The objective of the IS 596 course is to expose students to the reality of information technology (IT) in both Argentina and Brazil. This course exposed our class to IT use, management, development, policy and strategic impact within both the Argentinean and Brazilian economies and their impact internationally.

We gathered evidence through active research and participation to analyze and evaluate the degree to which each country is prepared to participate in a networked world using the Harvard framework on IT readiness. The framework examines Networked Access, Networked Learning, Networked Society, Networked Economy and Networked Policy by dividing readiness into four stages beginning with one as the lowest level. We added the category of Offshore Outsourcing because of its importance to the IT industry in Argentina and Brazil along with the correlation to the category of Networked Economy. The framework is useful tool for the community because it gives an idea of the current state of IT readiness, which can be used to build or improve upon.

Based on our project research paper and presentation, each group has provided a brief summary of their findings in the following areas:

Network Access
Networked Learning
Networked Society
Networked Economy
Network Policy
Outsourcing