Online.br: Current Challenges for Internet Governance and Digital Inclusion in Brazil

Abstract

Over nearly 20 years, Brazil has shown constant efforts to develop the Internet not just on a national scale, but in Latin America as a whole. It became one of the most important promoters and financial supporters of the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC) and also hosted the UN Internet Governance Forum in Rio de Janeiro in 2007. Today it has the biggest IT market of the continent and still a lot of challenges to accomplish. This article presents a historical introduction about the development of the Internet in Brazil and also focuses on current tasks to participate in the global Internet Governance process and to further digital inclusion.

Keywords: Brazil, South America, Latin America, information technology, Internet, LACNIC, ICANN, Internet Governance, Internet Governance Forum, IGF, BRIC, emerging markets, digital inclusion, telecenter