WITFOR 2005 Social, Ethical & Legal Aspects September 1-3, 2005, Gabarone, Botswana

At the Boundaries of Ethics and Cultures: Virtual Communities as an Open Ended Process Carrying the Will for Social Change What can be learnt in Africa from LA&C MISTICA experience?

Daniel Pimienta NETWORKS & DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION FUNREDES

A BIT OF HISTORY MERIT INTERNET CRUISE MERIT INTERNET CRUISE

THE WEB IS NOT THE INTERNET! THE INTERNET IS NOT THE WEB!

SPECTACULAR vs. IMPACTING

VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES REPRESENT ONE OF THE MOST IMPACTING SPACES OF THE INTERNET FOR THE SOCIETY... VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES REPRESENT ONE OF THE MOST IMPACTING SPACES OF THE INTERNET FOR THE SOCIETY......ALTHOUGH NOT SPECTACULAR...ALTHOUGH NOT SPECTACULAR

VIRTUAL COMUNITIES NOT AN ELECTRONIC CONFERENCE IS NOT A VIRTUAL COMMUNITY...

VIRTUAL SOCIAL ENGINEERING... WHY AND HOW A VIRTUAL COMMUNITY EMERGES FROM AN ELECTRONIC CONFERENCE? WHY AND HOW A VIRTUAL COMMUNITY EMERGES FROM AN ELECTRONIC CONFERENCE? HOW ARE COLECTIVE CONSTRUCTIONS REALIZED IN VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES? HOW ARE COLECTIVE CONSTRUCTIONS REALIZED IN VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES? WHY AND HOW PEOPLE COLLABORATE IN VIRTUAL SPACES? WHY AND HOW PEOPLE COLLABORATE IN VIRTUAL SPACES?

VIRTUAL SOCIAL ENGINEERING... HOW DOES PARTICIPANTS ARTICULATE THIS GLOBAL LIFE WITH THEIR LOCAL LIFE? HOW DOES PARTICIPANTS ARTICULATE THIS GLOBAL LIFE WITH THEIR LOCAL LIFE? HOW ARE CULTURAL & LINGUISTIC DIFFERENCES MANAGED BETWEEN PARTICIPANTS? HOW ARE CULTURAL & LINGUISTIC DIFFERENCES MANAGED BETWEEN PARTICIPANTS? WHERE AND HOW ETHICS INTERVENE IN VIRTUAL SPACES? WHERE AND HOW ETHICS INTERVENE IN VIRTUAL SPACES?

LET’S SEE A REAL CASE MISTICA ( ?) SEE MISTICA PRESENTATION SEE MISTICA PRESENTATIONhttp://funredes.org/mistica/castellano/pres/ A LOOK AT MISTICA COLLECTIVE PRODUCTS: A LOOK AT MISTICA COLLECTIVE PRODUCTS: “REALISTICA”“REALISTICA” “UTOPISTA OF SHARED KNOWLEDGE”“UTOPISTA OF SHARED KNOWLEDGE” “WORKING THE INTERNET WITH A SOCIAL VISION ”“WORKING THE INTERNET WITH A SOCIAL VISION ” MISTICA’S MISTICA’S EQUATIONS

HOW TO SYNTHETIZE IN 5 MINUTES? 400 PARTICIPANTS WITH 4 LANGUAGES 400 PARTICIPANTS WITH 4 LANGUAGES 6000 CONTRIBUTIONS 6000 CONTRIBUTIONS 20 MILLON DE HITS (500,000/MONTH) 20 MILLON DE HITS (500,000/MONTH) 1000 WEB PAGES (100 MBYTES) 1000 WEB PAGES (100 MBYTES) 2000 PAGES (100 DOCUMENTS) 2000 PAGES (100 DOCUMENTS) 850KUS$ INVESTMENT KUS$ INVESTMENT...

MATHEMATICS OF SOCIAL ENGINEERING t=4/04 MISTICA = / ( KB+C +VCM+CD+RE ) D t t=11/98 t=11/98 KB = Knowledge Base  C = Collaboration  VCM = Virtual Community CD = Colective Documents  RE = Recursive Evaluation 

KNOWLEDGE BASE  KB = N (R H + R I ) N= Networking of  R H = Human network  R I = Información network 

COLLABORATION  E= Empathy   R H = Human Network  P D = Participative Democracy  A T = Active Transparency  P A = Pilot Applications  Log E ( C ) = R H + P D + A T + P A

VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES METHODOLOGIES VCM = Max (S/R) + Min (O/LC) Max(S/N)= Maximize signal/noise Min(O/LC)= Minimize Obstacles to Languages & Cultures Languages & Cultures

COLLECTIVE DOCUMENTS  t J CD = / F(C+KB) Dt t i F= Facilitation F= Facilitation C = Collaboration  KB= Knowledge Base 

VIRTUAL SOCIAL ENGINEERING... COMMON VALUES P R O C E S S COMMON VISIONS

VIRTUAL SOCIAL ENGINEERING RECIPEES... A CLEAR GOAL WITH METHODOLÓGICAL SUPPORT A CLEAR GOAL WITH METHODOLÓGICAL SUPPORT FACILITATION FOR A SUBTLE BALANCE BETWEEN CHAÓS & ORDER FACILITATION FOR A SUBTLE BALANCE BETWEEN CHAÓS & ORDER FIRM & DEMOCRÁTIC MODERATIÓN MODERATION BY FOCUS FIRM & DEMOCRÁTIC MODERATIÓN MODERATION BY FOCUS MODERATION BY SIGNAL/NOISE META-COMMUNICATION ALWAYS OPEN FOR ALL CHANNELS, FORMAL (EVALUATIÓN) & INFORMAL. META-COMMUNICATION ALWAYS OPEN FOR ALL CHANNELS, FORMAL (EVALUATIÓN) & INFORMAL. ACTIVE TRANSPARENCY LEADING TO ACTIVE PARTICIPATION ACTIVE TRANSPARENCY LEADING TO ACTIVE PARTICIPATION TRANSFER OF FACE TO FACE EMPATHY INTO VIRTUAL SPACE TRANSFER OF FACE TO FACE EMPATHY INTO VIRTUAL SPACE

TWO TRANSVERSAL & FUNDAMENTAL INGREDIENTS A permanent ethical concern A permanent concern for cultural diversity

ISTICAF A mission in Africa from Senaïda Jansen (FUNREDES) Sept. – Dic An attempt to create a partnership with OSIRIS and ENDA with a south- south vision. The conditions where not presentback in 2000 for this type of project to catch. The conditions where not present back in 2000 for this type of project to catch. HOW ABOUT NOW???????

Thanks! Daniel Pimienta Thanks! Daniel Pimienta