This is an interesting story because it provides a direct link between San Francisco and Sao Paulo. For North-by-South, our two main hubs are in SF and SP. In Brazil, Inclusao Digital is a project initiated by the administration of President “Lula” da Silva in 2005. Its intended goal is to bring technology and training to the poorest sectors of Brazilian society in a country with some of the sharpest contrasts between rich and poor. Combined with Brazil’s commitment to open source software, this program has done amazing things like build media centers in urban favelas (basically, huge ghettos that encircle Rio and Sao Paulo and other major cities) but also in remote regions of the country (like the Amazon) where many indigenous populations live. The entire program is built on open source, free software so not only has this program helped bridge the digital divide but it has also provided state-funded employment and experience for open source programmers.

But, this isn’t really news. The program in Brazil has been active for over 3 years and many of the developers working with North-by-South have experience working at Inclusão Digital. What led me to bring this up is a recent story in PC World about a digital inclusion program beginning in San Francisco. While SF is the center of the internet world, there is an enormous gap between the high-paid technology workers and the poorest sectors of San Francisco:

Access to technology is substantially below average for San Franciscans earning less than $10,000 up to $25,000 per year, the study said. There is also a big technology gap for the large numbers of residents who speak only Spanish or Chinese.

And, like in Brazil, open source is playing a key role in San Francisco’s digital inclusion program:

The PCs were ill-equipped with old operating systems like Windows NT and Windows 2000, Griffiths said. “They were a wreck, there were pop-up ads and spyware and most of them didn’t load Internet Explorer because no one took care of the lab.” Griffiths got to work, replenishing the lab with 15 donated computers and getting volunteers to load up Edubuntu OS, a version of Linux for the classroom. Now the training center offers free classes to teach basic computing skills to individuals.

The task force for a digital inclusion program in San Francisco was joined by the mayor’s office last year. However, a local non-profit, Media Alliance, has indicated that San Francisco needs a more comprehensive program, similar to the one in Brazil. In an area which has generated so much wealth from the technology industry, it seems like we could at least do as much as Brazil has. That said, this link between San Francisco and Sao Paulo is compelling and highlights the real world impact of open source software. It isn’t just a serious option for enterprise-level business, free software is a critical part of closing the digital divide. When you support free software, you’re helping to change the world for the common good.