I believe that if we are
able to place ancestral
knowledge on the
Internet, we can
preserve it," said
Laynes.
Also taking part in this
week’s technological
gaming and Internet
event in the capital of
El Salvador are
advocates of free or
open source software --
software that can be
used, studied, modified,
copied and redistributed
without restriction.
One of them is Diego
Saravia from Argentina,
who says free software
is not only
indispensable for
narrowing the digital
gap but is "the only way
to use it in an ethical
manner. We are talking
about freedom of
knowledge, so that human
beings can acquire the
necessary tools for
surviving in the world
that is emerging."
There are many ways to
expand the use of free
software, said Saravia.
He pointed out, for
example, that
governments are
increasingly adopting
open source software,
and taking political
decisions to foment its
use. Another is by means
of ordinary people, who
he said will
increasingly use free
software, as they become
familiar with its
advantages.
The innovation area, in
which Saravia is taking
part, plans to create a
portal with a chat forum
and an educational video
game, which will host
initiatives related to
efforts to narrow the
digital and
technological gap.
The Polideportivo
stadium in Ciudad
Merliot, on the
outskirts of San
Salvador, will be full
of computers, engineers
and robots until
Saturday.
One robot, the Basurator
("basura" means garbage
in Spanish), is a
Guatemalan creation made
of recycled materials
that shows where to
dispose of rubbish, and
the Udbito is a
Salvadoran mechanical
arm that moves objects.
"Robotics goes beyond
digital inclusion; it
will be the next
revolution, it‘s the
future, but everyone who
fails to breach the
digital gap will be
excluded," said Spanish
expert Alejando Alonso
Puig.
The first Campus Party
was held in the southern
Spanish city of Málaga,
and subsequent editions
were held in different
parts of Spain, until
this year, when editions
took place in Brazil and
Colombia. The Salvadoran
event is the first one
held in the framework of
the Ibero-American
Community of Nations. |
|
|
|
|
|
