Center for Digital Inclusion
Encyclopedia
The Center for Digital inclusion (CDI) is a nonprofit organization
that uses technology to fight poverty and stimulate entrepreneurship
. CDI and partners create community centers in low-income, rural, indigenous communities, hospitals, prisons, and psychiatric clinics. These centers work to strengthen low-income communities by providing access to information and communication technologies
.
) in 1995.
Its plan was social entrepreneurship
to overcome the digital divide
.
CDI is a network of self-managed and self-sustaining CDI community centers throughout Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay – monitored and coordinated by their 33 regional offices. Schools are located in low-income communities, indigenous communities, psychiatric clinics, hospitals for mentally and physically disabled, and detention facilities. CDI is an international non-governmental organization
(NGO) headquartered in Rio de Janeiro
, with operations in the US, UK and Latin America.
CDI helps disadvantaged groups use Information and Communication Technologies
(ICTs). CDI community
centers are technology and learning centers in impoverished communities. Each community center is a
partnership with an existing grassroots
organization. The community based organizations provide the
infrastructure and CDI provides free computers and software, implements educational methods, trains instructors
and monitors the schools.
challenge facing their community and prepare an action plan to overcome it. Issues can range from sexual abuse,
pollution, violence, crime, and drugs, to lack of health care or schools. Students can take the technical skills they’ve
learned in class to mobilize their communities, engage in advocacy and awareness campaigns,
and work together to solve that specific problem. CDI focuses on making people active and
informed citizens, capable of organizing their communities, making their voices heard, and subsequently, affecting change.
By 2000, 117 computer schools were operating, and the next step was connecting them to the Internet
.
s, Ashoka: Innovators for the Public
provided initial funding for three years starting in 1996.
The AVINA Foundation
, the Inter-American Development Bank
, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
, Skoll Foundation
, Tech Museum, Unicef and Unesco
also provided support.
CDI founder Rodrigo Baggio was named by the World Economic Forum
as one of “100 Global Leaders for Tomorrow”, by Time magazine as one of the 50 leaders in Latin America
that will make a difference in the third millennium, by CNN
, Time
and Fortune
as one of the world’s ten “Principal Voices in Economic Development”. In 2009 he was invited to join the Strategy Council of the UN’s new Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development and the Clinton Global Initiative.
(with 501(c)(3) US tax status) in 2007 and London
in 2008 (UK Registered Charity), using the same acronym with an English language expansion (Centre for Digital Inclusion or CDI Eruope in the UK).
With the support of James Wolfensohn
, ex-President of the World Bank
and the Wolfensohn Institute, CDI planned to expand to the Middle East and North Africa, to be followed by India and other parts of Africa.
Nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
that uses technology to fight poverty and stimulate entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur, which can be defined as "one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods". This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response...
. CDI and partners create community centers in low-income, rural, indigenous communities, hospitals, prisons, and psychiatric clinics. These centers work to strengthen low-income communities by providing access to information and communication technologies
Information and communication technologies
Information and communications technology or information and communication technology, usually abbreviated as ICT, is often used as an extended synonym for information technology , but is usually a more general term that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of...
.
Overview
Rodrigo Baggio founded the Comitê para Democratização da Informática (roughly translated as "Committee for Democracy in Information Technology" in the Portuguese languagePortuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
) in 1995.
Its plan was social entrepreneurship
Social entrepreneurship
Social entrepreneurship is the work of social entrepreneurs. A social entrepreneur recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create and manage a venture to achieve social change . While a business entrepreneur typically measures performance in profit and return, a...
to overcome the digital divide
Digital divide
The Digital Divide refers to inequalities between individuals, households, business, and geographic areas at different socioeconomic levels in access to information and communication technologies and Internet connectivity and in the knowledge and skills needed to effectively use the information...
.
CDI is a network of self-managed and self-sustaining CDI community centers throughout Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay – monitored and coordinated by their 33 regional offices. Schools are located in low-income communities, indigenous communities, psychiatric clinics, hospitals for mentally and physically disabled, and detention facilities. CDI is an international non-governmental organization
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
(NGO) headquartered in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, with operations in the US, UK and Latin America.
CDI helps disadvantaged groups use Information and Communication Technologies
Information and communication technologies
Information and communications technology or information and communication technology, usually abbreviated as ICT, is often used as an extended synonym for information technology , but is usually a more general term that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of...
(ICTs). CDI community
centers are technology and learning centers in impoverished communities. Each community center is a
partnership with an existing grassroots
Grassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
organization. The community based organizations provide the
infrastructure and CDI provides free computers and software, implements educational methods, trains instructors
and monitors the schools.
Methodology
CDI community centers are self-managed and self-sustainable. Students collectively identify a commonchallenge facing their community and prepare an action plan to overcome it. Issues can range from sexual abuse,
pollution, violence, crime, and drugs, to lack of health care or schools. Students can take the technical skills they’ve
learned in class to mobilize their communities, engage in advocacy and awareness campaigns,
and work together to solve that specific problem. CDI focuses on making people active and
informed citizens, capable of organizing their communities, making their voices heard, and subsequently, affecting change.
By 2000, 117 computer schools were operating, and the next step was connecting them to the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
.
Recognition
After a pilot program in two favelaFavela
A favela is the generally used term for a shanty town in Brazil. In the late 18th century, the first settlements were called bairros africanos . This was the place where former slaves with no land ownership and no options for work lived. Over the years, many freed black slaves moved in...
s, Ashoka: Innovators for the Public
Ashoka: Innovators for the Public
Ashoka: Innovators for the Public is a nonprofit organization based in Arlington, VA, supporting the field of social entrepreneurship. Ashoka was founded by Bill Drayton in 1981 to identify and support leading social entrepreneurs through a Social Venture Capital approach with the goal of...
provided initial funding for three years starting in 1996.
The AVINA Foundation
AVINA Foundation
-Overview:It was founded in 1994 by Stephan Schmidheiny. Its Chairman is Brizio Biondi-Morra and its CEO is Sean McKaughan. It has offices in Buenos Aires in Argentina, Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Santiago in Chile, Bogota in Colombia, Cuenca in Ecuador, Asuncion...
, the Inter-American Development Bank
Inter-American Development Bank
The Inter-American Development Bank is the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean...
, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship provides platforms at the country, regional and global levels to promote social entrepreneurship.- History :...
, Skoll Foundation
Skoll Foundation
The Skoll Foundation is a social entrepreneurship foundation based in Silicon Valley, California, with a mission to drive large-scale change by investing in, connecting, and celebrating social entrepreneurs and other innovators dedicated to solving the world’s most pressing problems...
, Tech Museum, Unicef and Unesco
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
also provided support.
CDI founder Rodrigo Baggio was named by the World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
as one of “100 Global Leaders for Tomorrow”, by Time magazine as one of the 50 leaders in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
that will make a difference in the third millennium, by CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
and Fortune
Fortune (magazine)
Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
as one of the world’s ten “Principal Voices in Economic Development”. In 2009 he was invited to join the Strategy Council of the UN’s new Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development and the Clinton Global Initiative.
International expansion
CDI opened development offices in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
(with 501(c)(3) US tax status) in 2007 and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 2008 (UK Registered Charity), using the same acronym with an English language expansion (Centre for Digital Inclusion or CDI Eruope in the UK).
With the support of James Wolfensohn
James Wolfensohn
Sir James David Wolfensohn AO KBE FKC was the ninth president of the World Bank Group.-Early life:James Wolfensohn was born in Sydney, Australia, on 1 December 1933...
, ex-President of the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
and the Wolfensohn Institute, CDI planned to expand to the Middle East and North Africa, to be followed by India and other parts of Africa.