Information Networks and Social Inclusion in Latin America

Rapid changes in information networks throughout Latin America may provide new opportunities to address inequalities in the region. With International Development Research Centre (IDRC) support, the Diálogo Regional sobre Sociedad de la Información (DIRSI) network is working to generate research to inform policymakers and practitioners about the development impact of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) in Latin America - and how to make them more socially inclusive. The research team explores how and how much economically poor and marginalised groups - especially women and youth - are participating in and receiving the benefits of the new levels of connectivity across the region. These benefits may include increased employment and livelihood opportunities, for example. The project aims to:

• deepen knowledge on the relationship between ICT access and the economically poor in Latin America;
• establish a better understanding of meaningful use and participation in open development processes, such as open government and open education, with specific attention paid to women and youth in urban settings;
• provide recommendations to policymakers and practitioners on appropriate regulatory policies and ICT initiatives that maximise benefits for the economically poor; and
• build young scholars' capacities to enter the field and carry out high-quality research projects.

The project includes 3 research components:

1. The first component, New Networks, New Employment Opportunities for Women and Youth, is a direct continuation of previous DIRSI research (see, for example, Key Points, below). One of the key contributions of this programme was the identification of the causal links between broadband diffusion and poverty reduction, along with estimates of the magnitude of these effects. Based on this evidence, the new research programme seeks to delve deeper into one of the domains for which the link between ICT diffusion and positive development outcomes was found to be stronger: employment. In particular, DIRSI researches how the emergence of online labour and financing platforms are opening up new opportunities for Latin American women and youth to participate in labour markets and to create or sustain micro and small enterprises (MSEs). For example, as part of their exploration of crowdsourcing, the team used vignette techniques, in which subjects were presented with real-world scenarios in which the variables of interest take different values (e.g., the nationality of the potential borrower). A similar method has been implemented in a recent study that examined the relation between financial behaviour and the structure of personal networks in Mexico. Outcomes from this component: (i) "Discrimination in Online Contracting: Evidence from Latin America" [PDF] (2015). ("[C]ontrary to some of the findings in traditional labor markets, the authors do not find evidence of discrimination against women in online hiring. In fact, women have small advantage, particularly among female employers. However authors do observe that women are less likely to submit bids and tend to ask for lower wages, particularly when bargaining with male employers.") (ii) Crowdfunding for Latin America SMEs: Las plataformas de crowdfunding en América Latina (2016).
2. The second component, the Digital Poverty Survey 2.0, builds on DIRSI's previous work on digital poverty, a concept that characterises the adoption strategies and patterns of ICT use by the economically poor and other disadvantaged groups. In a survey study conducted in 2007, "Digital Poverty: Latin American and Caribbean Perspectives" [PDF], DIRSI provided an assessment of how the urban economically poor in Latin America and the Caribbean were articulating the increased availability of mobile telephony services (at the time limited to voice and SMS, or text messaging) into their livelihood strategies. The Digital Poverty 2.0 survey was conducted in urban centres of countries (Buenos Aires, Lima, and Guatemala City) and includes over 3,500 households covering over 13,000 people across these cities. The Digital Poverty 2.0 survey re-examines digital poverty, assessing how the economically poor are using ICTs to participate in a variety of online activities across social domains, and how increased access to such networks is catalysing positive development changes. By establishing basic parameters about patterns of use in different livelihoods domains (e.g., the personal, the educational, the employment domains), the survey aims to contribute to inform debate in a range of ICT for development (ICT4D) subfields. The presentation of solid empirical evidence (both quantitative and qualitative) from a demand-side perspective will also inform policymakers and practitioners in the design and implementation of development projects based on new ICT platforms. Outputs from this component include: (i) La conectividad urbana en América Latina. Una mirada a Lima (2016) (ii) La conectividad urbana en América Latina. Una mirada a Buenos Aires (2016) (iii) La conectividad urbana en América Latina. Una mirada a Ciudad de Guatemala (2016) (iv) Informe cualitativo sobre uso y acceso a tecnologías en Lima Metropolitana (2016) (v) Informe cualitativo sobre uso y acceso a tecnologías en el área metropolitana de Buenos Aires (2016). They are producing several more related publications. Visit the DIRSI website to do a search.
3. The third component, Affordability and Inclusion, entailed research on the affordability of mobile phones and the internet, with a focus on the spending patterns of Latin America's economically poor. As debate continues to evolve on the governance of new information networks, the goal of this component is to inform debates about appropriate policies and business models that favour increased participation by the region's economically poor and disadvantaged groups. DIRSI maintains a comprehensive database on prices and other characteristics of mobile telephony and broadband service plans in the region. In this component, DIRSI has updated and expanded the database. In addition, DIRSI optimised their website to offer a friendlier interface that allows visitors to create pricing maps or download the data for further analysis with a variety of software packages. To complement their broadband pricing database, they undertook an exploratory study of the economically poor's ICT expenditure patterns in the region based on consumer expenditure surveys administered by national statistics offices. This study provides evidence about service affordability and appropriate price levels for public or private connectivity initiatives. The data collected has already had an impact, as it has been used in policy documents by the Inter‑American Development Bank (IADB), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and many national governments. Outputs from this component include: (i) Banda Ancha en América Latina: Precios y tendencias del mercado (2015) (ii) and a policy brief: Precio, calidad y asequibilidad de la banda ancha: las disparidades entre los países de la región son muy importantes.

In addition, capacity building is part of Information Networks and Social Inclusion in Latin America. As of June 2016, there had been 2 DIRSI trainings prior to the CPR LATAM conference. Other workshops have included one in 2015 in Lima, Peru, that included 41 participants. DIRSI also attaches great importance to the participation of the network and its researchers in events that make the work visible and that can establish links with other networks and with researchers working on related issues. DIRSI presented a panel at the 2016 LASA Conference (Latin America Studies Association) in New York, NY, United States (US). There was also a poster presentation at ICTD 2016 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, US on the research developed as part of "Inequalities in the appropriation of digital spaces in metropolian areas of Latin America". These are just a few examples.