BOOK – Enabling Openness: The future of the information society in Latin America and the Caribbean

In recent years the internet and other network technologies have emerged as a central issue for development in Latin America and the Caribbean. They have shown their potential to increase productivity and competitiveness in the economy, to create new ways to deliver education and health services, and to be driving forces for the modernisation of the provision of public services.

Edited by Bruce Girard and Fernando Perini, with an introduction by Robin Mansell and contributions from  more than twenty of the region’s leading experts, Enabling Openness:The future of the information society in Latin America and the Caribbean, reflects on some of the key issues that will determine what information society will emerge in the region.

Download or purchase the book. Also available in Spanish as Habiltando la apertura: el futuro de la sociedad de la información en América Latina y el Caribe.

In 25 short chapters a selection of the region’s leading experts examine unanswered questions such as:

• Will the internet in Latin America and the Caribbean remain open over the next ten years?
• Will online surveillance increasingly challenge individual privacy?
• Will open data, social media and new forms of participation improve democracy in the region?
• Will we be able to harness the collaborative potential of the internet to create more socially meaningful and sustainable economies?
• Will digital education, science and creativity flourish in the region, reflecting the diversity and culture of its people?

The answers to these questions will be central to determining whether or not the internet will effectively contribute to a more open and developed society in our corner of the world.

Rather than present a single consolidated perspective, the authors dive into the issues, explore new ways to frame the problems and seek new solutions. Despite the considerable diversity, the book highlights many emerging points of agreement about new opportunities and challenges for the information society in the region.

Edited by Bruce Girard and Fernando Perini
Introduction by Robin Mansell
Published by IDRC & Fundación Comunica, 2013 – 200 pages

Download or purchase Enabling Openness:The future of the information society in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Also available in Spanish as Habiltando la apertura: el futuro de la sociedad de la información en América Latina y el Caribe.