 “DIGITAL POVERTY, Latin American and Caribbean Perspectives” incluye siete poderosos capítulos desarrollando las herramientas disponibles de regulación para promover acceso, participación y empoderamiento de comunidades marginadas y pobres.
Este libro entrega análisis innovador de Oferta y Demanda por TICs para definir, medir e investigar, por ejemplo, nuevos modelos de propiedad y administración de redes.
Ahora los hacedores de política pueden abordar puntos claves relacionados a la Sociedad de la Información y conocimiento tales como servicio universal, empoderamiento digital después de las reformas y mejorar soluciones de acceso y uso de tecnologías basadas en la comunidad.
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This book represents the first publication of the Regional Dialogue on the Information Society (DIRSI in Spanish), a regional network of leading researchers concerned with the creation and dissemination of knowledge that supports effective participation in the Information Society by the poor and marginalized communities in Latin American and the Caribbean.
The chapters that follow reflect different studies undertaken by DIRSI members under the common theme of pro-poor, pro-market ICT policies. This theme seeks to support next-generation policy reforms that build on the achievements of market liberalization efforts but at the same time address the realities of what we call digital poverty a concept that seeks to grasp the multiple dimensions of inadequate levels of access to ICT services as well as the barriers to their productive use. Hernan Galperin and Judith Mariscal.
Chapter 1 / The Concept of Information Poverty and How to Measure it in the Latin American Context Gover Barja (Universidad Católica Boliviana) and Björn-Sören Gigler (London School of Economics).
The construction of the Information Society must be complemented with pro-poor visions and policies. With this goal in mind, this paper defines the concept of information and communication poverty, introduces the criteria of poverty line locality for its identification, and suggests ways to compute the economic cost of reaching such line for its aggregate measurement. In this process, the structural and technological restrictions faced by a society are acknowledged, and the way they affect and are affected by information and communication poverty is discussed. This study conceptually examines these issues, in order to contribute to the literature regarding the magnitude, depth and characteristics of the information and communication poverty, as well as to identify some of its implications when drafting public policies.
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Chapter 2 / Analysis of ICT demand
Roxana Barrantes (Instituto de Estudios Peruanos)
This paper discusses the notions of poverty, information needs and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to offer a concept of digital poverty and estimate the digital poverty level in Latin America and the Caribbean . The paper is composed of two sections. The first section contains the conceptual discussion of digital poverty, its types and possible levels. ICTs are defined based on their use and the conditions for such use. Digital poverty is therefore defined as a lack of ICTs and might be a feature of any population segment, whether or not economically poor. In the second section of this paper the concept of digital poverty and its resulting classifications are validated by using data from a household survey (ENAHO) carried out in Peru . Lastly, the conclusions and future research lines are presented.
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Chapter 3 / New Market Scenarios in Latin America Judith Mariscal (CIDE México).
This essay analyzes the role of the market in network expansion in Latin America . Although universal access policies have achieved some degree of success in fighting the digital divide, the issue of massive access to ICTs services seems to be more directly associated with the sector's regulatory environment and with the level of competition prevailing in the sector. This essay describes the expansion process of the major operators in Latin America Telefónica Spain and Teléfonos Mexico as a result of regulatory policies implemented in their countries of origin. It evaluates the sector's performance after the reforms carried out in the region, as well as the role of mobile telephone services as the driving force in offering access to population segments that had no previous service. And, lastly, within this new market and technological context, it is suggested that there is a need to design policies that turn challenges into new opportunities to encourage network expansion towards areas without services. Thus, within this new scenario, research lines are identified to carry out regulatory policies and contribute to the enrichment of their design.
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Chapter 4 / Institutional Design of the Regulator Agency in Latin America and the Caribbean
Jorge Dussan (Univ. del Rosario, Colombia) and Juan Manuel Roldan Perea (Universidad de los Andes, Colombia)
A direct relationship between democracy and development shows that the most fair and equal societies are the ones in which citizens have access to political and economic decision-making centers, through a legal system that guarantees the full exercise of their rights and the possibility of demanding accountability from the authorities for the trust deposited in them by the community. This is even more important when referring to poor people living in cities and rural areas. For them, the public sector -with all its structural deficits and problems- does not acknowledge their needs, and the lack of real solutions for the communities leads to an alarming and constant social tension, which affects governability in our countries. This paper establishes the need for a change in the institutional model of the telecom regulators, aiming for more efficient regulations that address citizen's needs, especially the poorest sectors, through an increase in citizen's participation in decisions affecting them.
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Chapter 5 / Microtelcos in Latin America and the CaribbeanHernan Galperin (Universidad de San Andrés/USC) and Bruce Girard (Comunica.org)
The problem discussed in this paper is the failure of ICT networks and services to effectively reach the poor, particularly those living in rural areas, in Latin America and the Caribbean . The conventional answer to this problem has been to create incentives and offer public subsidies for traditional operators to cover the difference between tariffs and cost-recovery levels. This paper examines a different answer. We suggest that microtelcos - small-scale telecom operators that combine local entrepreneurship, municipal efforts, and community action - can play an important role in extending ICT services in the region, particularly in areas unattractive to large private operators. In fact, we show that a variety of microtelcos are effectively servicing many of these areas, despite a less than favorable regulatory environment and little access to public subsidies. The paper examines the theoretical case for microtelcos as an effective alternative to address the ICT needs of the poor, presents examples of microtelcos drawn from across the region, and suggests how existing regulatory obstacles for microtelcos may be removed.
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Chapter 6 / Selecting Sustainable ICT Solutions for Pro-poor InterventionKim Mallalieu and Sean Rocke (The University of the West Indies).
This chapter describes a Percolator model as a framework within which ICT solutions may be contemplated for communities under threat of digital exclusion. The model partitions the problem into manageable domains, within which realistic and appropriate ICT solutions may be progressively distilled. It gives an account of the generic attributes of information and communications and the manner in which these attributes map onto technical parameters of ICT. The model places a great deal of emphasis on contextualization, drawing on the Sustainable Livelihood Approach for intervention in economically poor communities. Its domains variously take account of the national or provincial developmental objectives in particular politico-cultural contexts as well as the social character of communities and their physical nature. Ultimately, contextualized technical parameters are used as the basis on which solutions are selected from among the available range of information and communications technologies. The general framework of the Percolator model is not limited to ICT. It may be applied to intervention based on a variety of technologies.
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Chapter 7 / Conclusion - ICT and Pro-poor strategies and researchAmy Mahan (LIRNE.NET & Comunica).
This chapter amalgamates the different themes raised in this first collaborative initiative of the Regional Dialogue on the Information Society (REDIS-DIRSI). The research undertaken by the network addresses ICT demand and supply side issues, regulatory reform and the private sector, consumer advocacy, new ownership models for network service provision and emerging network technology solutions especially from a pro-poor perspective. Accordingly, this concluding chapter traverses the different thematic areas, fitting them together both in terms how they inform and feed into each other, and in context of assessing the Latin America and Caribbean ICT terrain from a REDIS-DIRSI perspective.
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Digital Poverty, Latin American and Caribbean Perspectives 
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