Does mobile devices and high-speed Internet networks are already a reality in the lives of the less fortunate? As these information and communications technology are used to improve the quality of life of the population? The TecMundo was the field to investigate these issues and know a little more about digital inclusion in Brazil.
It was in 2011 that the United Nations (UN) has publicly stated that internet access should be enxergado as a human right. According to her, the World Wide Web “allows individuals to seek, find and share information of all kinds, an instant and cheaply,” in addition to “boost economic, social and political development of nations, contributing to the progress of humanity as a whole. “
Today, everyone knows that the web is a powerful tool for exercising democracy and guarantee their rights as citizens. Social networks and other digital platforms have been used for some time to give voice to those who might never speak, disseminate alternative crops, make education more accessible and serve as a meeting point for constructive discussions. The internet has also proven the best way to express their ideas and opinions, and it is precisely why it has suffered many attempts at censorship over the recent years, especially in politically troubled countries.
Even being so important to the life of any person, only one of three people around the world have access to the web. In Brazil, according to a report developed by the UN, 42% of the population is disconnected – and only 11.5% of Brazilians have broadband. Our country still suffers from serious deficiencies in their telecommunications infrastructure, and the high cost of data plans currently offered prevent their recruitment by the underprivileged
The situation is simple. However we see endless news technological emerging daily around the world, few of them actually end up in the life of the Brazilian population. Mobile devices, for example, only recently popularized with the launch of models with better value for money and the inauguration of tax incentives such as the Good Law. Still, new technologies still far from the lower class of people everyday .
the TecMundo was the field research projects that are being developed to change this scenario and how poor communities use the new technologies to improve their quality of life in areas such as education, employment, health and communication. For this, we focus our efforts in Heliopolis – considered the largest favela of São Paulo – walking with highlighting innovative programs and quite interesting
the territory of almost 1 million square meters in which today is located in Heliopolis community passed through various hands until the City of São Paulo decided to use the region as a temporary shelter 153 families drawn from the Vila Prudente slum and Vergueiro. The land at the time, belonged to the Financial Management Institute of Social Security (IAPAS). It was then that began the occupation:. Other families began to build shacks, and about 15 years later, the number of inhabitants increased by 20 times
After numerous disputes with squatters in the 80s, Heliopolis was acquired the Metropolitan Housing Company (Cohab), which manages the area since then and allows residents to stay there without paying rent. According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), 92% of Heliopolis population is Bahia, and it was exactly this northeastern state that came the first inhabitants of the region.
the origin of the name
Heliopolis is a place name, or one of two words junction Greek language: Helios (sun) and polis (city). The São Paulo community was so named because most of its first inhabitants came from the namesake of Bahia city, located 300 km from the capital, Salvador.
Today renamed City New Heliopolis (having received the district status only in 2006), the community still faces structural problems. There is no public transport in the favela, as the streets are too narrow to allow the bus fare – residents need to travel to the outer roads. Also missing cultural programs, leisure options (such as museums, cinemas, theaters etc.) and greater security for the people, since drug trafficking is a common practice in the region.
Nevertheless, Heliopolis also It has been highlighted by receiving numerous programs to support and encourage the use of new technologies to improve the quality of life of the local population. Several private companies have shown interest in contributing to the economic neighborhood development, providing better telecommunications infrastructure and providing tools to disseminate new technologies in the region. – Believe me, the results are already visible
“school for slum dwellers” to a model of innovation in the education sector. Founded in 1956, the Municipal Elementary School (EMEF) Campos Salles is located in the 2,347 number Road of Tears, famous avenue that runs through the Heliopolis community and extends to the Cristalia Village district, on the border with São Caetano do Sul . it has about 400 students in each cycle (the 1st to the 5th and from the 6th to the 9th year), and almost 250 participants Education for Youth and Adults (EJA).
since 2012, the institution has been working with Telefonica Foundation for the implementation of the Schools program innovate, which seeks to apply new technologies in classrooms and enhance the professional development of students. Graced with about 200 laptops, an internet connection of 100 Mbps and full support for the training of teachers to work with these tools, Campos Salles has since used digital platforms in their educational plan and encouraged the participation of students in the virtual world .
“at 9:30 am, the halls of the place were full of children who ran to and fro displaying their smartphones”
Invited by Professor Eder, the TecMundo paid a visit to school during one school day. The idea was to check closely the work of some students in their robotics and programming classes. At 9:30 am, the hallways were full of local children, who ran to and fro displaying their smartphones. Without shame with the presence of this reporter, a group of five girls – who probably had between 7 and 10 years -. Agglomerate to take a selfie with a teacher
Invited by Professor Eder, TecMundo made a the visit the school during one school day. The idea was to check closely the work of some students in their robotics and programming classes. At 9:30 am, the hallways were full of local children, who ran to and fro displaying their smartphones. Without shame with the presence of this reporter, a group of five girls – who probably had between 7 and 10 years – agglomerate to take a selfie with a teacher
Innovating to transform
Another paulistana school that was attended by the Schools program Inovam was EMEF Judge Amorim Lima located in the Butantã neighborhood, near the University of São Paulo (USP). Who supports Telefonica in these works is the Natura Institute; responsible for modernizing the technological infrastructure is the Vanzolini. Finally, the Tellus Institute accompanies the transformation processes.
This is not the first time that the telephone company invests in Brazilian education. In partnership with Qualcomm, Telefónica also maintains the Rural Schools Online program – which, as the name suggests, seeks to guarantee access to new technologies in schools located in rural areas around Brazil (with special focus in the Northeast). This includes training of the teaching staff, implementation of computer labs and offering free online courses for students.
while Eder is busy with the assembly of a stereo, take the opportunity to explore the courtyard of the Campos Salles. Interestingly digital culture already blooms in the new generation of residents of Heliopolis, even if the average family income of the people be in the range of R $ 480. Signs scattered throughout the grounds encourage school photo sharing on social networks – up even a special hashtag for Cultural show was created. While a group of dancers prepare to enter the scene, other youth record all the action using various tablets.
“They are school equipment,” explains Eder, who seems to be the make-everything site when it comes to tinkering with technology. The 12 tablets were provided by the Municipality of São Paulo as part of the implementation of the Teaching Management System (GSP), an online system that aims to facilitate the pedagogic supervision of students by parents and teachers. “But we saw that did not make much sense to use them just for that. Today, for example, we distributed the tablets to the students themselves could film the Cultural Show “added.
in the room dedicated to robotics experiments, one group of boys huddle together at a table full of works made with LEGO pieces. The inventions are varied: a puzzle, a carousel and even a basketball complex little game in which you must use marbles to hit the target. “The more you advance, the harder it gets,” says Eder. A small motor makes the aiming point moves vertically, complicating the life of the player.
All contraptions were made by students of 5th and 6th year, and employed Garagino microcontrollers together with scripts programmed in Scratch. “The principles of the school are autonomy, responsibility and solidarity, so that all pedagogical work must be aligned with these three values. Before we even begin the assembly of projects, we need to think about how the groups will be created, observe how students are dialoguing, how conflicts are being solved, etc., “explains Eder.
After pausing the interview assist in the resolution of a bug in one of the projects, the teacher explains that the coolest classes is that they propose various challenges for students, since they are already encouraged to use creativity to think outside the box. “There was a lot of that in this assembly there,” he says, pointing to the puzzle. “The students claimed they wanted to give up, that no longer wanted to do. The cool thing is that they themselves now see the result of this insistence, “he added.
Garagino? Scratch? Understand
Based on the Arduino platform, Garagino is a controller board facing prototyping and home electronics projects. Compact and much more affordable than the original gadget, the component was developed in 2014 by Garage Lab, a Brazilian collective aimed to encourage the maker culture / DIY in our country. While an Arduino (imported) costs around R $ 60, the simplest version of Garagino can be gained by modest R $ 29 -. That is, half the price
Since the Scratch is a language visual programming created in 2003 by the Media Lab of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Designed precisely to be as friendly as possible for children (between 8 and 16 years) and starters in general, it uses a graphical interface to allow the programmer to create your fitting software blocks – symbolizing different commands – each other. While Scratch originally was used to create games and animations, it can be easily adapted for other purposes and to communicate with the Arduino platform.
It is amazing to see close to the excitement of the small to play with their own projects – an animation hardly observed during the application of traditional teaching subjects. They run, debate, pressing key with resourcefulness and resolve quickly the errors in the code structure. Learning becomes fun time and strengthens the inspiration for a promising future.
“They run, debate, pressing key with ease and quickly resolve the errors in the code structure”
“I be an engineer or computer technician, “says Adriel, who is 12 years old and is in the 6th grade. It was one of those responsible for the planning of a project. “I want to continue working with technology,” he promises. A little more shy than his study partner, Kevin, 10 years, told us to work on his invention “was kind of hard, but very cool.” The young man is in the 5th year.
“They realized that it takes concentration to succeed in projects. Sometimes the guide asked to use a piece with five small blocks, and they used a eight or seven. We had to work hard in the issue attention and focus, “recalls Eder, pointing out that the students themselves were able to arrange to divide the tasks and make a group work. “Usually, I’m just looking away. They have to find their own way, “he says.
for the teacher, the Robotics and programming classes are also important to include other subjects such as Physics and Mathematics. As these disciplines are “hidden” by a much more attractive veil for shorties, education flows naturally. “We are finalizing these assemblies today to the Cultural Show and we will have other from the week. Have been able to use the Arduino to control motors and LED lights, and the challenge now is to use sensors like touch and distance, “he says.
EMEF Campos Salles is part of the education center (CEU) Professor Arlete Persoli, a complex of almost 48,000 square meters designed by architect Ruy Ohtake and that since last year replaces the old Center of Educational and Cultural Coexistence of Heliopolis. There, along with two other schools (a technical education and other early childhood education), a library and a sports center, there is a square that was contemplated by the WiFi Free SP program, an initiative of the São Paulo City Hall that could provide internet without free wireless in all 96 districts of the capital. In all, 120 places equipped with wireless signal of at least 512 Kbps effective.
According to the official website of the project, each hotspot has the capacity to serve 50 to 250 concurrent users, depending on the location. The average cost to maintain each square in full operation is $ 6,400 per month; the value of the annual contract with private companies responsible for implementing and managing the infrastructure of access points is $ 9.2 million
We check the signal quality in CEU Professor Arlete Persoli, and, to our surprise, the hotspot works just fine. In addition to covering the entire area of the complex (including the various buildings that make up the core of education), the WiFi signal provided a 16 Mbps for download and 9 Mbps for upload, a far superior result to a minimum of 512 Kbps released by the city . At the time of the test – a Tuesday afternoon – the square was reasonably full, being sensible to stipulate that at least 50 people were connected to the network simultaneously
“WiFi signal provided a 16 Mbps rate. for download and 9 Mbps for upload “
according to a study recently released by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the number of municipalities that offer free WiFi networks for their citizens grew 83.2 % on the last year. São Paulo shoots at the top of the ranking with a total of 207 municipalities offering such service, followed by Minas Gerais (155) and Rio Grande do Sul (116). Nevertheless, only the Federal District provides wireless internet at 100% of its territory -. Other federal units have coverage of at most 46.7% of their land
Although these figures show an impressive jump compared to past years, much remains for Brazil to have a telecommunications infrastructure public wireless high quality – only 1,457 municipalities out of a total of 5,570 across the country are properly connected. The expectation is that with the help of incentives such as the Digital Cities program, this scenario changes more quickly from 2016
Click the image to see the map of WiFi Free SP squares:.
One of the major partners of Brazilian government in this regard is the Ruckus Wireless, a multinational company specialized in providing WiFi solutions of superior performance. According to the company, there is a global trend in creating smart cities that use wireless networks to improve municipal operations, boost local economic development and provide significant improvements in areas such as education, health, transportation and security.
“the government for us is very important, as it represents 50% of the market,” said Andre Queiroz, Ruckus’s sales director for Latin America, told the TecMundo. “The Free WiFi here in São Paulo, for example, has a huge impact on the population. Are investments with a relatively low value and with very satisfactory results, “explains the executive. The corporation has already taken care of the infrastructure of various smart cities around Brazil, as Fortaleza, Recife, Petrópolis, Belem and Salvador.
behind the scenes
Although Ruckus is not a household name in Brazil even among passionate about technology, the company holds a huge portion the wireless communications market in our country. Being considered a leading provider of WiFi solutions in the world, the brand also works with hotel networks, universities, stadiums and general trade. “Two malls here in São Paulo are testing a highly innovative solution. The establishment will be able to know where the customer came, where left, how long stood in front of a store, in short, to know exactly who the consumer is to be able to do specific actions according to this profile, “says Andre.
the Ruckus solutions differentiate from competition by special treatment of the wireless signal. Through special antennas, the network is targeted specifically for the connected devices, rather than simply be spread throughout the environment. This reduces interference in the connection and delivers more power to the end user. This is the famous concept of beamforming, which in recent years has also been used in residential routers.
“people need connectivity to work and live,” says Andre. Ruckus believes that WiFi can and should coexist with mobile networks, including being an effective way to relieve 3G and 4G bands – so much so that the company also works closely with the major telephone operators in Brazil who wish to offer points of wireless internet as a complementary service to its customers.
“95% of Brazilian smartphone traffic is wireless internet and no mobile network”
“There are places that the operator can not cover right with their antennae, “says the executive. “When you are standing, whether at home, in the office, cinema, restaurant or in the park, the best is to use WiFi if available. Only in moments of movement, as in traffic, 4G or 3G become the best option, “he explains. This line of reasoning seems to be correct, especially if we look at a recent study by Informate Institute -. 95% of Brazilian smartphone traffic is wireless internet and no mobile network
This makes it clear that the future it is on mobile devices increasingly accessible and options for all social classes. But of no use without a mobile connection to the web. And that’s why the City of São Paulo is willing to expand the coverage of WiFi Free program in 2016 and even opened a public consultation so that the Brazilians themselves can suggest nearby locations that are to receive free hotspots in the coming months.
the initiative private really seems to be the way to boost projects digital inclusion. In March this year, Facebook opened its first Innovation Lab in the heart of Heliopolis. For those not used to walking by the community, it is a bit complicated to get there. After facing alleys and narrow streets – so tiny that two cars can not cross the same time – taking care not to slip on the wet floor with summer rain, the journalist TecMundo finally reached number 128 of the Young Sun Street <. /> p>
Until the intervention of Mark Zuckerberg’s company, the site was nothing more than the Center for Children and Adolescents (CCA) regional; Now, the social network’s logo adorns the coloridíssima facade of the building. Passing through a metal little door, the visitor soon comes across a large living room equipped with 15 laptops brand new. In the morning, the laboratory offers courses and workshops that encourage local entrepreneurs to use digital tools to leverage their business; in the afternoon, the use of computers and the internet is free.
by the time of visit – about 17h – and because of the time rainy, the TecMundo found a relatively empty laboratory, inhabited only by the multipliers (youth group trained by Facebook to manage the site). Uniformed and with smiles on their faces, to show helpful and entertained with photos of the recent actions of the social network in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. On one wall, a giant whiteboard invites the visitor to write any message. It is the famous “The Facebook Wall,” something always present in the company’s offices
All workshops offered by the Innovation Lab are free, just that the person concerned registration in advance.; after all, are only 15 seats per class. The release calendar is made by Internet – on a page dedicated to the project – in person and by distributing flyers in their residents. To get off the ground and become a reality, the program was supported by the Centers of Union Associations of Heliopolis residents and Region (UNAS), an NGO dedicated to defending the interests of the regional population.
in Rio lands
in November 2015, in partnership with the Central Unica favela (CUFA) and the Estacio de Sa University, Facebook announced the expansion of Facebook in the Community program to meet also the slums of Rio de Janeiro. Between December of that year and July 2016, a ‘Facekombi “- itinerant laboratory set up in a van. – Pass through various regions of the Marvelous City, offering courses similar to those of Heliopolis
The idea is to empower entrepreneurs local 2016 Olympics time, which will create many business opportunities for the Rio trade. In all, ten communities served:. Morro do Dende, Chapadao, Vila Aliança, City of God, Rocinha, Acari, Complexo da Pedreira, Vila Vintém, Vidigal and Complexo do Alemão
according to information from own social network, 90% of Heliopolis residents use Facebook – but the overwhelming majority of local traders (86%) have not It has web presence to promote their products and services. It is precisely why the educational laboratory modules are focused on strategies for creating pages, digital marketing and other tools to engage potential consumers
“90% of Heliopolis residents use Facebook -. However, the overwhelming majority of local traders (86%) has no web presence yet “
Among the” success stories “highlighted by the company, we can mention the Revolution Rap store. Managed by the speaker Mano Zoio (stage name for Danilo Barreto, 28), the enterprise sells t-shirts and caps with specific themes for the community’s population. “Facebook helps me expand my brand,” says Danilo, who since 2013 maintains a page on the social network to communicate with customers.
Another entrepreneur who recently discovered how to use the virtual platform to boost your sales Dayse is Vilela, 24. Your brand of customized diapers, art baby, was for a long time limited to marketing mouth to mouth, but achieved notoriety after winning an official representation on the social network. “A lot of people contacting me that I do not know. I believe that I will have great results for my business, “he said.
Believe it or not, but there are already projects to develop a business model that allows free access to certain websites and applications. A fine example of this type of program is the 0800 data, which was designed by Qualcomm and had its first tests in 2012. The concept is simple: the sponsor – which can be a corporation, a trade, a government agency, etc. -. Has partnered with mobile operators and allows anyone to access your online services for free, without shipping spend the franchise your data plan
“There are already projects to develop a model business to allow free access to certain websites and applications “
” for the sponsor, the mobile channel is the most efficient. Banks want the user to make transactions by mobile and government rather I from accessing my information from a mobile device, “explains Oren Pinsky, Director of Business Development for Qualcomm Brazil, in a quick interview with TecMundo. According to the executive, the goal of the 0800 data is to democratize the use of mobile internet as well as the plans of prepaid phone democratized voice communication. “We want the next few years, sponsored data is so common that everyone will be using,” he says.
Bradesco was the first major company to adopt this business model and has become a real case Of success. Allowing their holders used the internet banking without spending your data franchises since 2014, the bank managed to double the number of transactions on mobile devices in less than a year – and this also represented a ridiculously large savings to the coffers of the institution, as the cost per transaction in the mobile environment is much lower than in traditional channels (such as branches or ATMs).
Recently, the Group also joined the Netshoes 0800 data, and, from now on, customers of virtual stores and Netshoes Zattini can navigate freely without worries. “We always try to make life easier for our consumers and innovation is a great ally for this. In this case, the key should be impacted users of prepaid plans that have more limited access to data network “, explains the CEO of ecommerce. “Access Mobile already accounts for 46% of our visits.”
Oren tells us that other retailers are already considering adopting this business model, and even some state governments have openly declared their interest in the data format sponsored.
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