Group Project

Networked Society

“In any society or country, there are groups of individuals that are clearly “at a disadvantage”. What does that really mean? “Disadvantaged groups” are unable to take advantage of the many opportunities that may be available to others in society.” There can be many different reasons for that. Perhaps they are poor and cannot afford basic necessities. Some may be physically or mentally disabled. Some may find themselves facing special challenges simply because they are women, or part of a minority group. In the past decade various new technologies have evolved throughout Brazil . This section will emphasize on how networking has affected the Brazilian society.

According to a June 2003 study carried out by IBOPE (Brazilian institute of Statistics and Public Opinion) 7.992 million Brazilians use the Internet in their homes and about 8 percent of the populations are considered Internet users. The government has created an Executive Committee for Electronic Government in order to improve access. The Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management has the attributions of an executive department and provides the necessary technical and administrative support for the Committee to work. Its purpose is to formulate policies, establish guidelines, coordinate and articulate implementations to Electronic Government, with the aim of providing services and information to citizens. Cellular phone usage and the majority of the service providers already with a network in place for internet ready phones could lead to greater mobile Internet access. Public access to the Internet is popular at the cyber cafes and at kiosk. Internet has expanded in Brazil just like in the United States , in Brazil there is Wi-Fi connections (hotspots) just about everywhere you go. Places like bars, restaurants, hotels, and universities.

One of the wireless providers for cell phones, in Brazil , is Claro. the owners of Claro is America Movil, which is the largest mobile network operator in North America and Latin America and the largest corporation in Latin America . Claro is classified as a 2.75G network technology. It operates under the trademark Claro in Brazil , Chile , the Dominican Republic , El Salvador , Guatemala , Honduras , Nicaragua and Peru . It operates under the trademark COMCEL in Colombia , and as CTI Movil in Argentina , Uruguay and Paraguay . There are 23.9 million Claro subscribers in Brazil .

Overall cell phone, and internet connections have been emerging into Brazilian cities, and at home internet use are rising and seems to be as advance like in the United States .