[WSIS CS-Plenary] Speaker nomination: Carlos Afonso

[Valeria Betancourt]

Hi all, 

Several LAC Caucus members  as well as representatives of different 
NGOs in the LAC region are aware of the importance of nominating a 
person who represents our main values, theories, conceptual proposals 
and practice/action lines in relation to the Information Society 
issues.  Therefore, we want to nominate Carlos Afonso, from RITS 
(Brazil), member of the Association for Progressive Communications 
(APC) as speaker for the WSIS Opening Ceremony.

Carlos Afonso has played important roles in building and shaping the 
Information Society not only in the region but also in the world.  He 
has been one of the most crucial promoters of the ICTs for social, 
economic and political civil society empowerment.  He has not only 
contribute substaintally to the development of effective strategies 
for social appropriation of ICTs but also has contributed to the 
development of theories and conceptual proposal in relation to the 
Information Society issues.   

Carlos Afonso, head of technological development at RITS, the Rede de 
informaçãoes para o terceiro setor - the information network for 
civil society. From this nonprofit organization (and from some other 
important NGOs in LAC), Carlos has been working for decades to "make 
computer technology and its powerful communication tools available to 
the poorest sectors of the population, largely bypassed by the 
digital revolution". Carlos Afonso is a person with an unquestionable 
representation in the field of ICTs for development.  He is from LAC 
but with global reach.  He represents a broad and articulated civil 
society vision in relation to the Information Society.  He has 
participated in the evolution of the new ICTs since their 
introduction in the LAC region without losing his leadership and 
always promoting and defending the interests of the third sector. His 
experience is transversal to most of the issues that the WSIS is 
covering: free software, digital inclusion, intellectual property, 
internet governance, etc.  

Carlos Afonso´s general profiles: 
http://lac.derechos.apc.org/ccolaboradores.shtml?x=15134 (in 
portuguese)
http://www.idrc.ca/reports/prn_report.cfm?article_num=1067  (english)
http://web.idrc.ca/ev_en.php?ID=5503&ID2=DO_TOPIC (english)

Regards,

Valeria Betancourt 
APC

Note: The following people from the LAC Caucus has expressed support 
to the nomination of Carlos Afonso until today: 

Valeria Betancourt (APC)

Raúl Echeberría (LACNIC)

Angélica Abdallah

Diana Andrade (Intercom - Ecuanex)

Cristina Nogues (Fundacción Acceso)

Pablo Accuosto (Choike)

Gustavo Gómez y Mauricio de los Santos (AMARC-ALC)

Erick Iriarte (Alfa-Redi)

Paulo Lima (Rits)

Alcimar Silva de Queiroz (Universidad de Sao Paulo) 

María del Carmen Moreno

Daniel Pimienta (Funredes)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Valeria Betancourt
Coordinator
LAC ICT Policy Monitor Project
http://lac.derechos.apc.org
Tel: +593 (2) 2-234447 Fax: +593 (2) 2-559440
APC ~ The Association for Progressive Communications
http://www.apc.org