Center for Digital Inclusion

Center for Digital inclusion

Founder(s)	Rodrigo Baggio
Type	Non-profit Organization
Founded	1995 (1995)
Location	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil New York City, London
Focus	Overcome the digital divide
Method	Partnership with grassroot NGOs
Motto	Transforming lives through technology, education, and citizenship
Formerly called	Comitê para Democratização da Informática
Website	cdiglobal.org English www.cdi.org.br Portuguese

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.

Overview

Rodrigo Baggio founded the Comitê para Democratização da Informática (roughly translated as "Committee for Democracy in Information Technology" in the Portuguese language) in 1995.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.

Methodology

CDI community centers are self-managed and self-sustainable. Students collectively identify a common 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.^[3]

Recognition

After a pilot program in two favelas, Ashoka: Innovators for the Public provided initial funding for three years starting in 1996.^[3][4]

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,^[1] by CNN, Time and Fortune as one of the world’s ten “Principal Voices in Economic Development”.^[5] 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.^[6]

International expansion

CDI opened development offices in New York (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).^[7] With the support of James Wolfensohn, ex-President of the World Bank and the Wolfensohn Institute, as of 2011^[update] CDI planned to expand to the Middle East and North Africa, to be followed by India and other parts of Africa.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Participants". Brainstorm Tech program (Forbes): p. 12. July 21, 2008. http://www.brainstormtechdigital.com/brainstormtech/2008/?pg=12. Retrieved October 16, 2011. 
2. ^ http://www.cdi.org.br
3. ^ ^{a b} Emily Mitchell, Rachele Kanigel, Elizabeth Lea (February 21, 2000). "Rodrigo Baggio". Time magazine. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,996110,00.html. Retrieved October 16, 2011. 
4. ^ "Rodrigo Baggio Barreto". Fellow biography. Ashoka: Innovators for the Public. http://ashoka.org/fellow/rodrigo-baggio-barreto. Retrieved October 16, 2011. 
5. ^ "Rodrigo Baggio on CNN Principal Voices". Video (CNN). http://www.ashoka.org/video/4131. Retrieved October 16, 2011. 
6. ^ "Recognition". CDI blog. 2009. http://centerfordigitalinclusion.wordpress.com/about/recognition/. Retrieved October 16, 2011. 
7. ^ "CDI Eruope". Orfficial website. http://cdieurope.eu/. Retrieved October 16, 2011.