DePaul CDM Study Abroad December 2008 - Brazil

Network Society of Brazil

Brazil 2008: Network and society recap

When you think of Brazil you think of a country rich with tradition, culture, and industries unique to its beautiful landscape. Brazilian-style steakhouses, beautiful people, and monuments that have defied history and logic all come to mind when talking about Brazil. But in a world where technology is at your fingertips and the cost to keep up is just as difficult for a business and consumer alike – the one country you don’t see throwing its hat into this relevant and profitable area is Brazil.

Brazil in a networked society is both simple and complex. It impacts every area of life in Brazil: at home, at work, and within their government. This is a brief look at each area and how society plays a part.

Network society

Readiness for the Networked World “depends upon the community’s incorporation of information and communication technologies into the fabric of its activities in order to maximize the gains of the Networked World.”

It is broken apart in four Areas for Assessment:

  • People and Organizations Online
  • Locally Relevant Content
  • Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Everyday Life
  • Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the Workplace

This paper looks at each of those areas.

People and organizations online

In countries like Brazil, where internet usage is still sporadic across most regions, it is difficult to track the number of users who have access to the internet both at home and at work. But a few statistics show that while the mass amount of the population doesn’t have access to the internet, the number of actual users is growing slowly, but steadily.

Here’s an at-a-glance look at Brazilians online:

  • Less than 15% of Brazil's population uses the Internet either in their homes, at work or in online cafés and public access kiosks. (eMarketer)
  • Internet usage is increasing steadily from about 9% of the total population (17.5. million) in 2005 to an expected 22% of the population (43.7 million) in 2011. (eMarketer)
  • 40% can access the Internet from home.
  • 30% can access the Internet from a public paid access location, such as an Internet café.
  • 24% access the internet at work.
  • In 2000, Brazil was listed as the 7th largest internet market in Latin America. (The Internet Global Trends).

A statistical representation is below:

The next chart below shows how Brazil compares with other countries in regards to home internet use. The figures, which span from November 2008-December 2008, are pretty high for a developing country. However it further exemplifies the fact that the figures would be a lot higher if there wasn’t such an economic and cultural disparity in the country.

Internet portals

Of the estimated 14 million to 17 million people who have access to the internet in Brazil, the types of internet portals they use vary.

  • Yahoo! en Español
  • StarMedia
  • QuePasa.com
  • Google
  • Uol
  • Terra
  • AOL

The two sides of Brazil

As anyone who has visited this beautiful country can tell you, there are two sides of Brazil: the rich and the poor. This is obviously evident when you look at the number of people who have access to the Internet. While Brazil is steadily adopting internet technologies amongst a segment of its population, there is still a large number of Brazilians who don’t have access to even the most minimal technological tools. A study done in 2000 revealed that at least 90 percent of Latin American internet users are from upper, middle and high economic classes. It’s the population that doesn’t fit into that percentage that will forever slow Brazil’s economic growth. Almost 170 million people in Brazil speak Portuguese. Only a small percentage of that population speaks English. A large number of Brazilians aren’t educated and don’t have access to the classes and training tools needed to learn how to use computers and the internet. A large number of Brazilians are in low-paying jobs and can’t afford computers and internet access.

Locally Relevant Content

Here’s a brief look at locally relevant content:

  • Accepting and integrating technology into everyday lives
  • Content should reflect both interest and needs
  • Locally relevant content is a major driver of growth of Internet usage
  • On-line content must reflect user’s needs and interests
  • Offering technology training and skills development programs will increase the number of technology users
  • In 2006, Mobilezone and Amiga created a partnership that introduced Amiga content across Brazilian digital devices.
  • (MobileZone is a Brazilian portal that focuses on wireless and mobile technologies, news and related content. Amiga, Inc. is the world’s premier provider of multimedia enabling technologies.)
  • Bradesco and Unibanco, the largest and third largest Brazilian banks respectively, are the first major regional players to launch free Internet access for their account holders.
  • In April 1996, UOL was created. UOL is the largest content portal in Latin America. The portal is organized in 42 thematic stations, with more than one thousand different channels of news, entertainment, and services. It provides access in more than 3,000 Brazilian localities, connection in more than 100,000 places in more than 150 nations overseas and it has about 1.7 million subscribers.
  • UOL had a monthly average of 15.06 million unique household visitors in Brazil in the first 8 months of 2008, a number that gives it the first position in the ranking of the country's largest content portals, and represents about 70% of reach in that market.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the Workplace

The most obvious area where IT is relevant each and every day is in the workplace. There, at least some IT processes exist. From our research we saw IT being used at its minimalist: Shops in Rio, Florianopolis, and Sao Paulo all used a type of sales management tool to track sales, merchandise, inventory and customer data. On the grander scale, businesses like Neki and Audaces used IT to manage their entire enterprise from concept to completion, over business processes (such as staff management), client data, and products and services. Most businesses we visited gave employees some type of tool to connect to the outside world and stay connected to the business (i.e. a computer, laptop or cell phone) that is connected to the network to allow 24/7 accessibility if necessary.

ICTs in the workplace also include:

  • Business and government using ICTs to participate in the global networked economy
  • Business and government not only make technologies available to their employees, but also effectively incorporate into their core processes

IT in the workplace is probably the one area where Brazil is trying to maintain relevant with the outside world due to the fact that most businesses have both local and global partnerships. It’s also easily evident to see that without IT, their business processes and day-to-day tasks would be made much more difficult.

IT and the government

In most countries, the government is the last to know. In the U.S., it was the last to react to an ongoing civil rights movement that threatened to destroy the country. In China, it was the last to realize that the Berlin Wall was a divisive structure that its people neither wanted nor believed in. In the Middle East it didn’t dawn on them that being inhumane and detrimental to its own people didn’t hurt the outside world more than it hurt its own country.

But in Brazil, the government is the exact opposite. Not only is the government aware of the country’s slow pace to adopt technology, but it’s forming initiatives to do something about it. The Brazilian government is offering incentives for businesses that begin adopting IT and opening up companies to help Brazil begin establishing itself as an IT hub. Incentives include tax breaks, economic assistance and a way to build networks and relationships with other IT companies who don’t offer the exact same products and services. This is the government’s way of showing businesses how important they feel IT is and why they need to get their businesses on the map.

The best IT people in Brazil are also going elsewhere for the top jobs, pay and perks. Why stay in a country that’s lagging behind in IT when there are so many countries looking for and willing to take smart people all over the world.

But here’s the catch: Brazil isn’t. During our last meeting with the Chamber of Commerce Brazil leaders said that they’d love to have smart IT people from around the world to move to Brazil and work. However, their talk doesn’t match their actions. Brazil is a country proud of itself and proud of its homegrown talent. If they had to choose between a Brazilian and a non-Brazilian with similar skills, the Brazilian would win almost every time. And that’s the conundrum facing IT and the government. How do you put yourself on the IT map without violating one of your country’s core values? No other country has been successful using just homegrown talent. Countries share information with each other to form knowledge bases and competitive IT relationships. It will be interesting to see how Brazil does it.

In Brazil, only the rich and middle class have access to services like the Internet – which is not the majority of the country’s population. Here society is still being left behind. Brazil shows no interest in teaching, engaging or forcing its population to begin using IT. While there are cafes that offer free wireless services for those that have computers, the have nots unfortunately are out of luck. Until Brazil reaches out to its poorer population, it will always be a country behind the times.

ICTs in Everyday Life

Readiness for the participation in the global information network depends on the ability to access the technology and the community accepting and integrating technology in their everyday lives. Participation adds value for the country and the rest of the world. It also eliminates barriers, creates new opportunities and promotes efficiency.

There have been many efforts by the Brazilian government to improve accessibility of technology in the urban areas. However, poverty remains a wide-spread socio-economic issue that hinders technological penetration. Also, forests cover 65% of its territory and include the world's largest tropical rain forest in the Amazon River basin.

Brazil is home to the largest mobile market in the region and, at 41.1%, it has the highest rate of mobile penetration in South America. Mobility in Brazil has changed radically since 2001. From a plethora of small regional companies, the market has consolidated into nine operators, out of which four hold over 92% of the market. Brazil’s four major mobile companies are: Vivo (Telefónica and Portugal Telecom), Claro (América Móvil), TIM Brasil (Telecom Italia Mobile) and Oi (Telemar). The latest market entrant is Brasil Telecom Celular, which launched GSM operations in September 2004. The number of cell phones in circulation in Brazil totaled 122.8 million at the end of January 2008.

Here’s a brief look at ICTs in everyday life.

  • Participation in the Networked World adds value for the country and rest of the world
  • Many efforts by Brazilian government to improve accessibility and educational awareness
  • Major socio-economic inequalities exist which creates a hindrance to join the Networked World

It also includes:

Mobility

  • Brazil has highest rate of mobile penetration in South America
  • Brazil is home to the largest mobile market in the region

Wire-line

  • Experiencing growth migration from dial-up to broadband connections
  • Investment in 3G and fiber networks to improve infrastructure

Internet Users

  • Increased number of residential Internet users and monthly web surfing times
  • Ibope/NetRatings estimate a total of 34.1 million people have pc’s with internet connection

Since 2002, Brazil has experienced a growing migration from dial-up to broadband. The total number of Brazilian broadband connections reached 18.3 million at the end of last month, up 53% from 11.9 million in April 2007, according to a local study by Ibope/NetRatings. The canvassing group added that the number of residential internet users climbed 41.3% year-on-year to 22.4 million, with monthly web surfing averages up 4.9% to 22 hours and 47 minutes. Ibope/NetRatings estimates that a total of 34.1 million people have PCs with an internet connection at home and that there are now 40 million internet users in Brazil (aged 16 years or older).