ICTs in public agricultural institutions in Latin America: Uruguay, Costa Rica and Paraguay case studies

Includes bibliography

The digital economy for structural change and equality

Includes bibliography.

Big data and open data as sustainability tools: A working paper prepared by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

The two main forces affecting economic development are the ongoing technological revolution and the challenge of sustainability. Technological change is altering patterns of production, consumption and behaviour in societies; at the same time, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ensure the sustainability of these new patterns because of the constraints resulting from the negative externalities generated by economic growth and, in many cases, by technical progress itself. Reorienting innovation towards reducing or, if possible, reversing the effects of these externalities could create the conditions for synergies between the two processes. Views on the subject vary widely: while some maintain that these synergies can easily be created if growth follows an environmentally friendly model, summarized in the concept of green growth, others argue that production and consumption patterns are changing too slowly and that any technological fix will come too late. These considerations apply to hard technologies, essentially those used in production. The present document explores the opportunities being opened up by new ones, basically information and communication technologies, in terms of increasing the effectiveness (outcomes) and efficiency (relative costs) of soft technologies that can improve the way environmental issues are handled in business management and in public policy formulation and implementation.

Information and communication technology for disaster risk management in the Caribbean: subregional solutions to the challenge of limited human resource capacity

This document was adapted from a paper originally presented to the 8th Annual Caribbean Conference of Comprehensive Disaster Management, held in Montego Bay, Jamaica in December, 2013. It summarizes several activities that ECLAC has undertaken to assess the current state of information and communications technology (ICT) in the field of disaster risk management (DRM) as practiced in the Caribbean. These activities included an in-depth study that encompassed a survey of disaster management organizations in the region, an Expert Group Meeting attended by the heads of several national disaster offices, and a training workshop for professionals working in DRM in the Caribbean. One of the notable conclusions of ECLAC’s investigation on this topic is that the lack of human capacity is the single largest constraint that is faced in the implementation of ICT projects for DRM in the Caribbean. In considering strategies to address the challenge of limited human capacity at a regional level, two separate issues are recognized – the need to increase the ICT capabilities of disaster management professionals, and the need to make ICT specialists available to disaster management organizations to advise and assist in the implementation of technology-focused projects. To that end, two models are proposed to engage with this issue at a regional level. The first entails the establishment of a network of ICT trainers in the Caribbean to help DRM staff develop a strategic understanding of how technology can be used to further their organizational goals. The second is the development of “Centres of Excellence” for ICT in the Caribbean, which would enable the deployment of specialized ICT expertise to national disaster management offices on a project-by-project basis.

Mexico: industrial policies and the production of information and communication technology goods and services

This study investigates the extent to which the digital boom has had repercussions on productive activity, in terms of both manufacturing (ict goods) and services (ict services), in addition to its potential ramifications in the rest of the Mexican economy. Input-output matrices are used and compared to those of Brazil and the United States. Mexico has fallen behind, particularly in the production of ict goods, and the productive chains of this activity have weakened. The ict services sector offers much greater potential than has been exploited thus far, with the advantage that it involves comparatively more value added and has major diversification possibilities. It is considered essential to find more effective industrial policies targeted on the ict goods and services sectors; but the experience of countries such as Brazil, which have applied more proactive approaches with mixed results, suggests that this will be challenging.

A cultura e o ensino de língua estrangeira: perspectivas para a formação continuada no projeto Teletandem Brasil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Linguagem poética e crescimento urbano-industrial / Poetical language and urban-industrial growth

O impacto do crescimento urbano-industrial sobre a lírica moderna é abordado sob o ângulo das dissonâncias ocorridas entre as representações temáticas e os procedimentos expressivos. Assim se confrontam as “respostas” dos poetas europeus à Revolução Industrial e o surgimento das grandes cidades com as dos modernistas brasileiros de 22 face à industrialização de São Paulo. Nestes, ao contrário dos primeiros, os conflitos instauram-se entre a celebração programática da vida moderna e, num primeiro momento, a impossibilidade de adequação de suas formas de expressão ao registro dessa modernidade. Dessa forma se explicam os desequilíbrios temático-expressivos existentes em Paulicéia Desvairada, bem como as adequações conseguidas por obras posteriores. The impact of urban-industrial growth on modern lyrics is approached from the angle of the dissonances which occurred between the thematic representations and the expressive procedures. Thus, the European poets’ responses to the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of the large cities are confronted with those of the 1922 Brazilian Modernists in relation to the industrialization of São Paulo. In the latter, contrary to what happened with ther former ones, the conflicts take place between the programmatic celebration of modern life and, at first, the impossibility of adequating their form of expressions to the record of said modernity. Thus the thematic-expressive disequilibrium in Paulicéia Desvairada, as well as de adequations obtained in later works are explained.

Encontrabilidade da Informação: atributos e recomendações para ambientes informacionais digitais

At first, this paper presents the epistemological and theoretical bases that support the inclusion of an operational concept for the findability of information in the field of Information Science. In a second moment, it defines the key attributes and recommendations for the findability of information, with a view to their understanding in a practical perspective, from the epistemological and theoretical support presented. From a theoretical, exploratory, bibliographic and documentary study, the results reveal that epistemologically the findability of information fits in Information Science in post-custodial paradigm that focuses on access to information and is significantly influenced by Information and Communication Technologies. The theoretical conclusions of this concept focus on the evolution of the Web and from the perspective of the dimensions of language, where there is as pragmatic trend, as technological development that combines the actions taken by informational and institutional individuals in digital information environments. Given that these actions turn enable or not the findability of information, these individuals can be understood as mediators. Therefore, the concept of infocommunicational mediation is the basis for the findability of information. For its application in digital information environments, were defined attributes and guidelines which should be considered in the context of Information Architecture. The attributes characterizing the concept and guidelines point at practical actions for the design and for evaluation of the findability of information. Epistemological, theoretical and practical concepts addressed underpin the called operative concept in information science and should be further explored in this scientific field.

The University and its libraries: reactions and resistance to scientific publishers

This paper addresses the relationship of copyright and the right of universities on scientific production. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are causing many changes in the system of scientific communication, such as the creation of Institutional Repositories that aim to gather scientific production in digital format. The University needs quicker ways of spreading academic production and many questions are emerging due to contexts such as the Open Access movement. Thus, this paper questions the positioning of Universities, especially Public Universities, which despite having policies related to intellectual property to protect the transferring forms of research results to society; many times do not have a positioning or a mechanism that regulates the self-deposit of scientific production in these Institutional Repositories. In order to develop this paper, the following issues are addressed: lack of interest of the University in storing scientific production; reports on the relationship of the library with scientific publishing houses; the participation of faculty members and students in supporting the Free Access movement; and initiatives aimed at greater flexibility of copyright to the context of scientific production. In order to follow the development of these issues at international level, it was opted for qualitative research with non-participating direct observation to carry out the identification and description of copyright policy of important publishers from the ROMEO SHERPA site; therefore, it can be observed that there are changes regarding the publishers' flexibility before self-archiving of authors in open access institutional repositories in their universities. Given this scenario, we presente reflections and considerations that involve the progress and mainly the integration of the University and its faculty members; the institution should recommend and guide its faculty members not to transfer their copyrights, but to defend their right of copy to Institutional Repositories along with Publishing Houses.

Complexity and information technologies: an ethical inquiry into human autonomous action

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

A integração das tecnologias de informação e comunicação na escola: o projto político pedagógico nesse contexto

This study aims to analyze the possibilities of integration of new information and communication technologies (ICT) in teaching and learning in a school of public elementary school Municipal Araraquara. This is a survey based on a qualitative approach, which has a strategy Case Study. Made an analysis of the Curriculum Guidelines and Policy Project (PPP) school selected, in order to check how the school addresses the issue of the use of new technologies in the educational process. For the analysis of the Curriculum Guidelines and Educational Policy Project found that the school has studied a concern to make use of ICT in teaching and learning, featuring an awareness of the importance of technology in education, but does not describe ways to integrate curricularmente them. The integration of new technologies into the curriculum requires a systematic reflection about their goals, their technical and content chosen. Not only is working with new technologies aimed at digital inclusion of students, but we need to integrate the school into their curricular, integrate them into the process of teaching and learning. Today ICT configure themselves into a new form of language, essential for knowledge representation and, if so, their presence in the school curriculum is crucial.

A educação de professores de línguas em CALL: histórico e perspectivas

Over the last years, the new technologies have changed the way we relate to information and communicate with other people, which has brought on impact to foreign language teaching and learning, and, consequently, to the area of foreign language teacher education. The abbreviation CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) has been used to designate the processes of language teaching and learning with the use of computers, and language teacher education in CALL to name teacher education for and with the use of new technologies, since a number of authors point to the interdependence of both processes. We intend in this article to present an overview of the literature of the area of language teacher education in CALL nowadays and discuss issues related to the use of new technologies concerning its integration to teacher education and the functional and institutional roles to be taken. We also present two proposals of teacher education with the use of new technologies which are being implemented and at the same time studied in Brazil, which we believe have essential elements for the development of language teachers for and with the use of new technologies currently.

Contradições no uso de tecnologias em contexto de estágio de um curso de Letras: o professor de inglês em formação inicial no ensino superior

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

O ensino de língua estrangeira nas escolas públicas estaduais paulistas e as novas tecnologias

Pós-graduação em Televisão Digital: Informação e Conhecimento - FAAC

Uma análise do ensino de língua inglesa por meio do uso das Tecnologias Digitais da Informação e Comunicação

Pós-graduação em Educação - FFC