To mark the launch of the Spanish translation of the 2019 Internet Health Report, community members in Colombia organized a panel at FLISoL 2019 in Bogota on April 27 with speakers representing each of the five issue areas of the internet health framework explored in the report.
Mónica Bonilla (@gutemonik) the author and translator of the guest post below that describes the event and the conversation.
Thank you Mónica!
“The official launch of the Spanish version of the Internet Health Report took place within the framework of FLISoL -Festival Latinoamericano de Instalación de Software Libre- Bogotá 2019. This event is recognized for being the largest Open Software diffusion event in Latin America and on this occasion attracted about 3000 people with different profiles, so students, academics, activists, businessmen, workers, public officials, enthusiasts and also people who do not have much knowledge of computers. There were 150 activities among which there were talks, lectures and workshops on local, national and Latin American issues around Open Software, in all its range of expressions: artistic, academic, business and social.
Considering that FLISoL is an activist scenery and convenes such a wide audience, we thought that it was the ideal space to present the report, promote its consultation, share it with others, reflect on its philosophy, scope, progress and development. Mozilla is a global community of activists and people who work together to make the Internet better, so this event allowed us to have an ideal scenario in which we reflect on things that happen, we can do and others that are needed. We also organized a panel with four experts, people who have been working and developing projects in Colombia and who spoke to us about security and privacy, openness, digital inclusion, digital literacy, and decentralization.
The four experts were:
Privacy and security | Leidy Carvajal (@LeidyRock)
Bio: Computer Security Specialist, Telecommunications Engineer, Internal Auditor and Implementer of Information Security Management Systems ISO 27001:2013. Knowledge of secure software development, cryptography, authentication and access control models, security architecture and Ethical Hacker. Certification in ITIL Foundation V3, Information Security Officer and Personal Data Treatment, Trainer and trainer for awareness in information security to the end user. Experience leading and coordinating areas of infrastructure and technology, Knowledge in implementation of the Information Security and Privacy Model of the Digital Government Policy of MINTiC, active member of the community @hakergirlsCO and @cyberwoman.
Openness | Fredy Rivera* (@fredy_rivera)
Software Developer. Leader of the community OpenStreetMap Colombia. Winner of the Titan Caracol award in 2015, Since the foundation http://vivirenlafinca.org works on technology projects for rurality among which the community network stands out http://nuestrared.org.
Digital inclusion | Andrés Lombana (@vVvA )
Andrés Lombana-Bermudez is a researcher, designer, and digital strategist who works at the intersection of youth, technology, citizenship, and education. Andrés recently joined the communications department at Universidad Javeriana as an assistant professor. He previously completed a PhD in Media Studies at the University of Texas-Austin and was a postdoc fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Harvard University Society. Andres also holds a master’s degree in comparative media studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and studied Literature and Political Science at the University of the Andes.
Andrés is currently a fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Harvard University Society, a research associate at the Connected Learning Research Network, the Doing Innovation project, and the ISUR Center. He is also a member of Clubes de Ciencia Colombia, Aprendiendo Juntos/Learning Together Council (AJC), and regularly contributes to Spanish and English Wikipedias, Wikicommons, and OpenStreetMap.
Web literacy | Jairo Antonio Perez
Until the end of 2012 Jairo Antonio Perez was director of the Labcom (Laboratory of research and experimentation in digital culture) of the Institute of Social and Cultural Studies – Pensar – Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, and Dean of the Faculty of Education of the University Foundation Unipanamericana-Compensar. He is currently working as TC Professor-Researcher of the Faculty of Communication Sciences of Uniminuto and professor of the Doctorate Programs in Education and Knowledge Society of La Salle University and the Doctorate Program of the National Pedagogical University. He has written several articles on the subject of education and tics, cyberculture, transmedia communication and social media.
Reflections
During the panel we explored each of the topics through different questions and local stories that arise from reading and reviewing the report and that could be taken into account to participate in the next version, in addition to constituting research and monitoring teams in these areas.
Privacy and Security: Is it safe?
The Internet was not created for security. Since its inception privacy and security were not thought of as fundamental issues of the intranet.
The privacy and security of cybernauts’ data becomes a fundamental right that is based on privacy, security, sensitivity, free expression of how we are publishing those data on the Internet. However, people often do not understand the value of information. At the cost of what are we sharing our information? Our data? What measures do we have in relation to cybercrime?
In Colombia, there is Law 1581 on the protection of personal data, by which the organizations that have their data are obliged to tell them what their data are for, who will have access to that information, what the purposes are, and what protection measures those data will have.
The state must guarantee that this security and privacy are monitored by the control bodies, but there is no one more important to protect our data than ourselves. We must understand the risks and take the necessary protection measures, with family members, friends, colleagues and all those around us.
Openness: How open is it?
However, another question arises: Where? related to spaces and domains of social participation such as the economy, education, among others. For the Colombian case, there is talk of openness, however, this is not inclusive, because many groups and communities end up being excluded also through dynamics and technological tools. So there are two cases, one in which there is a market of contents and platforms in which not everyone can participate; another, in which we could participate, however these contents do not come to light and do not reach the discussions and debates that are currently presented.
This challenge can be developed from the educational sphere and the responsibility is of the state, the companies and the Internet users themselves. And in relation to the state of the health of the Internet, as stated in the report is complicated, but there are many options to generate changes from the local and education.
Digital Inclusion: Who is welcome?
The first thing to consider in this issue is exclusion. Exclusion is a phenomenon by which if a person does not have conditions, resources, benefits, then you cannot be part of an ecosystem. People in cities have a great comfort zone, because to a great extent we are all included. But, if we move through different territories, we begin to see all these exclusions. So inclusion is breaking down those barriers. However, the main barrier to inclusion that we have is something invisible in our country that is known as functional illiteracy.
Functional illiteracy is that statistic in which we see very low illiteracy rates, but deep down we find that these rates include people who scarcely know how to sign and recognize the alphabet, but conceptually cannot have access to much information. This is the main challenge in terms of inclusion, for example, it is thought to take connection to the last geographical points, but what is the goal of expanding the infrastructure? Open an account on facebook? Make a retweet? Replicate Whatsapp chains? The network, as it is today, can be accessed by people who can pay for their connection. Whoever can pay has access to the network.
Digital Literacy: Who can succeed?
In principle literacy was seen in instrumental terms, i.e. learning to operate a computer or device, also an application. However, taking into account the context, we realize that the problem is not instrumental, but involves learning to read, write, search for information, be critical of the contents and have the ability to discern in front of them. The challenge is literacy to have the ability to discern and that has not been given or generated in many focus groups, where it is a latent need.
Internet health is a task for many actors, involving research, action and advocacy. The Report is a tool to know what happens in other scenarios, projects and actions that have worked for people, communities, states and that can be replicated or that can be replicated in the context. There are also projects, reflections, and solutions that have arisen in Colombia and with the same objectives.”