What is happening in South America and how Openness is an opportunity to Social, Political and Activist Movements?

What is happening in South America is a mapping of projects on free/open software, political advocacy and hacktivism in South America. The main idea is to show what is happening in the region, which networks could be linked and establish initial contacts with amazing experiences.

The Latin America region has a long tradition of social and political movements, but with the use of technology the possibilities have grown. Now, it' is common to find political advocacy movements that use social networks and independent media. We also find artists and designers working together with engineers and technicians to solve social problems using bottom-up approaches; and many other spaces where people share their experiences and become a network.

There are other people, communities and organizations doing the same type of work and having amazing and innovative experiences throughout the Global South, but these often don't know each other. Therefore, in order to build more effective networks between these projects, this presentation will be a first point of contact with several initiatives, ideas and people of Latin America.

Karisma Foundation and Right, Internet and Society Group

Karisma Foundation is a civil society organization founded in 2003 and located in Bogotá, Colombia. Its mission is to support and promote the good use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the Colombian and Latin American societies, seeking a responsible and reflective appropriation of ICT in various sectors of society.

"Right, Internet and Society" (DIS in Spanish) is a group inside the Foundation that develops and supports initiatives in human rights and civil liberties in digital environments, promotes culture, content and free software vindicating the public interest, and spaces and commons.

DIS members participate in public policy discussions at the convergence of ICT and law, promote citizen participation around these issues, support and defend human rights in the digital environment, and participate in research, analysis and action in Colombia and Latin America.

About the Presenters

Pilar Saenz is project coordinator at the Karisma Foundation in Colombia, where she leads DIS' policy advocacy projects. A physicist by profession but an activist by vocation, Pilar’s work focuses on free software, open technology and open culture.

Ulises Hernandez is an Engineer in Electronics and Telecommunication with a deep interest in education. He is a Ph.D. candidate in Educational Sciences at the University of Cauca, where he is also the coordinator of a teacher training program in ICT. He is the main researcher of Open Educational Resources project at Karisma Foundation.