Virtual Democracy - Economic Implications - Foundation Office Brazil
Event Reports
The seminar series “Virtual Democracy” is centerpiece to the curricular activities of Konrad Adenauer Foundation Brazil. The effects on the anonymity inherent to cyberspace, as well as the surmounting of geographical distances allows one to compare the digital revolution of the early 21st century per se with the industrial revolution of mid 19th century without any further words. The seminar held in Brazil’s northeast dealt primarily, with the effects on the local economy and the resulting responsibility that materialized itself for communal entrepreneurial business transactions. Here, as well, the Foundation provides additional focus on social market economy as envisaged by the Erhardian concept.
Ms. Kalinka Copello, Expert in participative processes of democratic transactions via the Internet at the Rio the Janeiro-based Think Tank Institute for Technology & Society provided details of the advantages of the Internet Platform Plataforma Brasil, an Internet Medium for qualitative discussions designed for citizens desirous of reforms. Split into categories it also provides a base for discussion on the extent of changes, achieved via the Internet, in the local economy of cities and communities.
Mr. Sivaldo Pereira da Silva is a faculty professor at the Federal University of Alagoas specializing on whatever technological developments of the Internet, as well as, their resulting impact on both state and society. Pereira da Silva addressed the gap between urban and rural areas and, thus, the resulting democratic deficit for those having no or inadequate access to the Internet medium. Practically speaking, this would mean that in the metropolis Fortaleza nearly everyone would have the possibility of gathering information, of conducting research and of networking for political or economic purposes, whereas in the economically underdeveloped steppe-like Sertão region in the interior of the state of Ceará this would no longer be technically possible. Its inhabitants – thus making reference to Ms. Copello’s elucidations – would not have any possibilities to take part in discussion forums, such as Plataforma Brasil. Technically, he asserted, Brazil is, to a large extent, dependent on the functionality of the thick underwater cables connecting the country with North America and Europe. In the event that these should no longer function properly or be affected by environmental damage, an Internet outage could bring the country to a standstill regarding the economy as a whole or on local basis. Concerning these potentially dramatic consequences, far too few of those politically responsible would seem to have given the matter sufficient thought.
The first-panel subsequent debates concentrated themselves on lively discussions about the viewpoints presented by Ms. Copello and Mr. Pereira da Silva.
Omnipresent became the issue of Internet coverage when, at the beginning of the second round of presentations, a power outage brought the whole of Fortaleza to a complete standstill, thus bringing the seminar – without electric energy, access to mobile devices and to the Internet – to an early close. Never had the issue of Internet’s accessibility and range – which precisely at that point had dominated the podium and discussions – become so real and palpable. Suddenly, all were “offline” and aware of how dependent our whole modern life has become on secure power supply. For the local economy the two-hour long outage brought about significant damages. Power and virtual security are mutually conditioned. The economy of the 21st century is critically dependent on predictable, cost-effective and secure power supply, was the gist of the comments heard on the university’s corridors subsequent to the quick exit of a dark seminar room. The possibility of individual access to the Internet is entirely political, given that only the unrestricted access to it and its political discussion platforms grant the of-age citizen the possibility, whenever he/she wants, to take part in the political discourse and in the engagement of its subsequent results. In this manner, access to the Internet is a genuine civil right; many going so far as asserting it to be a Human Right.
