Cetic.br debates the use of technologies by nonprofit organizations

To mark the launch of the publication ICT Nonprofit Organizations 2014, the Regional Center for Studies on the Development of the Information Society (Cetic.br) held the debate "The Third Sector in the Digital Age" on Tuesday (27), promoted in partnership with the OAB/SP. The available infrastructure in Brazilian organizations and the use these institutions make of technologies were analyzed by Alexandre Barbosa, manager of Cetic.br; Carlos A. Afonso, director of the Nupef Institute, member of the CGI.br board, and president of the Brazilian chapter of the Internet Society; Marcelo Estraviz, president of the Instituto Doar and Cláudio Ramos, from the Third Sector Law Commission of OAB/SP.

At the opening of the event, Demi Getschko, president-director of NIC.br, highlighted the civil society's leadership in the use of the Internet in Brazil. “Nonprofit organizations were in the second wave of Internet adoption, after academia. This became clear in Eco-92, in Rio de Janeiro, where the network was used as a communication medium,” he recalled. The use of the Internet to guarantee citizens' rights was reinforced by Carlos Afonso, who recalled the public consultation process of the Marco Civil da Internet law and the current efforts on issues involving privacy protection and universal access to the Internet.

The importance of conducting surveys to understand the use of technologies was highlighted by Alexandre Barbosa. “The studies are important not only for the third sector, but also for the Government, which can analyze the data and make decisions, for academics, who have the opportunity to conduct investigations and correlations from the presented results, as well as for entrepreneurs, students, and other important actors,” he considers.

When presenting the main highlights of the survey, Alexandre stated that the lack of financial resources for investment in the technology area is still the main barrier to the adoption of ICT in the third sector. However, for 51% of the organizations that use technologies, ICT contributes significantly to increasing the agility and efficiency of the entity's work. Another data highlighted by Alexandre is the presence of institutions on the Internet: 26% of the organizations do not have a website, but are present with a profile on social networks.

During the debate, Carlos A. Afonso emphasized crucial issues for the third sector, such as certification and encryption on the sites of nonprofit organizations. “We are vulnerable; many third sector activities are sensitive. We cannot forego certain precautions to handle this information and protect our rights,” he states. He noted that the intellectual property industry and monitoring agencies with policing power have a great interest in making certain information and data flows on the Internet easily locatable and removable. “To what extent do social organizations understand and practice encryption on the Internet?”, he questions. Afonso highlighted international efforts to create a free system and also reinforced the need to invest in communication security among entities.

The expansion of a donation culture was another topic discussed at the meeting. Involved in fundraising work, Marcelo Estraviz noted that one of the sector's major concerns is obtaining data about the current scenario of nonprofit organizations that would allow for future projections. He praised the undertaking of the ICT Nonprofit Organizations survey because “the seriousness of the survey provides security for academia and offers guidelines.” “It is a true learning experience about what we should do and which paths to take,” he stated.

For Marcelo, the entities will only be able to solve dilemmas by examining historical series. He compared the editions of 2012 and 2014 of ICT Nonprofit Organizations and emphasized that the priority source of resources for the organizations are individuals. Marcelo also warned about the need to invest in Internet security, especially in the context of online donations, a topic that was also addressed by Cláudio Ramos, who analyzed the incorporation of technologies into citizens' daily lives and the challenges of their adoption in the third sector.

ICT Nonprofit Organizations

Released in January, the indicators of ICT Nonprofit Organizations 2014 indicate that the use of social networks has spread as an important tool for the work of Brazilian organizations. The study also revealed that there is a portion of organizations without their own equipment, suggesting in many cases that the work is carried out with the personal equipment of their members and volunteers. All indicators of the survey, as well as articles and analyses of the results, are available in the publication launched during the debate this Tuesday (27). Download and share the reading: https://www.cetic.br/pesquisa/osfil/publicacoes.

This content was automatically translated with the support of artificial intelligence.