It would be hard to overstate the importance of the internet for Brazil. This is not just for the country’s business and those local or international investment firms involved in it. It is also vital for many millions of ordinary citizens who surf, research and (increasingly) shop and buy on line these days.
Brazilian news this week reports a couple of interesting and potentially very important ‘cyberspace’ developments. The main one involves Wikipedia.
This week in Sao Paolo the annual I.T. festival ‘Campus Party’ was held. This is an international idea but those attracted and interested by the Brazilian ‘branch’ have been rapidly increasing in numbers. At the gathering, Kul Wadha spoke. Mr.Wadha is the main director of Wikipedia’s ‘parent’ organisation, the Wikimedia Foundation.
He explained that his group is planning to open a dedicated office and organisation for Brazil, a country that he says is an important priority. “..we’re trying to figure out things that we can develop specifically for the Country” he remarked. Wadha explained that while Wikipedia is used by a significant and growing number of people in the country, actual contribution of articles is very low. It seems that only about two per cent of Brazilians who use the site have actually contributed or edited an article for it. This figure amounts to only about one-third the world average and is a problem that Wikimedia/Wikipedia hopes will be alleviated by this new in-country focus within Brazil.
To take the initiative forward, a local executive director will shortly be hired. A main priority of his or her initial work will be liaising with universities, museums and other educational institutions to try and boost the numbers of useful articles provided in Brazilian Portuguese.
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