The state under scrutiny: public opinion, stateness and government performance in Latin America

Includes bibliography

Annotated provisional agenda. Committee of High-level Government Experts (CEGAN) Twentieth session. Regional Consultation on Financing for Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

Background and objectives of the consultation .-- Annotations to the agenda.

Regional approaches to e-government initiatives in the Caribbean

This paper examines the potential benefits and challenges of regionally managed e-government development initiatives. It examines the current state of e-government in four Caribbean countries – Barbados, Jamaica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago – in order to establish a broader understanding of the challenges that face e-government initiatives in the region. It also reviews a number of e-government initiatives that have been undertaken through projects managed at a regional level. Based on this analysis, it presents a set of best practices that are recommended to agencies engaged in the task of coordinating the implementation of regionally-based e-government initiatives.

Government procurement policy in developing countries: the case of Petrobras

The aim of this article is to discuss whether public procurement policy can promote innovation by firms located in developing countries. The literature on technological learning is used to create a typology for assessing the impact of public procurement in developing countries from the standpoint of innovation. Petrobras, a Brazilian state-owned enterprise, was chosen as a case study. Petrobras is a global leader in the field of deepwater oil production technology and so offers an interesting opportunity to investigate whether government procurement in developing countries is used to promote the capability of domestic firms to develop innovations. The article presents the findings of a field survey on P-51, a platform that was ordered by the Brazilian state-owned enterprise and began producing in 2009. The case study is based on information collected from interviews with managers of Petrobras, EPC contractors and some of the firms subcontracted to work on P-51.

Biodegradação da vinhaça resíduo da produção de etanol

The State of São Paulo is responsible for the largest sugar cane production in Brazil, as well as the largest production of ethanol made of this raw material – which is widely used as fuel for automobiles. This utilization began in the 1970’s, with the institution by the Brazilian government of the National Alcohol Program (PRO-ÁLCOOL), as a consequence of the petroleum crisis, rising again five years ago, with the development of flex fuel cars. The obtaining process of ethanol originates residues; amongst them, vinasse is the one that’s generated in the largest amount (an average of 10 to 13 litres/litre of ethanol produced). The disposal of this residue in waters was only forbidden in 1978, but before that, researchers had already been investigating its utilization as raw material. This paper had the objective of accompany the biodegradation of vinasse by evaluating the oxygen comsumption during it until the ultimate Biochemical Oxygen Demand (uBOD), performed in twenty days; another objective was to analyse the biomass production of Saccharomyces cerevisae in this residue. Physical and chemical analyses of the residue were also performed, as well as acute toxicity essays using Daphnia similis and Dugesia tigrina, before and after its biodegradation. The physical and chemical analyses pointed elevated acidness (pH = 3,98), conductivity (8,30 mS/cm) and COD (25.693,43 mg O2/L) and mean quantity of suspended solids (5.246 mg/L). The toxicity essays indicated absence of toxic potential in vinasse after biodegradation for both species. The uBOD degradated until 88,22% of the COD, demonstrating the possibility of biodegradation of most of the residue’s organic load in a relatively short period of time. S. cerevisae caused a 37,03% COD diminution in vinasse, diminished its conductivity and promoted a slight elevation of the pH; it obtained low biomass...(Complete abstract click electronic access below)