Information Technology in Latin America: Two decades of collaboration

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Borges, Marcos R.S.^; | Pino, José A.^;

Affiliations: Instituto de Matemática & Núcleo de Computação Eletrônica, Universidade do Brasil, Caixa Postal 2324, 20001‐970 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil E‐mail: mborges@nce.ufrj.br | Departamento Ciencias de la Computación, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 2777, Santiago, Chile E‐mail: jpino@dcc.uchile.cl

Note: [] The work of this author was partially supported by CNPq (Brazil) under grant #522036/96‐1 and by FONDECYT (Chile) under grant #7000870.

Note: [] The work of this author was partially supported by FONDECYT (Chile) under grant #1000870.

Abstract: There have been several collaboration experiences on Information Technology in Latin America in the last two decades, but most are little known in general and also in the region. This paper presents some of them in an analytical framework. The analysis is done with two tools: a role table and the CA/CR framework. The role table helps to identify who plays the roles of sponsor, promoter, provider and receiver for the cooperation on a geographic scale. The CA/CR framework presents the actions and the results of collaboration using graphs. The analytical approach could be used by institutions doing collaborative activities in Information Technology. The presented cases include institutions with little or no financial support for carrying out cooperation. There is also a case in which the existence of an institution playing a promoter role could perhaps have allowed a valuable collaborative initiative to continue.

Journal: Information Technology for Development, vol. 9, no. 3-4, pp. 189-204, 2000