By the end of 2023, over 92 percent of Russian population used the internet. The government has other plans for them now. 

Originally published on Global Voices

At the end of 2023, over 92 percent of the Russian population used the internet. The government has other plans for them now. Photo by Denny Müller on Unsplash. Used under an Unsplash License.

For two days in a row, on January 14 and 15 2025, roughly a third of Russia's internet users could not access most websites or platforms. Enthusiasts with a technological background, who now form a new kind of Russian civil society group abroad, said, literally, that we have witnessed a “demo version” of a total internet shutdown. Thus, they say, it is now obvious that the Russian censorship institution Roskomnadzor is able to completely shut down the incoming internet traffic in Russia at any time.

Head of the NGO For Internet Freedom Mikhail Klimarev counted how much this shut down had cost the Russian economy:

16.8 million dollars. That's how much one hour of downtime cost the Russian economy. Well, minus one tank, I guess. The Central Monitoring Center [the administrative body responsible for technically censoring all internet providers in Russia] should demand a reward from the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Well done!

Experts have different versions of what really happened. One was that Roskomnadzor tried to install updates to the censorship hardware installed at every internet and mobile operator in Russia (there are around 3500 of them, according to Klimarev), and something went wrong. Another version, by Tochka YouTube Program, was that Roskomnadzor started to test “white lists” (only allowing traffic for IP addresses from the list) for the RuNet (as the Russian segment of the internet is often called). Each shutdown lasted about one hour.

For a number of years now, Russian authorities have restricted access to the internet for those living in Russia. It began with the blocking of individual websites and pages in the early 2000s, and continuing to block all major social media platforms (apart from YouTube) and many media websites after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022.  However, the ultimate dream of creating a home-based internet (“sovereign internet,” as defined by the legislation adopted as early as in 2019 to grant the Russian government powers to partition Russia from the rest of the internet) has not been implemented just yet.

The shutdowns of January 14 and 15 were not the first “demo-sessions” of the power to completely shut down the internet, but, to date, the largest ones in terms of the number of users they had effected.

A previous demo shutdown happened on December 7, 2024, when authorities cut off the internet in three North Caucasian regions of Russia: Chechnya, Ingushetia, and Dagestan. People living in these regions could not access any foreign-based websites or platforms, including YouTube, Google, and Telegram. Klimarev commented to TV channel Dozhd (Rain) at that time:

The idea is that Roskomnadzor is trying to test what would happen if all networks connecting the Russian segment of the internet to the foreign segment were completely disconnected. They are testing the functionality of certain services, for example, whether banks work — services that are critically important for the functioning of state bodies. What is currently known is that certain video surveillance systems went offline, banking systems stopped functioning, and VPNs naturally do not work.

Blocking YouTube

YouTube, as in many parts of the world, is among the most popular major social media platforms in Russia. It has substituted television for many people in recent years, especially after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While opposition political content, media and news, has moved there entirely, some before the war censorship of 2022, for the past three or more years it has also hosted the entertainment content that has disappeared from Russian propaganda TV channels in wartime. The Russian language segment of YouTube has channels with millions of subscribers, and audiences from little children watching the life of Ukrainian children vloggers Katia and Max (they now live in the US) to elderly people watching how to fix a sewing machine.

But the Russian authorities are blocking YouTube too. Since the summer of 2024, traffic to YouTube has been slowed down  so that each video takes an enormous time to load, kind of like in the late 90s. Mobile operators, though, continued providing normal service until December 2024. But now they, too, are slowing down the traffic. According to Klimarev, slowing down traffic is essentially a method of blocking the platform.

People in Russia, according to the recent investigation by an opposition media Meduza and The Bell, were supposed to move to three “local” Russian platforms: VK video, RuTube or Russia Today’s new invention called “Platform.”

However, in spite of billions of US dollars spent on attracting top Russian speaking bloggers to these three, the audience never followed, and the bloggers left when the money was ran out. Most problems, claims the investigation, were because these companies had only counted on the state’s money, not developing their own recommendation systems solutions or monetization incentives for users. For example, RuTube's frontpage lists its “most popular” channels, one of which has 280 subscribers.

At the moment, YouTube is still the most popular video hosting platform in Russia, although now it has to be accessed though VPNs.

VKontakte’s lucky years

For years, the Russian government has been pouring money into local social media platforms. VKontakte (now VK), was initially a copycat of Facebook (literally, its terms of service still in many parts repeat early Facebook’s policies word to word). It was launched by the current owner of Telegram Pavel Durov in 2006 and bought by the state-affiliated Mail.Ru group in 2014. The platform is now headed by Vladimir Kirienko, the son of Putin's first deputy chief of staff Sergey Kirienko, who holds enormous sway over not only the Russian war with Ukraine but also the Russian censorship of the internet, effectively moving it towards a closed system. VK is heavily censored, both by automated and human moderators, as well as self-censorship (because one can receive a real jail sentence  for a post or a like of a post).

VK, thus, was supposed to not only replace Facebook and Instagram, but, by the year 2024, YouTube as well. While it did provide a substitute for Facebook for the vast majority of users (the obvious advantage was that VK had in fact been in Russia before Facebook and provided many more services such music and film sharing without regard for copyright), Instagram was impossible to replace. The traffic to Instagram fell but not significantly: by 2025, at least 37 percent of the Russian population are using VPNs (these are only those that admit it in public polling), and Instagram users are not exceptions.

X has never been that popular among the Russian population, and X users had seamlessly moved to Telegram when Twitter was blocked in 2022, or they continued using it through VPN.

Blocking messengers

The Russian authorities usually start slow, to make sure people are not too outraged or even surprised to lose services. In the beginning of 2023, a law was passed that disallowed some messengers from being used by banks or state employees. Among these were: Discord, Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business, Snapchat, Telegram, Threema, Viber, WhatsApp, and China-based WeChat. While these messengers were not immediately blocked (an attempt to block Telegram in 2018, supposedly, failed), there is now momentum to block them.

At the time of writing this article, Discord and Viber have already been blocked, as well as Signal, which is not even on the list. Experts expect WhatsApp to be the next in line. Discord, as Meduza reported, was blocked in spite of its apparent usage by the Russian Army in the invasion of Ukraine.

2025 will be the year of war on VPNs

Virtual private networks, or VPNs, which are tools that circumvent those controls, have surged in popularity in Russia. According to Klimorev’s estimates, over 50 percent of the population have installed them by now. In addition, internet censorship has also created a movement in the Russian civic sector, as well as among developers abroad, to create grassroots tech initiatives that would oppose the shutdowns and blocking.

Denis Yagodin, Director of Innovations, Digital Transformation & AI in Public Sector at Teplitsa Socialnyh Technologyi (an NGO that helps the civic sector to use new technologies), wrote about these in recent LinkedIn post, reproduced here with permission.

Once early internet pioneer John Gilmore said “the net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it.” The digital iron curtain descending across Russia has sparked a response from the open source community, showing how grassroots tech initiatives can counter state censorship. As authorities tighten their grip through deep packet inspection (DPI) systems and VPN restrictions, a global network of developers is crafting tools to preserve internet freedom.

While tech giants like Apple comply with VPN apps removal requests from Russian authorities, independent developers are building an arsenal of open source solutions. Tools like GoodbyeDPI and PowerTunnel outsmart surveillance systems by manipulating network packets, while projects such as Piped.video offer alternative pathways to blocked content. Open source firmware like OpenWrt transforms ordinary home routers into censorship-circumvention devices, protecting entire households.

Decentralized communities can adapt faster than centralized control systems. Each new restriction breeds workarounds, creating a perpetual game of digital cat-and-mouse where openness and transparency become powerful weapons against opacity and control. The open source movement's response shows how shared code and collaborative development can sustain the internet's original promise of free information flow, even as governments try to fragment and control it.

Klimarev himself is one of the founders of the program where any person living in Russia can get a VPN that would later serve up to 200 people who can get their own VPN keys from this person.

In addition, the Russian media in exile, which now in a lot of circumstances takes on the role of civil society, too, has their own programs of circumventing the censorship.

For example, one of the most popular sources, Meduza, has developed its own app that does not require VPN to access the news. It also has a service, “magic link,” which allows articles to be opened without a VPN. In addition, most of the text is later repeated as audio files on podcast or video platforms.  Another major opposition media, TV Dozhd, is freely distributing a VPN extension for browsers that would work not only with their own content but also other blocked websites and platforms.

However, if Vladimir Putin decides to shut down the internet in Russia, VPNs will be of no use. As Klimarev explained in an interview to TV Dozhd:

The principle of VPN operation involves connecting to some foreign service or server and then receiving information. Since all these servers are located abroad, it becomes impossible to connect via VPN. This is essentially the “Cheburnet” [sovereign domestic internet] that has been talked about for a long time. Whether it will work on a nationwide scale is still unclear, but it would deal a serious blow to the country's economy, which is already in poor condition. In general, we can only welcome this. The worse the economy in Russia, the fewer rockets they will produce, and the less they will shoot at Ukraine.

At the moment, using VPNs is not deemed illegal in Russia.  But it is prohibited to advertise or distribute information about them. The year 2025, experts predict, will be the year of the War on VPNs in the country.

Klimarev says that, perhaps soon, the authorities will introduce not blacklists but “white lists” of the RuNet. This would be something close to what Turkmenistan is doing with its internet system, that only allows access to specific IP addresses that are on government lists.

Of course, this is only if the regime doesn't turn Russia into North Korea instead, with a full-scale shutdown of all foreign internet traffic.

Written by Daria Dergacheva

The solution is to support legacy media rooted in fact-checking

Originally published on Global Voices

Meta's Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Alessio Jacona on Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced that Meta is going to “fight censorship” around the world, along with incoming United States President Donald Trump, who is due to be inaugurated in under a week. 

Zuckerberg is framing the change in Meta's content moderation as an “anti-censorship” policy. However, experts say it is rather a business measure that aligns with pleasing the president-elect, Donald Trump. As Zuckerberg said, Meta is reducing costs in protecting against hate speech while also getting rid of fact-checking and reverting instead to users flagging harmful content (also known as making “community notes”) — at least in the US. 

This new policy sets a dangerous precedent, although, arguably, is only following the near abandonment of content moderation prior to elections on X (formerly Twitter) by Elon Musk.

However, recent history shows that regulating Meta and X even more than how much the EU already does is putting us on a dangerous path to what autocracies are doing.

Russian internet censorship

Zuckerberg did not mention Russian President Vladimir Putin in his speech. However, he did mention the European Union (EU) as one of the biggest “censors,” as well as Latin America and China. However, since October 2022, Meta and its subsidiaries (apart from WhatsApp, as of the date of publication) have been included on the list of terrorist and extremist organizations in Russia. Not only are they blocked, but technically, one could be arrested for sharing links or putting a logo on a webpage.  

This is a cautionary tale; officially, the Kremlin banned the group because Meta announced that it would permit posts such as “death to Russian invaders.”  

In March 2022, a Meta official informed BBC News that the company was temporarily deviating from its standard policies “in light of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine,” allowing those impacted by the conflict to “express violent sentiments towards invading armed forces.” Consequently, the Russian government accused Meta of “Russophobia” and designated it as a prohibited organization.

But today, there is no Western social media platform operating in Russia: all of them were blocked for “non-compliance” with Russian laws (at the moment, only messengers Telegram and WhatsApp, and Chinese TikTok are still present).

Various civil society organizations are now urging the EU's president, Ursula Von der Leyen, to have the full strength of EU legislation applied to Meta in order to prevent harm to Europeans. And yes, under the Digital Services Act legislation adopted in 2022, some measures would provide heavy fines in case of non-compliance with risk assessment-based rules for platforms to be able to operate in the EU market.  And so they should if the loosened rules on hate speech start hurting vulnerable groups. 

However, we need to keep in mind that if X and Meta, under too much pressure from regulators, decide to leave the EU, it would ultimately leave citizens less able to access information. While this is unlikely, according to experts, we need to keep more information available to people, not less of it. Thus, even though Meta is abandoning its fact-checking program (although not yet in the EU), could it be that this part is not as threatening as it seems at first sight? In fact, Zuckerberg promised to bring back political content that might actually have a much better effect on people being well-informed, especially when the European Media Freedom Act comes into full force in August 2025.

Some researchers have been talking about how overestimated the power of any kind of misinformation is on people and that we have given away people's agency to the decisions of platforms.

I can give some examples. My research on platform governance, in part, concerns the steps that were taken to “fight Russian disinformation,” not only after the invasion of Ukraine started but also when the moral panic of foreign intervention in the 2016 US elections was at its peak. Many Russian language media sources have been blocked by the decision of European legislators in the EU, starting from the propaganda channels Russia Today and Sputnik. Since that time, more and more were included in the lists.

Again, some experts say that technocratic solutionism has serious limits against disinformation.

Social media platforms were also blocking and demonetizing content from Russia and those viewed by Russians at their own discretion. For instance, YouTube prohibited monetising any views coming from Russian territories, which, of course, did not play well for the opposition media like, for example, the anti-war and anti-Putin Dozhd channel, whose main audience is, and should be, in Russia.

Should straightforward propaganda be blocked? Maybe. But in this case, how will we even know what the “other side” is saying? At one point, the only sources of news in the Russian language I could find on Google News were from Belarus. Thus, the famous page rank did not work, but who decided what was left as credible news sources? Obviously, the Kremlin decides what is visible on the Russian search engine Yandex. But do we want the same scheme for the EU?

My point is that we have to support legacy media, which is rooted in fact-checking. We must provide funds to local journalists and negotiate with social media platforms to include their content. We must develop public interest social media and AI models and make them open source. In short, create more opportunities and diversity in the tech sector and information ecosystem, not fewer. 

As Thomas Kent, a senior fellow for strategic communication at the American Foreign Policy Council and a specialist in Russian propaganda, said in a recent opinion piece:

Western media need to rededicate themselves to accurate, objective news coverage. If citizens are convinced that their own major news sources are unbiased, they will have no reason to seek out fringe sources of news, Russian or otherwise.

Or else, we are no better than Vladimir Putin, who never uses the internet and dreams that no one does, just like in the “golden old days,” or Zuckerberg, who pushes us to “get back to the roots” of free expression.

What they are both doing is very similar in its essence. Except there are no golden old days and no roots to go back to.  If these people do not understand it, we have to. 

Dr. Daria Dergacheva is an associated researcher at the Platform Governance, Media and Technology Lab at ZeMKI, University of Bremen, Germany.  She has also been an editor for Eastern Europe at Global Voices since March 2022 and has previously worked in Russian media and opposition NGOs for over 10 years. 

Written by Daria Dergacheva

Jordan's TikTok ban threatens freedom of expression and access to information

Originally published on Global Voices

Image courtesy Ameya Nagarajan, based on image by motionstock from Pixabay, under a Pixabay license.

This piece was first published by SMEX, on January 19, 2023, and was written by Zeinab Ismail. An edited version is republished here, under a content-sharing agreement.

TikTok is still banned in Jordan, a month after the government blocked the platform to limit the spread of live footage documenting workers’ protests in Ma’an. The Chinese company that owns the app, ByteDance, made no direct or public comment about the ban but confirmed that it is in talks with the authorities to “continue serving the millions of users” in Jordan.

In mid-December, truck drivers took to the streets to protest the rise in fuel prices in the Ma’an governorate, to the south of Amman, and were broadcasting the movement live on TikTok. Taxi and public bus owners also took part in the protests, and shops in several cities also held strikes. A senior police officer and three policemen were killed.

On December 16, 2022, Jordanian authorities announced a temporary ban on TikTok due to “misuse by some” in addition to the “platform’s failure to address posts inciting violence and chaos,” according to a statement published on the Facebook page of the Public Security Directorate.

The directorate warned that the Cybercrime Unit is monitoring content shared on social media platforms with an eye out for hate speech and “incitement to vandalism, aggression against law enforcement agencies, damage to property, and road blocking.”

Isolating protesters from the world

News about internet shutdowns and how TikTok stopped working began circulating as soon as the protests broke out. In an interview with SMEX, Raya Sharbain, Jordan-based digital rights expert and advocate, stated that Ma’an Governorate residents suffered not only from the TikTok ban, but also from complete internet shutdowns in Ma’an and Karak during the day, which continued until December 26.

TikTok played a key role in reporting news related to the protests across different regions within Jordan. It also carried the reach of the events beyond national borders. A Jordanian activist who preferred to remain anonymous for security reasons revealed to SMEX that: “News websites in Jordan are mostly loyal to local authorities and act as their spokespeople. Therefore, we filmed videos and shared them on social media, mainly on TikTok, since it facilitates content dissemination and sharing. Our alternative solutions provoked them [the authorities] into shutting down the internet and banning TikTok, thus keeping us isolated from the world.”

In fact, journalists were following the news and the latest developments through TikTok rather than local media outlets, as Sawsan Abu Al Sondos, a journalist residing in Amman, confirmed in a statement to SMEX. She explained that TikTok “is a popular, video-based platform that is user-friendly for people of all ages and backgrounds wishing to express their opinion.”

Due to the restrictions imposed by authorities, people use Virtual Private Network (VPN) software to circumvent the ban and post their videos. Sharbain affirmed that TikTok’s popularity in Jordan made it the go-to tool used by protesters to report events and updates.

According to the Public Security Directorate, “TikTok did not properly address the misuse of the platform by people who praised and disseminated acts of violence or called for chaos.” However, the Directorate did not clarify whether or not it had contacted the platform about these issues.

In an interview with local media on January 8, the Jordanian Minister of Government Communications Faisal Shboul stated that “the government is having ongoing technical discussions with TikTok, in an attempt to control the content on the platform.” He confirmed that the government will not lift the ban any time soon “unless content-control conditions are met.” Shboul also warned that “account owners will be held responsible for comments added on their posts.”

Jordanian Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship Ahmad Hanandeh confirmed on January 15 that there is no news about lifting the TikTok ban in the kingdom, and the app remains banned in Jordan, according to what we documented through the ban test conducted on the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI).

TikTok indirectly confirmed to SMEX that the application was banned and that they’re discussing solutions with Jordanian authorities: “We believe that through our continuous communication, we can come to a decision that would allow TikTok to continue serving the millions of users in Jordan who have found in the platform a space for creative expression.”

In its belated response, TikTok appeared to be informing Jordanian authorities that it is indeed monitoring content, confirming it would take “appropriate action against content that violates its Community Guidelines.” It also added that it would strictly and proactively remove any violating content in Jordan. In its response, TikTok stated: “According to our latest report, a total of 310,724 videos have been removed in Jordan, 86.6% of which were removed before receiving any views.”

Is it legal to ban TikTok in Jordan?

The decision to ban the TikTok app and website has elicited different opinions regarding its legality, especially since it restricts citizens’ freedom of expression. Lawyer Enas Zayed, who specializes in Jordanian constitutional law, told SMEX that the internet shutdowns and TikTok ban are entirely inconsistent with the Jordanian Constitution and law. The latter clearly supports freedom of speech and expression, stating that restricting these freedoms must be based on laws rather than decisions issued by an executive authority.

Zayed noted that Jordan has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which stresses that freedom of speech and expression is absolute and that no exceptions shall be made except within narrow limits.

“The ban prevents people from expressing their opinions naturally on the application,” said Zayed. “If a legal violation exists on the platform, authorities should refer the perpetrator to the judiciary. But such collective bans deprive individuals who do not express political opinions in the first place of their right to express anything, not just their opinion on the strikes.”

Restricting the digital space

People are increasingly relying on social media to express their opinions due to traditional media’s refusal to convey their voices. Seeing these alternative outlets as a threat, authorities resort to restricting the remaining public spaces available to citizens.

Sawsan Abu Al Sondos pointed out that her work, which included monitoring the media’s recent response to the truck drivers’ strike organized last December, revealed an almost complete absence of media coverage. The role of the local press should be to raise the voice of protesters and people affected by government decisions. Field correspondents and photographers were also absent at the onset of the events, according to Abu Al Sondos.

A wave of arrests targeting local officials and activists took place in parallel with the internet shutdowns and TikTok ban. Security agencies arrested the former mayor of Ma’an Majid al-Sharari, and accused him of “provoking sectarian and denominational strife, inciting conflict between components of the nation, and spreading hate speech.”

They also arrested journalist and political activist Khaled Turki Al-Majali, who was accused of “incitement as well as libel and slander through electronic means,” and activist Alaa Al-Malkawi, whose wife revealed that the reason for his arrest was a post he shared on Facebook.

In 2020, internet shutdowns in Jordan caused losses estimated at about USD 4.9 billion. In addition to constituting a flagrant violation of human rights, internet shutdowns cause massive economic losses in the country and limit progress in the digital field, which several Arab countries, including Jordan, are planning and aspiring to expand.

What is more, internet shutdowns have negatively impacted the education sector in the city of Ma’an, where sources revealed to SMEX that due to bad weather conditions, Al-Hussein Bin Talal University decided to hold lectures online, not in person. However, poor internet services and frequent interruptions prevented students from attending classes.

“This is not the first-time authorities have resorted to internet shutdowns under flimsy pretexts such as reducing fraud in exams,” stated SMEX Executive Director Mohamad Najem. “Interruptions in live-streaming services, bans on websites and applications, and internet shutdowns have multiplied in recent years, the most recent being in Jordan,” Najm added.

Written by SMEX

War is cementing decade-long trends in internet governance and cyberwarfare

Originally published on Global Voices

Image courtesy of Flora Weil, Alexandra Smorodinova, and Danya Orlovsky

In the early 1990s, Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of MIT Media Lab, heralded that the internet would “flatten organizations, globalize society, decentralize control, and help harmonize people.” Thirty years later, this prediction could not be further from the truth. While the internet has led to unprecedented globalization, innovation, and participation in sectors previously inaccessible, in the last two decades, slow and persistent efforts by governments across the world have reigned private technological pursuits into national regulatory and security regimes. 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine marks the next turning point away from the international, distributed, and libertarian internet dreams of the 20th century. The war has accelerated three significant trends in the internet’s geopolitical dynamic, making any major reversals unimaginable. First, the war has accelerated the unprecedented prominence of non-state actors in state-level war. Second, it has highlighted the centrality of information networks to physical conflicts. Third, it has accelerated the global fragmentation between the United States, Europe, Russia, and China along technology platforms.

At a United Nations conference in June, a Google executive predicted that Russian operations in Ukraine are foreshadowing the new global status quo: “It is essentially our crystal ball for what is likely to come.”

The proliferation of non-state actors in state-level war

For the majority of modern history, war has been primarily the domain of nation states. Ivan Sigal has argued that, since the 1970s, “there has been a progression of undeclared conflicts, intrastate and civil conflicts that involve irregular fighters and non-state combatants, with fighting occurring in the midst of civilian life, where the majority of victims are noncombatants.”

While non-state actors have taken part in past conflicts — the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) began during the Crimean War in the 1850s and modern terror is rooted in anti-colonial rebellions of the 19th century — particularly in the last 20 years, the presence of NGOs, international organizations, and terrorist groups has started to usurp the state monopoly on violence. Joseph Nye and Robert Keohane described this emerging world of international relations as one of “complex interdependence.”

Interdependent, because during the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Mali, states waged national wars against armed autonomous organizations, spectated by a motley array of independent observers, and supported on the peripheries in peace efforts by hundreds of NGOs. Complex, because the line between aggressor and peace-builder has blurred. The internet has rendered global conflict even more anarchically complex and interdependent, because of the unprecedented range of interventions available.

Even before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a decentralized community of researchers was ringing alarm bells about the abnormal movement of Russian troops along the Ukrainian borders. The proliferation of satellites, social media, public flight records, and mapping techniques has made available a world of open source reporting methods, capable of identifying war patterns before any shots are actually fired. 

The rising interdependence of global networks, and unbridled access to them from anywhere in the world, has also meant that one can wage war in Eastern Europe from an apartment in Berlin or a coffee shop in Shenzhen. In February, the Ukrainian government made a global appeal to hacking groups for help in defending critical infrastructure. Since then, an unidentified group of hacking vigilantes have been disrupting Russian news channels, government websites, and military supply networks. Simultaneously, unidentified hacking groups have started increasingly targeting “foreign ministries of NATO states, humanitarian organizations, think tanks, IT groups and energy suppliers.” Western intelligence agencies have attributed the attacks to state-backed Russian groups, but the nature of the internet makes final attribution impossible. 

Finally, the war has given a new significance to technology platforms. Microsoft’s Seattle-based Threat Intelligence Center has successfully prevented crippling attacks on Kyiv’s military and government networks. Google and Meta have banned Russian media outlets, defending against Moscow’s major influence operation abroad, and giving prominence to Ukrainian voices. A US facial recognition company, Clearview AI, has donated their software to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense in order to identify dead soldiers.

As technology platforms face anti-trust lawsuits in Europe and the United States, the war in Ukraine has served as a convenient new argument against further anti-trust action: harming the tech platforms would help Russian propaganda.

The increasing importance of networking technologies

Telecommunication has been a vital part of military operations since World War I. The development of the internet itself was justified in the 1960s as a necessary precaution to maintain communication during a nuclear war. But throughout the last decade, singular moments have emphasized the emerging importance of cloud connections to physical realities. Global Voice’s Unfreedom Monitor outlines the unprecedented emergence of internet censorship efforts across the world.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, is the latest, and perhaps most prominent example of the internet's weaponization in physical conquest. 

On the day before Russian troops entered Ukraine, modems of the satellite internet network, Viasat’s KA-SAT, were disabled en masse. Auxiliary cyberattacks on government websites and infrastructure operators unsuccessfully attempted to paralyze Ukraine’s command and control centers.

On balance, the war in Ukraine is the latest instance in which control of telecommunication has both directed military movements and served as justification for annexation. In 2015, before the annexation of Crimea, Russian forces occupied the main ISP offices of the peninsula, severed all connections into Ukraine, built a new undersea fiber optic cable, and rerouted internet traffic through Moscow-based Miranda Media. This ensured that local internet traffic would be monitored by Roskomnadzor, Russia’s telecommunication regulator, and subjected Crimean residents to Russian speech, publishing, and internet regulations. 

Map courtesy of Kevin Limonier.

Moscow is following the same playbook at an unprecedented scale in newly occupied territories. The ISP offices within Kherson and newly occupied cities in eastern Ukraine have similarly been rerouted to Russian networks, securing Russian informational control over the regions and laying the groundwork for future secession referendums. This has become a significant enough concern that Ukrainians have been destroying telecommunication infrastructure as they flee occupied cities. 

Security and control over the national telecommunication channels is becoming particularly vital for smaller nations that rely primarily on foreign service providers for key military intelligence like satellite imaging. Volodymyr Usov, former chairman of the State Space Agency of Ukraine emphasized in June, “​​Every nation who claims to be independent…needs to have its own [imagery] constellation.” Usov noted that partnerships are not enough: “you need to have some autonomous access to satellite imagery.” Ukraine is considering developing their own satellite-launch technology to protect vital communication infrastructure from on-the-ground interventions. 

The rapid geopolitical fragmentation along infrastructure 

The involvement of non-state actors and the increasing military importance of telecommunication is leading to an accelerating balkanization of the internet along national lines. 

The war in Ukraine has drawn an even more explicit curtain between national internet regimes. Through a deplatforming tit-for-tat, Russia has banned the majority of Western technology companies and media outlets. Simultaneously, Ukraine and the West have banned Russian state media sites. Moscow has attempted to ban TOR and VPN networks, which have the capacity to bypass government censors. In a final extension of internet sovereignty, Russia has worked to prosecute its citizens for posting negative statements about the war even if they live abroad. The national boundaries no longer end at the border, but now extend into media spheres in any geography with an internet connection. 

The war in Ukraine has drawn a more explicit line between the fragmented financial, informational, and infrastructural realities of Europe and the United States, set against Russia and China. An infrastructural nonaligned movement is afoot, playing out along sclerotic Cold War logic. In the 21st century, the choice for much of the world is not Communism or Capitalism, but rather what supply chain network their countries will tap into. 

For more information about this topic, see our special coverage Russia invades Ukraine.

This post is part of RuNet Echo, a Global Voices project to interpret the Russian language internet. All Posts · Read more »

Written by Global Voices Central & Eastern Europe

Originally published on Global Voices

[Links are to Spanish-language pages except where noted otherwise.]

This is not about hackers making millions of dollars, although that would not be a bad thing. No, it is about a recent initiative by Hacks/Hackers [en], a Latin American network that brings together coders and journalists to explore how technology can be exploited to filter information and, at the same time, how that information can be used to tell stories.

[The Money Trail: 13 thriving cities in Latin America + Miami. Hundreds of Latin American citizens making history together, an opportunity to accelerate open data projects and attend “Media Party 2014”. Saturday, June 7, 2014.]

According to the Buenos Aires chapter:

[…] convocamos al primer hackatón regional, un hackday en distintas ciudades de América Latina el mismo día, con una temática común: “La ruta del dinero” para explorar cuáles son los destinos de los fondos públicos en nuestros países, cuáles son las relaciones entre ellos , cuál es el volumen de la ayuda internacional y a dónde se dirige, etc.

El propósito de esta actividad es doble: por un lado, fomentar la transparencia, la eficiencia en las cuentas públicas y la participación ciudadana en este ámbito; por el otro generar impacto dentro de las redacciones periodísticas y estimular la creación de equipos de noticias interactivos.

We are putting together the first regional hackathon, a simultaneous hack day in different cities across Latin America under the banner “The Money Trail”. We will be looking at where public funds are spent in our countries, what the relationship is between them, what volume of foreign aid is involved and where it all goes, etc.

The goal is twofold: on the one hand to encourage transparency, efficient management of public coffers, and citizen engagement and, on the other, to have an impact on what journalists write about and foster the creation of interactive news teams.

The event, which takes place Saturday, June 7, 2014, will bring together multidisciplinary teams from a host of local chapters of  Hacks/Hackers in cities such as Asunción, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Guatemala, La Paz, Lima, Mendoza, Mexico City, Miami, Montevideo, Rosario, San José, San Pablo and Santiago.

If helping fellow citizens by working towards greater transparency in the use of public funds were not enough of a reason to participate, there is the added incentive of prize money: five winning projects could be the recipients of US $2,000, and a grand prize worth US $10,000 will be awarded by HacksLabs.org, Latin America's first data journalism accelerator. 

 Writing [en] in ijnet, Mariano Blejman of HacksLabs says:

The hackathon will build on and be inspired by some of the great money-tracking projects taking shape in the region and around the world, such as VozData, a project of the newspaper La Nación (Argentina) that analyzes Argentine senate spending. The African project Where My Money Dey? examines whether mining companies in Ghana actually return 3 percent of their profits to residents, as required by law. And in the European Union, the site Farmsubsidy.org intends to shine a light on the 55 billion euros spent on farm subsidies.  

What's more, at Hacks/Hacker, if anyone feels the urge to organize a hackathon themselves but is not sure where to start, a handy guide is available in Spanish. Among the tips provided are the following:

El corazón de Hacks/Hackers es la comunidad de periodistas, pero el motor de funcionamiento es la comunidad hacker (programadores). Busca entre los periodistas conocidos, los más geeks, con ganas de cambiar la forma en la que trabajan los diarios por dentro. También los bloggers que quieren escribir sobre temas nuevos. Convence a estos periodistas para que publiquen información sobre el encuentro y le den valor al evento. Tener una red de periodistas interna es crucial para las actividades del grupo.

The heart of Hacks/Hackers is the community of journalists, but the motor that drives it is the community of coders. Search out well-known journalists, real geeks, those willing to change the way they work from the inside out. Bloggers too, who are willing to write about up-and-coming issues. Convince those journalists to publish stories about the event to help enhance its profile. Having a network of internal journalists is crucial for the activities of the group.

Participants can already start uploading their ideas to HackDash del evento. Poke around the site, and you just might stumble onto an inspiring idea for your own project!

Last but not least, the Follow the Money regional hackathon takes place under the auspices of Hacks/Hackers and is part of a comprehensive media innovation program supported by the International Center For Journalists, the Knight Foundation, Knight Mozilla Open News, PinLatam, and the World Bank Institute in Latin America. 

Written by Juan Arellano Translated by Victoria Robertson · View original post [es]

Originally published on Global Voices

A typical rabelo boat from Porto carrying the open data flag for the #OpenDataDay. Banner by Ana Carvalho / Transparência Hackday.

[Disclosure: The author of this post was one of the organizers of the event.]

Pro-transparency and tech for citizenship enthusiasts from different cities in Portugal joined in the global Open Data Day celebration with a gathering in Porto hosted by the Transparência Hackday collective on February 22, 2014.

Designers, programmers, hackers, communicators and public servants dedicated a Saturday afternoon to sharing their experience with transparency issues as well as to opening some data to the public.

Hands-on tasks included the Local Open Data Census by Open Knowledge Foundation, which aimed at putting together data sets at the local level, from transport timetables to annual budgets and air quality:

We know there is huge variability in how much local data is available not just across countries but within countries, with some cities and municipalities making major open data efforts, while in others there’s little or no progress visible. If we can find out what open data is out there, we can encourage more cities to open up key information, helping businesses and citizens understand their cities and making life easier.

By the end of the day, the cities of Coimbra and Porto had quite a full range of information available in a collaborative document that will be used to update the Open Knowledge instance for Portugal once it has been setup by the international organization.

A different group took on the yogurt cataloging challenge launched by Open Food Facts, a free, open and crowdsourced food products database. The idea behind “What's in my yogurt?” project was to gather nutrition facts, ingredients and other dairy data from as many countries of the world as possible in just one day. So did the Portuguese. 

@OpenFoodFactsPt @thackdaypt we've added our first yogurt! More will come as the data-yogurt team gets their hands dirty! #odd14

— Ana Isabel Carvalho (@aiscarvalho) 22 February 2014

Data ‘visualinspiration’

The cherry on top for this fourth anniversary of the International Open Data Day was the presentation of the designer and researcher Pedro Cruz from the University of Coimbra of his work on data visualization.

The association for cultural intervention Maus Hábitos (Bad Habits) in Porto opened its door for the venue of the #OpenDataDay in Portugal.

The journey started with Pedro's data visualization of the evolution of the decline of the maritime empires of the 19th and 20th centuries by land extension. In the timeline of events, British, Portuguese, French and Spanish empires dissolute in a fluid way as “some kind of soft bodies”. Other works by him include the traffic of Lisbon condensed in one day – or portrayed as a metaphor of living organisms with circulatory problems – as well as text analysis, public transport exploration, and much more.

“An ecosystem of corporate politicians“ – interactive visualization at pmcruz.com/eco.

But his most recent deed, the interactive visualization “An ecosystem of corporate politicians” – on the relationships between members of Portuguese governments and companies for the period of 1975 to 2013 – was the one sparking more debate.

The powerful visualization shows the companies where ministers and secretaries of state have had positions and allows for the exploration of what appears to be a parasite ecosystem, given the form of the designed organisms:

Data is approached as an ecosystem, where each set of interdependent relations are regulated by physical conditions—each politician has a sequence of companies to visit, chasing them and jumping between them, in order to restart the sequence each time it is completed.

The data was collected from a study on politics and business carried out for the documentary “Donos de Por­tu­gal” (Owners of Portugal).

Getting to know the community

Improve Coimbra was another project from the third main city of Portugal that participants had the chance to meet on #OpenDataDay in Porto. Alike the organizer in Porto, Transparência Hackday, Improve Coimbra promotes monthly meetings that anyone can join to help solve the problems of the city. In little more than one year of activities, Improve has already created several websites and mobile apps for the citizens of Coimbra, such as a platform for crowdsourcing home rents, a map of cafes with available wifi, and Burocracia which makes the minutes of Coimbra's city government assembly available and easy to search. 

Also the northern municipality of Alfândega da Fé was represented in this #OpenDataDay. Ranked in second place in the Index of Municipal Transparency [pt] launched in October 2013 by the watchdog Transparência e Integrigade, Associação Cívica (TIAC), this small municipality of the region of Trás-os-Montes, with less than 6,000 inhabitants, has been showing positive signs of willingness to open local governmental data. 

That was the ultimate aim of the event, after all, to encourage governmental data openness, and thus the #OpenData in Portugal has grown a bit stronger with more grassroots organizations and individuals dialoguing with each other and the world.

Hot & global #ODD14 timeline pt.2: @thackdaypt (Portugal) @villum (Denmark) @maliciarogue (France) @okfde (Germany) @OKFNitaly (Italia)!

— Open Knowledge Fdn (@OKFN) 22 fevereiro 2014

You can check out the agenda of the #OpenDataDay in a pad available in Transparencia Hackday's blog, and read more about the global event in the official website [all links in Portuguese]. 

Written by Sara Moreira

Originally published on Global Voices

Last year's Developing Latin America event evolved through several segments according to individual schedules for each of the 12 participating countries. The first segment was called the Apps Challenge, during which everybody had different activities such as conferences, hackathons, presentations of projects and other events throughout the month of October, ending the segment on 26 October with Demo Day [es].

The next segment was called Regional Acceleration. The 34 national winners resulting from the evaluations from Demo Day, who had a month to improve their apps, had the option of applying for this segment which consisted of building up the applications that had been developed with the help of Socialab, [click lower left corner for English] an organization specializing in supporting these enterprises.

After the period of nominations and evaluation by the jury, the six winners of the Regional Acceleration were announced on January 10, three in the form of in person presentations (in Santiago, Chile), and three remotely. They will receive Socialab support for three months.

The in-person Acceleration winners were:

Ayni [es] from Ecuador. “A web and mobile application that can geographically identify computer parts. It allows people to upload computer parts they are not using and generate a map of reusable parts. This map will be used by collectors (public or private entities) for faster recycling and clearer identification of each part.”

Dromos [es] from Ecuador. “Dromos is not just a transportation app. Dromos focuses on the landmarks of a city rather than routes. Using metadata tags to define each landmark it is possible to include criminalistics and tourist attractions, among other features. By not depending on the routes, we suggest intelligent alternatives estimating mobilization times, detours, safety and prices with a visually appealing app.”

Bizu Buzú [es] from Brazil. “Mobile application that offers a professional study plan focused on the skill the user wants to develop, taking advantage of free time on the trip to and from work, providing content in multimedia format so that the experience best fits one’s path of travel. These studies will be like a game and users accumulate points (Bizús) with which to establish a ranking.”

The remote Acceleration winners were:

Conciliador Virtual [Virtual Mediator] [es] from Brazil. “Our application will put interested parties in contact in order to reach a solution to their problems through a real mediator, as well as a real mediating session. In the end, the system will generate a signed and sealed contract.”

Tu Primer Trabajo [Your First Job] [es] from Argentina. “A game that allows young people to go through the experience of a job interview, get and then keep a job. The ability to advance in the game will be subject to the participant being able to correctly respond to questions about situations that could occur in the future. It also includes useful advice.”

Wedoo [es] from Chile. “Wedoo is a platform that seeks to promote the initiatives of NGOs and the laws that arise from them or that they hope to create. An NGO will be be able to not only publish an initiative (with its associated laws) and spread it via social networks, but may also, depending on the timing, encourage and coordinate specific actions by its members to boost their reach and influence.”

Given that two Ecuadorian apps took two out of three places in the in-person Regional Acceleration, there were various reactions from that country. For example, Fundapi, the the partner organization for Developing Latin America Ecuador, was among the first to congratulate them:

Felicitaciones a los equipos de #Dromos y #Ayni, que son los ganadores de la Aceleración Regional Presencial de… http://t.co/DVbe8UIaZp

— Fundapi (@fundapi) January 13, 2014

Congratulations to the Ayni and Dromos teams, who are the winners of the in-person Regional Acceleration

While the Center for Entrepreneurship at the Polytechnic School of the Coast (ESPOL in Spanish) commented [es]:

Felicitamos de forma especial a los ganadores de este concurso, ensalzando no sólo su potencial y talento sino de todos los ecuatorianos. Son un orgullo para nuestro país y para la ESPOL, siendo algunos de ellos ex-alumnos de nuestra institución.

We especially congratulate the winners of this contest, extolling not only their potential and talent but of all Ecuadorians. They make our country and EPSOL proud, since some of them are alumni of our institution.

Afterwards, ECStartups [es] organized a Hangout with the members of the Ayni group, headed by Luis Bajaña, and Dromos, led by Jorge Domínguez, José Espinoza and David Chang.

The Remote Acceleration starts this month, in February, and ends in April. During this time, Socialab will train the winning teams on topics such as Lean Startup, Business Model Canvas, Design Thinking, etc., and will give them the tools to measure the social impact.

In the case of the in-person Acceleration, which will start in March and end in May, apart from the training mentioned above, the teams will participate in an activity of co-creation “on the ground” with potential users and/or customers. They will also carry out their communication and financial plans, and seek funding for the sustainability of their projects. This is besides, of course, the prize of US $10,000 per team.

In conclusion, here’s a video summary of the Apps Challenge for Developing Latin America 2013:

Other related posts:

2011
Desarrollando América Latina – 30 horas de tecnología y sociedad [es]
Developing Latin America Open Data Project

2012
Developing Latin America 2012
Developing Latin America Draws Near
Day 1 of Developing Latin America 2012
Day 2 of Developing Latin American 2012
Winning Applications from Latin America's Biggest Hackathon

2013

Developing Latin America 2013: Apps Challenge for Social Impact
This Weekend at Developing Latin America Apps Challenge Part I
This Weekend at Developing Latin America Apps Challenge Part II
¡DemoDay en Desarrollando América Latina! [es]

Written by Juan Arellano Translated by Betsy Galbreath · View original post [es]

Originally published on Global Voices

Bloggers, hackers, designers, statisticians and other citizens who are interested in Open Data and Transparency will gather online and offline for the International Open Data Day on February 22, 2014. The event takes place to encourage governmental data openness.

Open Data Day is a gathering of citizens in cities around the world to write applications, liberate data, create visualizations and publish analyses using open public data to show support for and encourage the adoption open data policies by the world's local, regional and national governments.

Anyone can organize a local event in their city as long as the event is open for others to join. The attendees can participate in creating anything related to Open Data, be it with local or global applications, visualizations, scraping data from a government website to make it available for others or even organize a series of workshops with government officials, journalists or other stakeholders affected by open data.

The hashtag that will be used for the even is, #ODD2014. Some Twitter users have already started posting their comments on the hashtag.

#OpenData Day is community powered in a timezone near you. http://t.co/ImmMztmcUM #ODD2014 it's gonna be on 22 Feb so mark your calendar!

— Clarice Africa (@ClariceAfrica) February 10, 2014

Dozens of cities are participating in the hackathon.

International Open Data Hackathon

Announcements are also made on Twitter for local events in different places.

يوم البيانات المفتوحة – مصر http://t.co/PdqDzokxcP #ODD2014

— Yamen Bousrih (@yamenbousrih) February 9, 2014

The Open Data Day in Egypt, http://t.co/PdqDzokxcP

Anything going on in #Cambodia for #ODD2014 ? http://t.co/YQwaz5ETkM @s_channe

— Philippe Ceulen (@pceulen) February 5, 2014

Hurray! Welcome @antoniocuga and Peru to Open Data Day 2014 – #ODD14 #ODD2014

— HeatherLeson (@HeatherLeson) February 3, 2014

Apparently the crew in Japan has decided they are going to OWN #opendata day 2014 #odd2014 http://t.co/IN8gE0dZun

— David Eaves (@daeaves) December 19, 2013

Add your city to the list if it is not already there, and start planning for a local event there.

Written by Tarek Amr

Originally published on Global Voices

Photo from Desarrollando América Latina Facebook page.

We continue the virtual tour of the countries participating in the third edition of Desarrollando América Latina [Developing Latin America]-#DAL2013. (See the first part here.)

Bolivia's [es] envisioning meeting took place a few weeks ago and they were also preparing for Demo Day. And although the organizers have not been very active on social networks, [es] they have been virtually supporting participants.

Conoce los temas sociales que se trabajaran en Bolivia durante #DAL2013 http://t.co/AExRQhLIMs

— DAL (@DesarrollaLatAm) September 24, 2013

Learn about social issues to be worked on in Bolivia during #DAL2013

¿Cansado que tu trabajo sea una maquina? – DAL2013 http://t.co/Gh4h6YFpyS

— Willmar A. Pimentel (@wpimentel) October 5, 2013

Tired of your work being a machine?

The people of Chile [es] are among the most enthusiastic about #DAL2013:

Preparativos #dal2013 chile :) pic.twitter.com/rHZ5Xe87YS

— خوسيه غاريدو مونيوز (@jgarrido) October 5, 2013

Preparation for #dal2013 in Chile :)

Conoce más, sobre lo que fue el primer taller de #DAL2013 Chile en nuestro Flickr http://t.co/KOxD1JBrPp

— CiudadanoInteligente (@ciudadanoi) October 9, 2013 [es]

Learn more about the first #DAL2013 Chile workshop on Flickr

A días de la hackathon de #DAL2013 Chile! Revisa como lo hemos pasado hasta ahora http://t.co/9Dn3moQH9z cc: @ciudadanoi

— Anca Matioc (@AncaMatioc) October 9, 2013

Days from hackathon #DAL2013 Chile! Check out what we've done so far

En Chile se preparan para cerrar una exitosa jornada ¡Los participantes de #DAL2013 creando soluciones reales! pic.twitter.com/jz3z9KYoYe

— DAL (@DesarrollaLatAm) October 13, 2013

In Chile, preparations for the close of a successful day. #DAL2013 participants creating real solutions!

Compartimos lo que fue el taller de gestión ágil en #DAL2013 Chile http://t.co/DbjqUsFCKe Recuerden que este 26 de Octubre se viene la final

— CiudadanoInteligente (@ciudadanoi) October 16, 2013

We share the Agile Methodology workshop at #DAL2013. Don't forget Oct. 26 is the end.

In Argentina [es] there have been a couple of preparatory meetings, but the actual hackathon will be the 25th of this month:

Este jueves a las 19.30hs se viene la previa del #DAL2013, sumate a pensar soluciones tecnológicas con impacto social http://t.co/IG4oRKZCUb

— Wingu{NonprofitTech} (@desdewingu) September 17, 2013

This Thursday at 19:30h will be the preview of #DAL2013, join in to think about technological solutions with social impact

Asi arranco el #DAL2013 en Argentina: http://t.co/T5LYgPOa5c Fotos locas: http://t.co/Q3lPmKCJDE @desdewingu @AncaMatioc

— Paula Alzualde (@paualzu) September 20, 2013

And so we start Argentina's #DAL2013.  Crazy photos

Empiezan las presentaciones de los proyectos #dal2013 #argentina pic.twitter.com/gXAm1GiZRx

— Laura Paonessa (@laurapaonessa) October 5, 2013

The presentations of the projects begin

Argentina presentan los proyectos de #DAL2013. Sigue la transmición en vivo desde aquí http://t.co/t07uEkVFLx | pic.twitter.com/JRJOuWT1sH

— DAL (@DesarrollaLatAm) October 5, 2013

Argentina presents the projects for #DAL2013. Follow it live here

Para ver los proyetos del #DAL2013 #argentina entra acá: http://t.co/S3fhWULLsl! #cambio #techforgood #impactosocial @DesarrollaLatAm

— Wingu{NonprofitTech} (@desdewingu) October 5, 2013

Click here to see the #DAL2013 Argentina projects

#Dal2013 #Argentina el #hackaton donde hay más chicas que programadores @desarrollalatam #devsmissingout http://t.co/ozq8iobivT

— Mati Kalwill (@matikalwill) October 5, 2013

#Dal2013 Argentina is the hackathon where there are more girls than programmers

It is the first time [es] that Paraguay [es] is participating in a DAL event and expectations are high:

Llegó el día! #DAL2013 en #Paraguay es una realidad! Gracias a tod@s por el apoyo y esfuerzo, ahora solo queda… http://t.co/BhC4TIMFGM

— DAL Paraguay (@dalparaguay) October 5, 2013

The day has arrived! #DAL2013 in Paraguay is a reality! Thanks to all for the support and effort, now all that remains is….

#DAL2013 Paraguay. dia 1. recien empieza https://t.co/B4QWLhAVlF

— Maricarmen Sequera (@marsebu) October 5, 2013

Paraguay. Day 1. Just started

En Paraguay #DAL2013 no se acaba ¡Los equipos continúan desarrollando! cc @dalparaguay pic.twitter.com/VMOZQMVhAn

— DAL (@DesarrollaLatAm) October 5, 2013

In Paraguay #DAL2013 is not over! The teams continue developing!

En @dalparaguay aún quedan ganas y entusiasmo. El segundo día de #DAL2013 se viene increíble! pic.twitter.com/zMO6xA5CmN
— DAL (@DesarrollaLatAm) October 6, 2013

There is still enthusiasm and will for @dalparaguay. The second day of #DAL2013 has been amazing!

#DAL2013 hablando de Medio Ambiente en Paraguay :) pic.twitter.com/tVaiGcXZ0y

— pabloacastillo (@pabloacastillo) October 8, 2013

talking about the environment in Paraguay :)

In Uruguay [es] there is once again a month dedicated to open data and the following tweets are only part of all the activity going on in Montevideo:

En Uruguay la expedición esta en desarrollo ¡Los datos son un universo desconocido! #DAL2013 pic.twitter.com/Jf05rvy6IW

— DAL (@DesarrollaLatAm) October 12, 2013

In Uruguay, the expedition is in development. The data is an unknown universe!

Los subgrupos presentan los resultados del Data Expedition en el #OktoberDATAFEST #DAL2013 pic.twitter.com/5AZIBvdxZy

— DATA (@DataUY) October 12, 2013

Subgroups present the results of the Data Expedition at the #OktoberDATAFEST

Muchas gracias a @ladiaria y a @nuncadigasnadie por la lindísima nota sobre el #OktoberDATAFEST http://t.co/ZjK30Ptpum #DAL2013

— DATA (@DataUY) October 17, 2013

Thank you for the beautiful note about the #OktoberDATAFEST

¡Empezando el #OktoberDATAFEST! #DAL2013 pic.twitter.com/y6UacUC3Rd

— DATA (@DataUY) October 19, 2013

Starting the #OktoberDATAFEST

¡Queda demostrado que cualquiera puede participar de un hackatón! #OktoberDATAFEST #DAL2013 pic.twitter.com/K3D40boLlk

— DATA (@DataUY) October 19, 2013

This goes to show that anybody can participate in a hackathon!

And Brazil [es] is fulfilling its schedule of activities with a view towards Demo Day on this October 26.

Tá no ar o cronograma de atividades da edição brasileira do #DAL2013. Confiram, divulguem e inscrevam-se! http://t.co/IxUXzYquLv

— Alexandre Gomes (@alegomes) September 27, 2013

The schedule of activities for the Brazilian edition of #DAL2013 has been published. Check it out, share it, and sign up!

Así transcurre el #DAL2013 BRASIL mañana será el turno de 10 países más @pelaezkelly @DesarrollaLatAm @alejo8497 pic.twitter.com/eGnpZpuSxE

— GobiernoAbiertoCol (@GobAbiertoCol) October 5, 2013

This is #DAL2013 Brazil. Tomorrow 10 other countries have their turn.

Vamos por el tercer día de #DAL2013 en Brasil ¡Desarrolladores gestando soluciones con mucha energía! pic.twitter.com/BCjCB3sB6m

— DAL (@DesarrollaLatAm) October 6, 2013

We are on the third day of #DAL2013. Developers energetically brewing up ideas!

Vídeo DAL Brasil 2013 – Dia 01 #DAL2013 #DALBrasil2013 http://t.co/oE83kZuFnW

— SEA_Tecnologia (@SEA_Tecnologia) October 7, 2013

DAL Brazil 2013 Day 1 video

Sábado de prototipagem no DAL2013 Brasil #DAL2013 #DALBrasil Pivota Brasil http://t.co/5tAaXgwjm2

— SEA_Tecnologia (@SEA_Tecnologia) October 21, 2013

Prototype Saturday at DAL2013 Brazil

This has been a quick panorama of the activities in 12 Latin American countries participating in #DAL2013, but this isn't all that has happened; the central organization of #DAL2013 has been organizing and coordinating workshops for the participants, and many have had thoughts about Developing Latin America:

Gobierno abierto no sólo es transparencia,es apertura a priorizar, crear, e implementar políticas y herramientas CON los ciudadanos #DAL2013

— felipe heusser (@fheusser) October 5, 2013

Open government isn't just transparency, it's openness to prioritize, create and implement policy and tools WITH its citizens

En unos minutos, comienza presentación de @EscuelaDeDatos, #DAL2013 y data scraping en #Guayaquil. Habrá hangout: http://t.co/0Y0E7Kp1kp

— Escuela de Datos (@EscuelaDeDatos) October 9, 2013

In a few minutes, a presentation of @EscuelaDeDatos, #DAL2013 and data scraping will begin. There will be a hangout 

Este 20/Oct podrás aprender sobre #OpenStreetMap y @MapBox en un taller en español por @lxbarth. Apúntate! https://t.co/voVBjMxUR6 #DAL2013

— OpenStreetMap Cbba (@osmcbba) October 11, 2013

On October 20 you will be able to learn about #OpenStreetMap and @MapBox in a workshop in Spanish by @lxbarth. Sign up!

Lo Cool de #dal2013 es el interés que generan las personas que desarrollan para crear soluciones sociales, ojala sea todo un éxito

— Javier Fernande (@JavierignacioF2) October 12, 2013

What's cool about #DAL2013 is the interest generated by developers to create social solutions, hopefully it will be a success!

RT @lxbarth: Decided to use deforestation data from @InfoAmazonia http://t.co/qauU8v8xYG for today's workshops #DAL2013

— InfoAmazonia (@InfoAmazonia) October 20, 2013

Este 26 de octubre en nuestro Demo Day podrás conocer los resultados de #DAL2013 ¡Permanece atento para más detalles!

— DAL (@DesarrollaLatAm) October 20, 2013

This October 26 at our Demo Day you can find out the results of #DAL2013. Stay tuned for more details!

We will soon bring you more updates about this year's Developing Latin America.

Written by Juan Arellano Translated by Betsy Galbreath · View original post [es]

Originally published on Global Voices

Photo from Desarrollando América Latina Facebook page.

This past weekend has been very productive for the Developing Latin America (#DAL2013) Apps Challenge; there was movement in person and on social networks in almost all locations of the participating countries. In this post we bring you a brief summary of what happened.

In México [es] they share some of the challenges they have raised and the activities they have organized to find solutions: 

Retos #DAL2013 sobre #educación en México, derechos de los niños y más checa http://t.co/vop4d7ygkW

— OpenDataMX (@OpenDataMX) October 19, 2013

#DAL2013 challenge about education in Mexico, children's rights and more.

Reto @Infancia Cuenta: Visualiza el estado de la infancia en México http://t.co/PgbHoYaX1o

— OpenDataMX (@OpenDataMX) October 19, 2013

Challenge ‘Infancy Counts': Visualizes the state of infancy in Mexico.

Video: Expedición de datos con @Mexicanos1o para #DAL2013 http://t.co/wYUGUfGE81

— OpenDataMX (@OpenDataMX) October 19, 2013

Video: Data expedition with @Mexicanos1o for #DAL2013

Reto #DAL2013 Información sobre la calidad y servicio en las clínicas http://t.co/59ZajoZrEt ¿Ya escogiste el tuyo?

— OpenDataMX (@OpenDataMX) October 19, 2013

#DAL2013 Challenge: Information about quality and service in health clinics. Have you picked yours?

Reto #DAL2013: Ayuda a jóvenes a identificar situaciones de riesgo para ser víctimas de trata http://t.co/4IUq9BiD2S

— OpenDataMX (@OpenDataMX) October 19, 2013

#DAL2013 Challenge: Help youth identify risky situations that can turn them into victims of trafficking.

Participants in Guatemala [es] have shown their excitement about a series of scheduled conferences:

#DALGt #DAL2013 empieza el sabado de conferencias pic.twitter.com/ERZnPsMrJs

— JorgeGabriel Jimenez (@bebejimenez) October 19, 2013

Saturday conferences begin.

Red socio-tecnica de una pantalla flexible #DALGt #DAL2013 pic.twitter.com/OQ1idyWHBL

— JorgeGabriel Jimenez (@bebejimenez) October 19, 2013

Socio-technical network of a flexible screen

“Las ideas son fáciles de copiar, las ideas de negocios, las ideas socio técnicas son más difíciles“ Alvaro Figueredo #DALGt #Dal2013

— guate cambia (@guatecambia) October 19, 2013

“Ideas are easy to copy; business ideas, socio-technical ideas are harder” Alvaro Figueredo

Se debe lograr que el proyecto tome vida propia y que tenga inercia para que se mantenga-Javier Álvarez #DALGt

— guate cambia (@guatecambia) October 19, 2013

The project has to take on a life of its own and have momentum to keep going- Javier Álvarez

La presentación de Hacking cívico está disponible aquí –> http://t.co/Y3PzA489T5 @guatecambia #dalgt #dal2013

— SocialTIC (@socialtic) October 19, 2013

The presentation on civic hacking is available here –> http://t.co/Y3PzA489T5

Civic hackers from Costa Rica [es] took some time off this weekend, but the previous weekend they held their hackathon:

Los expertos co-creando con los participantes ¡En Costa Rica #DAL2013 acaba de comenzar! pic.twitter.com/XQRFNdbr0b

— DAL (@DesarrollaLatAm) October 12, 2013

Experts co-creating with participants. In Costa Rica #DAL2013 has just begun!

24 horas después, 10 equipos, 34 jóvenes, mucho talento #DAL2013 #CostaRica pic.twitter.com/vYp0LwlszB

— Maikol Porras (@maikolporras) October 13, 2013

24 hours later, 10 teams, 34 young people, a lot of talent.

Muchas cosas han pasado en #DAL2013 ¿Quieres saber cómo fue la hackathon en Costa Rica? http://t.co/WANBTgQf03

— DAL (@DesarrollaLatAm) October 15, 2013

A lot has happened at #DAL2013 Do you want to learn about the hackathon in Costa Rica?

Ganadores de #DAL2013 Costa Rica premiados por la Presidenta Laura Chinchilla http://t.co/G8kwCfJmW5

— Luis Diego Oreamuno (@ldiego_oreamuno) October 16, 2013

#DAL2013 Costa Rica winners awarded by President Laura Chinchilla

@nacion trae una nota sobre todos los equipos ganadores de Desarrollando América Latina Costa Rica 2013 #DAL2013 http://t.co/TJv80PPYKE

— GobiernoDigitalCR (@GobDigitalCR) October 17, 2013

@nacion brings us an article about all the winning teams of Developing Latin America Costa Rica 2013

Colombia [es] also held its hackathon earlier:

#DAL2013 Colombia @williamgomezg presenta proyectos #mochilapp, salud y tecnología, veeduría política ¡buenas ideas! pic.twitter.com/mFicokxSfe

— Camilo Andrés Suárez (@KAMIAN) October 5, 2013

@williamgomezg presents #mochilapp projects, health and technology, political oversight. Great ideas!

En #DAL2013 @DesarrollaLatAm @TheColombist nos presenta este interesante proyecto #RutaCiudadana base de activistas. pic.twitter.com/g6JVxe0GuC

— Centro de Innovación (@Idea2Lab) October 5, 2013

@TheColombist presents this interesting project #RutaCiudadana

@sibcolombia muestra en primicia su api dinámica y libre para explorar datos georreferenciados @DesarrollaLatAm, pic.twitter.com/IHoqUHdLhO

— Camilo Andrés Suárez (@KAMIAN) October 5, 2013

@sibcolombia shows for the first time their dynamic and open app to explore georeferenced data

Colombia tambien desarrolla soluciones en #DAL2013 http://t.co/55oj1Mk8Nc @campuspartyco @DesarrollaLatAm pic.twitter.com/jnPhqDMaH1

— GobiernoAbiertoCol (@GobAbiertoCol) October 11, 2013

Colombia also develops solutions at #DAL2013

Hackers and other specialists in Ecuador [es] are working towards Demo Day on October 26, but they've also been sharing some tweets about their activities:

Inicia #DAL2013 Ecuador en la ESPAE, Espol Campus Las Peñas pic.twitter.com/gAwHebLNLF

— Fundapi (@fundapi) October 5, 2013

#DAL2013 kicks off in Ecuador at ESPAE, Espol Campus Las Peñas

#DAL2013 Ecuador busca resolver problemas en transporte, medio ambiente, democracia, salud y educación. pic.twitter.com/luw3I8E9YP

— David Chang (@DavidFernandoC) October 5, 2013

Ecuador seeks to find solutions to problems related to transportation, environment, democracy, health and education.

Total integración entre participantes en el DAL Ecuador #DAL2013 pic.twitter.com/l8mboDfRrh

— Fundapi (@fundapi) October 5, 2013

Complete integration between participants at DAL Ecuador

Se presentan los premios del DAL Ecuador #DAL2013, gracias a @McDonalds_Ecu pic.twitter.com/v02jolUcpg

— Fundapi (@fundapi) October 5, 2013

Awards at DAL Ecuador are being presented, thanks to @McDonalds_Ecu

Se le agradece a la Universidad Santa María (@USMgye) por la acogida en el Data Scraping realizado la noche de ayer #DAL Ecuador #DAL2013

— Fundapi (@fundapi) October 10, 2013

We thank Santa María University for hosting the data scraping event last night.

And in Peru [es] there's been a lot of activity in the past two weekends, with the hashtags #datamaskay (data search) and #dataminka (work with data) becoming quite popular on Twitter:

#DAL2013 todo Octubre! [mes de hackatones, temblores y milagros] > @IPAE_Innova y @escuelab te invitan! #innovape > http://t.co/x0GlPwH59V

— escuelab (@escuelab) October 10, 2013

#DAL2013 throughout October! [month of hackathons, earthquakes and miracles!] > @IPAE_Innova and @escuelab invite you!

Las soluciones están en los #DatosAbiertos ¡En Perú las ideas se convierten en soluciones! #DAL2013 | #Datamaskay pic.twitter.com/lYr0V98ydn

— DAL (@DesarrollaLatAm) October 13, 2013

Solutions are found in open data. In Peru ideas become solutions!

#tenemosdata!!! última encuesta sobre corrupción 2013. v/ @srotta #DatosAbiertos CSV SPSS XLS —> http://t.co/hieNAZvQwz #dal2013

— escuelab (@escuelab) October 13, 2013

We have data! Latest poll about corruption 2013

¡ideas discutidas en #dataminka! #dal2013 #perú c/ @guillerp @yonsy @cslucano @bobsparz @cynthiax_y @eldecimohombre pic.twitter.com/CY4fPX5tjn

— escuelab (@escuelab) October 20, 2013

Ideas discussed at #dataminka!

Una vez decidida qué app sería ideal realizar los concurrentes al #dataminka debaten sobre los insumos #DAL2013 http://t.co/VhVydxYerY

— Centro de Innovación (@IPAE_Innova) October 20, 2013

Once participants decided which app would be ideal to develop, they debated which resources they will use.

In the next post we will continue reporting about activities in the other countries participating in Developing Latin America 2013!

Written by Juan Arellano Translated by Silvia Viñas · View original post [es]

Originally published on Global Voices

“Developing Latin America”

Fundación Ciudadano Inteligente is about to launch a new edition of their regional initiative entitled Developing Latin America [es], which brings together the efforts of developers, social specialists, and others to use open data to create applications that serve the Latin American community. In their own words [es]:

Impulsamos aplicaciones innovadoras, sustentables, escalables y de alto impacto social. Celebramos a la comunidad de emprendedores, tecnólogos, desarrolladores y diseñadores, desafiándolos a trabajar en conjunto con sus gobiernos y organizaciones locales para co-crear soluciones que generen un cambio positivo para los ciudadanos. Fomentamos una cultura de creatividad, innovación y emprendimiento en América Latina.

We promote innovative, sustainable, and scalable applications with a high social impact. We celebrate the community of entrepreneurs, technologists, developers and designers, challenging them to work together with their governments and local organizations to co-create solutions that generate a positive change for citizens. We foster a culture of creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship in Latin America.

For its third edition, Developing Latin America (DAL) is transforming and is going from being a Hackathon to what they call an Apps Challenge, meaning a longer event with the goal of developing better ideas, obtaining more concrete solutions, and, as such, achieving applications that are more sustainable and scalable.

But, what is an Apps Challenge? [es]

Un Apps Challenge es una competencia entre aplicaciones. En el caso de DAL, es una competencia colaborativa que se realizará a lo largo de tres intensas semanas de desarrollo. Esta etapa está diseñada para dotar a los equipos de las herramientas que permitan desarrollar una aplicación innovadora y disruptiva. Realizaremos varias actividades con el objetivo de generar aplicaciones de alto impacto social.

An Apps Challenge is a competition between applications. In the case of DAL, it is a collaborative competition that will be held over the course of three intense weeks of development. This stage is designed to give teams the tools that will allow for the development of an innovative and disruptive application. Various activities will take place with the goal of generating applications of high social impact.

“Let's share idea and work together to develop Latin America!”

DAL officially launches on October 5 of this year, and we say officially because in reality the coordination of DAL and the different teams in charge of the event in the participating countries (now 12) have been working on preparing for it for several weeks. In fact, each team has planned various activities [es] to take place in their country during the month of October and, on October 26, there will be a Demo Day in addition to the selection of the three best applications per country.

But that is not all. After this phase, in association with Socialab, a project accelerator specialized in high impact social projects, will choose five teams among the winners to build up their projects for three months, helping them construct a business plan and find funding, among other things:

• Co-creación “en terreno” con sus potenciales usuarios y clientes.
• Definición de áreas de impacto que el proyecto tendrá en la sociedad, estos son co-creados con la comunidad y usuarios en trabajos en terreno.
• Capacitarse en metodología de innovación y emprendimiento (Lean Start-Up, Canvas Business Model, Design Thinking, etc.)
• Búsqueda de financiamiento para la sustentabilidad de sus proyectos a través de distintos medios: inversionistas, crowdfundings, fondos concursables, entre otros.
• Generación de redes con distintos actores relevantes para el proyecto.
• Planes comunicacionales y financieros elaborados.

• Co-creation “in the field” with their potential users and clients.
• Definition of areas of impact that the project will have in society, these are co-created with the community and users in field work.
• Training in innovation and entrepreneurship (Lean Start-up, Canvas Business Model, Design Thinking, etc.)
• Finding funds for sustainability of their projects through various means: investors, crowd funding, competitive funds, among others.
• Generating networks with various stakeholders relevant to the project.
• Elaborating communication and financial plans.

To learn a bit more about what DAL will be like this year and familiarize ourselves with the Apps Challenge process, our collaborator, Elizabeth Rivera, met with Anca Matioc, Regional Coordinator of Developing Latin America. Below is a video [es] of the interview:

In the interview, Matioc expanded on DAL's decision to go from a Hackathon, typically 36 hours, to an Apps Challenge, which will span a period of three weeks. As a response to DAL's growth over the past two years, Matioc highlighted the desire to have participants go beyond making prototypes for applications by giving them the opportunity to create more efficient and finished apps for social change. With the Apps Challenge, which she described as an “extended hackathon”, each of the twelve participating countries will have its own agenda of activities and workshops, culminating in the Demo Day and Socialab nominations. Currently, DAL is continuing its preparations for the event and meeting with its stakeholders to discuss their roles as mentors for each team of participants.

DAL has already generated interest in the region. For example, ALT1040 reports on the event and says [es]:

Este tipo de programas son ideales para impulsar pequeñas startups que pretenden resolver problemas comunes de la región. Lo interesante es que las aplicaciones pueden estar enfocadas tanto en solucionar un problema de tu país como hasta solucionar uno de Latinoamérica en su totalidad. Un reflejo de que podemos y queremos cambiar el mundo en el que vivimos, aunque tengamos que hacerlo una aplicación a la vez.

These types of programs are ideal for inspiring small startups seeking to resolve common problems in the region. The interesting thing is that the applications can be focused on solving a problem in your country as well as solving one in Latin America as a whole. A reflection on the idea that we can and want to change the world we live in, even if we have to do it one application at a time.

El Becario from the Código Espagueti blog reflects [es]:

Sin duda, un gran reto para países en los que no todos tienen un smartphone o una tableta, aún así se trata de un gran esfuerzo que bien podría ayudar a mejorar las condiciones de vida en la región.

Without a doubt, a big challenge for countries where not everyone has a smartphone or tablet; still, it is a great initiative that could really help improve living conditions in the region.

If you are a developer and are interested not only in a professional challenge but simultaneously having the opportunity to help solve social problems in your city or country, such as education, health, public safety, and transportation, among others, you can sign up [es] until October 4 and participate in this event on a regional level.

On our behalf, we will be providing coverage of the details of this great initiative.

Other related posts:

2011
Developing Latin America – 30 hours of technology and society [es]
“Developing Latin America”: Open Data Projects

2012
Developing Latin America 2012
What Exactly is a Hackathon? And What is Open Data?
Developing Latin America Draws Near!
Day 1 of Developing Latin America 2012
Day 2 of Developing Latin America 2012
Winning Applications From Latin America's Biggest Hackathon

Written by Juan Arellano Translated by Marianna Breytman · View original post [es]

Originally published on Global Voices

Abre Latam [es], an event on Open Data and transparency in Latin American governments that took place in Montevideo, Uruguay on June 24 and 25, did not only bring together hackers and civil society activists from Latin America, along with other people from the region interested in spreading open data and the applications that use them, but also organizations and people from other parts of the world with the same interests.

For example, Alla Morrison, writing for the Open Data blog at the World Bank comments on what she had in mind before the event took place:

Does open data have economic value beyond the benefits of transparency and accountability? Does it have the power to fuel new businesses and create new jobs? Does it have the potential to improve people's lives by powering new services and products? If so, what should the World Bank be doing to help this along? These were questions we had in mind as we set out to bring together open data entrepreneurs from across Latin America for an Open Data Business Models workshop in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Abre Latam: An open meeting for an open region

As mentioned in a prior post, people from the Open Knowledge Foundation were present to launch the Spanish version of School of Data: Escuela de Datos [es]. They had previously been in Santiago and Buenos Aires and their mission was to promote the launch of the School of Data, but also to try to find and meet the people that participate and drive the topic of open data. According to what they wrote in their blog, it was a magnificent experience:

The initiative [Escuela de Datos] was received enthusiastically and we’re looking forward to see the network grow. […] After the two intense days all of us left with big smiles and new ideas in our minds. Big congratulations to the team at DATA for organising the event and bringing together such a great group of people from all around the region!

Photo from the ABRE LATAM Facebook page

Jen Bramley, of MySociety.org, one of the organizations present that is dedicated to developing software that will empower people in their civic and democratic aspects (FixMyStreet, for example), wrote that “it was extremely interesting to hear the social, cultural, and political experiences of other people in relation to technology,” and also mentioned that:

For me, the most important part was seeing the projects other people work on to strengthen transparency, citizen participation, and civil liberties in their own countries. It’s a humbling experience to realise that some things we take for granted are the subject of intense campaigning in other countries. Each day we had a series of workshops around different topics. I facilitated one, trying to learn what people want from open source technology to make it more globally usable.

Javier Ruíz of the Open Rights Group, an organization dedicated to defending freedom of expression, privacy, innovation, creativity, and consumer rights on the Internet, believes that it is interesting that among the attendees at Abre Latam there was a genuine concern that open data was not only playing with technological toys. He also wrote about his participation in the event:

ORG’s proposed session on privacy brought up many interesting examples of conflicts and difficult choices. Among others we heard of exam results being published in Mexico and the electoral register with Google indexed photos in Argentina. The consensus was that the privacy and open data nexus is very important but we lack the framework to analyse it. This is particularly complicated with the diversity of legal and cultural contexts we find in different countries. Many activists asked for more information and capacity building.

Photo from the ABRE LATAM Facebook page

Although Fabrizio Scrollini is Uruguayan and a member of D.A.T.A., one of the organizers of Abre Latam, he wrote a post in English as a guest for the Sunlight Foundation's blog, where he makes a series of reflections on the event as well as on the state of open data, transparency, and open government in the region. Among other things he says:

Community matters. This is hardly a surprise but community can mean different things. Indeed people are interested in open data for all sorts of reasons, but when it comes to a particular area or group of datasets, and the aim is social change, the need for different skills and common goals becomes crucial. Some of the greatest sessions were about how to link the different worlds of technology, communication, policy and social problem solving. Open data (or the lack of it) is sometimes a great excuse to put minds together working to achieve better outcomes.

Susannah Vila, a Global Voices collaborator, kept a live-blog for TechPresident, which she begins with a bit of history about the initiatives with open data in the region:

When Ciudadano Inteligente was launched back in 2011 it was perhaps the only initiative in the region using technology to enhance civic information, engagement and transparency. That same year a regional hackathon, Desarrollando America Latina, was created. Soon after, a community of civic technologists that rivals Chile’s emerged in Mexico, and then in Argentina, Perú, and elsewhere. Uruguay’s DATA launched less than a year ago. As bellwethers like Ciudadano Inteligente grow, and newer projects emerge, a convening designed to consider what has worked and what hasn’t is propitious. It’s also the first of its kind for the region, where civic technologists have come together (plenty) for hackathons, but never to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the hackathon and open data projects.

Photo from the ABRE LATAM Facebook page

In another post, Susannah identifies three tendencies that emerged in Abre Latam to answer the question: How do we engage the right people at the right time to use data from the government and turn it into policies for lasting change?

1. Top-Down Solutions: Donor-funded strategies that bring technologists together with NGOs, journalists, activists and other interested groups.
2. Bottom-up solutions: Workshops that develop political autonomy and engagement at the grassroots level.
3. Realistic Solutions: Engage deeply with niche groups.

In conclusion, we are sharing a quote from the blog of Raquel Camargo, a Brazilian journalist who attended the event and also presented the project where she works, Movimento Minas [pt]. After writing about the initiatives that impressed her the most, she reflects the following:

A mensagem que fiquei com todos esses projetos é que, quem quer faz. A grande parte desses projetos contam com poucas pessoas, mas muita vontade. São independentes, são alimentados de determinação e ideologias. Dinheiro? Nem sempre rola. Mas tem paixão no meio. Isso é, para mim, emocionante e faz total sentido ao momento do Brasil. A gente quer mudança? Então vamos fazer a mudança. Esse pessoal aí sabe o que é isso.

The message that all of these projects gave me is that, whoever wants to, does it. A big part of these projects have very few people, but a lot of will. They are independent, they are fed by determination and ideologies. Money? Not always. But passion is in the middle. That is, for me, exciting and makes a lot of sense in Brazil's present moment. We want to change? Then let's make the change. These people here know what that is.

Photo from the ABRE LATAM Facebook page

Related post:

Abre Latam, an Open Conference for an Open Region.

Original post published on Juan Arellano's Globalizado [es] blog.

Written by Juan Arellano Translated by Marianna Breytman · View original post [es]

Originally published on Global Voices

[All links lead to Spanish language websites unless otherwise noted]

Gather civil service activists, entrepreneurs, researchers, communicators, (unofficial) governmental representatives, and of course, hackers or developers of different ages and backgrounds for a few days. Give them a theme to discuss and let them organise themselves. The result will be a couple of days with great creativity, an outpouring of knowledge, passion for what is being done and a lot of camaraderie.

With that recipe, also known as an ‘unconference‘, Abre Latam, an event about Open Data and transparency in Latin American governments, took place in Montevideo, Uruguay, from June 24 to 25, with D.A.T.A. and Ciudadano Inteligente as the organisations that devised and successfully coordinated the event.

And although one might think that the topic is a bit dry, it's enough to have a look at the number (30) and variety of sessions held (from one about ‘Cultura de Datos Abiertos’ [Culture of Open Data] to ‘Tecnología de la accesibilidad’ [Technology of Accessibility], to others with wider themes like ‘Brecha digital’ [Digital divide] or very specific ones such as ‘Scraping’) to realise that there wasn't actually enough time to continue bringing up topics, analysing them and generating solutions, alternatives and work plans. Which doesn't mean that the participants didn't feel satisfied with the meeting.

Photo from the Facebook page ABRE LATAM

For example, Fernando Briano of Picando Código finds it very pleasant to meet people in the same field as him and discusses how Abre Latam turned out to be a new experience for him:

El formato es genial, y espero hayan más eventos inspirados en él por estos lados. La idea es hacer una ‘conferencia’, pero completamente horizontal. Acá no hay ‘oradores’ y ‘público’ – sin escenarios – en la desconferencia todos somos participantes. Opiné, facilité alguna charla y pude presentar mi proyecto MNAV API en una lightning talk.

The format is brilliant and I hope that there are more events inspired by it in these parts. The idea is to have a ‘conference’, but completely horizontal. Here there are no ‘speakers’ or ‘public’ – without stages – in the deconference we are all participants. I thought that it facilitated conversation and I was able to present my project, MNAV API, in a lightning talk.

Salvadorian Iris Palma, apart from hoping for a second edition of Abre Latam, sums up the spirit of the event very well in this post:

Lejos de ser una reunión para enseñar, creo que todos fuimos a aprender; no hubo nadie que no indicara un aprendizaje nuevo, una iniciativa aún desconocida o mejor aún una idea o contacto con el que trabajar al regreso de nuestros países. Me dio gusto ver gente de Centroamérica (considerando que yo era la única salvadoreña en la Des-Conferencia); de Guatemala, Congreso Transparente y de Costa Rica, de Grupo Inco. Interesante fue conocer en vivo y a todo color a personas de quienes había leído algunos artículos y/o blogs, y confirmar que es gente que sabe lo que hace, pero más aún ama lo que hace. Nos sentamos en el suelo, hicimos chistes, discutimos puntos de vista, nos contradecimos, nos volvimos a reconciliar y al final conclusiones y expresiones de interés para actuar en conjunto fueron el resultado de estos dos intensos días de actividad.

Far from being a meeting to teach, I think that we all went to learn; there was no one who didn't indicate having learnt something new, a still unknown initiative, or better still, an idea or contact to work with on returning to our countries. I enjoyed seeing people from Central America (considering that I was the only Salvadorian in the deconference); from Guatemala, Congreso Transparente and from Costa Rica, from Grupo Inco. It was interesting to meet people in the flesh, whose articles and/or blogs I had read, and to confirm that they are people who know what they are doing, but love what they're doing even more. We sat down on the floor, we made jokes, we discussed points of view, we contradicted each other, we made up again and eventually conclusions and expressions of interest to take joint action were the result of these two intense days of activity.

Photo from the Facebook page ABRE LATAM

The Argentinian organisation Asociación Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia [Civil Association for Equality and Justice], ACIJ, deems ‘that it was a unique chance to promote bringing programmers and social organisations together’ and adds:

…se presentaron iniciativas producidas a partir del aprovechamiento de datos abiertos, entre ellas dos proyectos de ACIJ – uno sobre transparencia en los procesos de selección de jueces y otro, desarrollado con Wingu, sobre empoderamiento digital y participación ciudadana en villas – lo cual permitió conocer las opiniones y recomendaciones de especialistas en temas de uso de software libre para el procesamiento de datos.

…initiatives produced since the use of open data were present, among them two projects from ACIJ – one about openness in the processes for selecting judges and the other, developed with Wingu, about digital empowerment and citizen participation in urban slums (villas) – which allowed us to get to know the opinions and recommendations of specialists regarding issues with the use of free software for the processing of data.

For his part, Rodolfo Wilhelmy from the iniciative Codeando México was left ‘excited and inspired by the regional community’, and concludes the following:

Es imperativo que transformemos estas buenas intenciones en valor para la sociedad, de lo contrario nunca se entenderá el beneficio de nuestra postura. La mejora de servicios públicos, por ejemplo, podría ser un área de oportunidad para validar el gasto de recursos en la apertura y mostrar al menos, beneficios tangibles a nuestros gobernantes. Se tiene que pensar más allá de la transparencia y la rendición de cuentas. Los datos abiertos tienen el potencial de rediseñar nuestras sociedades, y es tiempo de que comencemos a generar mayor valor para propiciar esta coapertura.

It's imperative that we transform these good intentions into value for society, otherwise the benefit of our stance will never be understood. The improvement of public services, for example, could be an area of opportunity to validate the spending of resources in openness and show tangible benefits to our rulers at the very least. One has to think beyond transparency and accountability. Open data has the potential to redesign our societies, and it's time that we start to generate greater value to bring about this co-opening.

Photo from the Facebook page ABRE LATAM.

As for more specific topics, Manuel Portela, in a post that summarises her points of interest in Abre Latam, tries to define the impact of the participatory initiatives and open data from the question: ‘What is a correct indicator to measure the participation and policies of open data?’ and highlights three factors that determine whether a participatory tool is more successful than others:

A que generan historias que realmente interpelan a las personas a través de la emoción, ideales, etc.
A que manejan correctamente y emprolijan la información, con lo cual se vuelve una herramienta útil para generar mapas de información.
A que generan confianza ya que se valen de otros medios que los validen, como los medios de comunicación u organizaciones del tercer sector.

Those that generate stories that really question people through emotion, ideals, etc.
Those that manage correctly and polish information, with which it becomes a useful tool to generate maps of information.
Those that generate trust, as they make use of other means that validate them, such as means of communication or third-sector organisations.

Gastón Roitberg of La Nación Data, a journalism data project of the Argentinian daily La Nación, published two articles in the project's blog, summarising the two days of Abre Latam. The first reveals some of the sessions held, like for example:

Cómo mejorar las habilidades en el uso de los datos. Desarrollar más capacidades en la ciudadania para entenderlos. Reducir la brecha entre máquinas y gente, y entre la publicacion de los datos y las apps finales. Por otro lado, se sugiere definir las audiencias: quiénes procesan y quiénes consumen. Se requieren más sectores involucrados: gobiernos publicando datos de calidad y programadores desarrollando apps útiles.

How to improve skills in the use of data. Develop a greater capacity in citizens to understand them. Reduce the gap between machines and people, and between the publication of data and the final apps. On the other hand, it is suggested that the audiences are defined: those who process and those who consume. More committed sectors are required: governments publishing quality data and programmers developing useful apps.

In the second article, Roitberg briefly reviews fifteen open data projects presented on the second day of Abre Latam, like these two:

Lima IO, la ciudad que habla: Desarrollaron un hardware y una plataforma en Internet que contiene información ambiental capturada a través de unos sensores especiales. Antonio Cucho, uno de sus responsables, dice que lo armaron para que el gobierno pueda tomar decisiones más precisas.

La politica del Open Data. Ciudadano Inteligente.org: Felipe Heusser, uno de sus responsables, invitó a reflexionar sobre lo que hay de política en el movimiento de datos abiertos. Para el activista ‘la agenda de los datos abiertos no es neutral, dado que como afirma el sociólogo español Manuel Castells la información es poder’. Juan José Soto, de la misma organización explica en video los alcances del proyecto.

Lima IO, the city that talks: They developed hardware and an online platform that contains environmental information captured across special sensors información. Antonio Cucho, one of the people in charge, says that they assembled it so that the government could take more accurate decisions.

The Open Data policy. Ciudadano Inteligente.org: Felipe Heusser, one of the people responsible, called for us to reflect upon what stands for policy in the movement of open data. For the activist ‘the open data agenda is not neutral, given that, as Spanish sociologist Manuel Castells states, information is power’. Juan José Soto, from the same organisation, explains the scope of the project in a video.

Photo from the Facebook page ABRE LATAM

Abre Latam also provided a stage for the Open Knowledge Foundation to launch the Spanish-language version of School of Data [en], or Escuela de Datos. Through different courses and other tools, this project aims to ‘empower civil organisations, journalists and citizens in such a way that they are capable of using data effectively and efficiently.’ In their blog they write:

Con el apoyo de Michael Bauer y Zara Rahman del equipo de School Of Data quienes días antes estuvieron haciendo una serie de talleres en Bolivia, Chile y Argentina hicimos la presentación del proyecto, el proposito; invitar a más personas a que se sumen y participen compartiendo su experiencias o su conocimiento en el uso de datos de toda la región.

With the support of Michael Bauer and Zara Rahman from the School Of Data [en] team, who were making a series of workshops in Bolivia, Chile y Argentina days before, we presented the project, the purpose; inviting more people to join in and participate while sharing their experiences or knowledge in the use of data throughout the region.

To read more about Abre Latam you can also view a post on SocialTIC, which covers the initiatives that most caught their attention, the special from the magazine Espacios Políticos about Open Data, or the article from la diaria in Uruguay.

Written by Juan Arellano Translated by Javad Sikder · View original post [es]

Originally published on Global Voices

Fernando Briano from Picando Código informs [es] about the upcoming unconference ABRE LATAM [es], organized by D.A.T.A. [es] and Ciudadano Inteligente [es], on June 24 and 25 in Montevideo, Uruguay. The event hopes to “bring together representatives of different sectors of Latin American civil society who work with Open Data on issues like transparency, citizen participation and the extension of civil liberties.” You can follow them on Twitter [es] and Facebook [es].

Written by Juan Arellano Translated by Silvia Viñas · View original post [es]

Originally published on Global Voices

Desarrollando América Latina (Developing Latin America) has published a video summary of the regional hackathon DAL 2012, where 400 participants and 70 social experts developed 80 applications. Here [es] you can see Global Voices’ coverage of the event.

Written by Juan Arellano Translated by Silvia Viñas · View original post [es]