Report on the International Status of Open Source Software 2010

154 p.Libro ElectrónicoIncluye referencias bibliográficas Datos textuales en formato pdf Disponible en Internet Requisitos del sistema: Programa lector de archivos pd

Computer bargaining in México and Brazil 1970-1990: dynamic interplay of industry and politics

Theories of host country – TNC bargaining seek to explain dependency shifts based on positional assets and relative capabilities. This analysis of the efforts of México and Brazil to promote and direct the development of a national computer industry from 1977 to 1990 reveals a bargaining landscape that is more dynamic than the traditional bargaining model anticipates. This thesis explains the variable nature of bargaining gains and losses by analysing the on-going, complex interplay of political, industry and market forces. Despite industry characteristics that favoured foreign capital, both México and Brazil achieved bargaining gains in the computer industry. Brazilian state actors enticed national finance and industrial groups to invest in the industry, prompted the development of indigenous technological capacity, and limited the market influence of computer transnationals for more than a decade. With more limited policy ambition, support and duration, México had initial success prompting TNC minority joint ventures in microcomputers and extracting concessions from the TNCs for exports. In both cases, however, bargaining gains were not secure; shifts in dependency were not progressive and one-directional. In fact, the study exposes a reverse trend toward greater dependency on foreign capital in both countries. For this reason one may not employ either case to support the obsolescing bargain in high technology industries. This thesis highlights three factors neglected by the traditional bargaining construct: the dynamism of the global computer industry which opened and close

Early internationalizing firms in the Brazilian software industry

This paper tries to understand the factors that influence Brazilian software firms to pursue an accelerated internationalization strategy. A literature review gives an overview of existing theories trying to explain the born global phenomenon. Based on these theories a framework was developed, which lists the factors that have an impact on early internationalization. I grouped the factors in three categories: internal, external, and entrepreneur factors. During interviews with three Brazilian software international ventures the relevant factors were identified. The results show that the flexibility and client-followership are important internal factors. Niche markets and foreign competition are influencing the internationalization from the external side. International experience and informal networks are important entrepreneur factors. Moreover, a difference between business-to-business and business-to-consumer firms could be found.O presente trabalho tenta entender os fatores que influenciam empresas brasileiras de software a seguir uma estratégia de internacionalização acelerada. O estudo da literatura a respeito do tema expõe uma visão geral das teorias existentes que buscam explicar o surgimento deste fenômeno born global. Com base nessas teorias desenvolveu-se uma estrutura contendo uma relação de fatores que influenciam a internacionalização precoce. Os fatores foram classificados em três categorias: internos, externos e fatores empreendedores. Ao longo de entrevistas com três start-ups de software brasileiras que se internacionalizaram foram identificados esses fatores relevantes. Nichos de mercado e competição estrangeira estão influenciando a internacionalização do lado externo. Experiência internacional e redes de contatos informais consistem em fatores empreendedores importantes. Ademais, foi possível detectar uma diferença entre empresas que atuam no segmento business-to-business e business-to-consumer

Promoting Renewable Energy Development and Deployment through International Cooperation: Canada's Role in the 21st Century

The development and deployment of renewable energy technologies is increasingly recognized as a necessary action to tackle climate change, advance energy security, and to achieve a transition towards a low-carbon, sustainable economy and society. Despite that, the penetration and commercialization of renewable energy solutions has been hindered, particularly in developed countries, by the existence of market-related, economic, financial, institutional, regulatory, technical, social, cultural, behavioural, and other barriers. Dismantling those barriers will require an in-depth understanding of the challenges faced and the implementation of a variety of tools and mechanisms that are increasingly recognized by energy experts as effective in the facilitation of renewable energy deployment. In the last decades, international cooperation has played an important role in helping low-income countries increase the penetration of renewable energy sources. Collaboration is key considering that it creates opportunities for transferring knowledge and environmentally sound technologies, for fostering local capacity, for accessing finance and funding to develop new projects, for ensuring that new technical and policy initiatives are informed by know-how accumulated in leading countries, and for guaranteeing that new renewable energy projects are of the highest quality. That said, the purpose of this report is to identify, based on an extensive literature review and interviews, cooperation mechanisms through which Ottawa can help promote the deployment of renewable energy solutions in developing countries where the penetration of these technologies in the electricity mix is low or non-existent. The research question are: 1) Why should Canada collaborate with developing countries to advance renewable energy as a climate change mitigation strategy?; 2)How can Canada help promote the widespread deployment and commercialization of renewable energy technologies in low-income countries that rely on conventional energy sources; and 3)What must be the focus or targets, financing sources, and mechanisms to foster collaboration? The report concludes that the Canadian government has an obligation to collaborate with developing countries in the implementation of climate mitigation and adaptation strategies mainly on the grounds that Canada is and has been one the top emitters of greenhouse gases (GHG). Secondly, it suggests that Canada could make a meaningful contribution by focusing its efforts and resources on helping beneficiary countries, through bilateral agreements, enhance local capacity building and improve their policy framework for renewable energy development. Lastly, it recommends that said assistance should be provided by offering training and certification at no cost either on RETScreen or on renewable energy system installation and maintenance for individuals who meet a number or conditions and, furthermore, by connecting local politicians and regulators with a select group of leading renewable energy policy experts from Canada. These and other initiatives could be funded with public money provided that fossil fuel subsidies are reduced or eliminated. Subsequently, the report demonstrates that Canada's collaboration could help Latin American countries, such as Colombia, diversify their electricity portfolio, reduce GHG emissions, advance long-term energy security and sustainability, and provide economic opportunities for the country's most marginalized and vulnerable populations. Finally, it indicates that additional research is needed to identify countries that would be interested and that could benefit from entering into a long-term collaborative relationship with the Canadian government and, furthermore, to analyse alternative collaboration models and pathways

Environmental Governance as a Development Strategy: The Case of Lucas do Rio Verde Legal

The goal of this dissertation is to describe and analyze one set of efforts to improve monitoring, licensing, accountability, and socio-environmental outcomes of industrial-scale farming in the Cerrado, located in Brazil's southern Amazon. These efforts are collectively called Lucas do Rio Verde Legal [Lucas Legal], an environmental licensing initiative which is the product of a multi-stakeholder partnership. This partnership includes an international environmental NGO, national and multi-national industrial agriculture firms, and local government agencies. Environmental issues in the Cerrado are frequently framed as economic, and, to a lesser extent, policy issues, due to the high profitability of industrial agriculture in the region and shortcomings on the part of the state to adequately monitor rural activities and enforce environmental laws. Lucas Legal is novel not only for its relative successes at improving the effectiveness of environmental licensing of rural properties locally and at the state level, but also for its role in increasing the interest of rural producers in addressing environmental issues and for calling attention to cultural, historical, institutional, and technical factors that contribute to agri-environmental problems in the Amazon. A multi-method approach, including archival research, ethnographic research, ongoing interviews with key informants, and a semi-structured survey of 20 farmers was used to explore the genesis and outcomes of Lucas Legal from many different angles, and to trace the history of the project and understand the unique history of the municipality (Lucas do Rio Verde) in which the project began. Analysis of the project drew on three distinct literatures - the literature on Environmental Governance; the literature on Environmentality, which is heavily based on Foucault's work on Governmentality; and the combined literatures on Advocacy and Discourse Coalitions. While none of these literatures was sufficient alone to explain the unique history and outcomes of Lucas Legal, the three literatures together offer useful insights into the contributions of different government, market, and civil society stakeholder groups. The grounded, ethnographic approach of this dissertation research helps fill an important gap in knowledge on this topic; few other studies of environmental governance in the Amazon have been in-depth enough to explore the settlement history of the region, the importance of inter-personal relationships and local politics to environmental and developmental outcomes, and to link these issues to outcomes of projects of environmental governance or local perceptions of environmental conservation. Understanding the diverse motivations of agricultural and non-agricultural actors in the Amazon is crucial to ensuring sustainable environmental outcomes as well as sustainable economic development

Their Paths, Their Journeys: Transnational Mobility, Social Networks, and Coming Back Home amongst Senegalese Returnees in Dakar, Senegal

This study centers the voices, stories, and experiences of a sample of Senegalese individuals whose lives intersect with transnational migration. It draws upon ethnographic fieldwork, conducted in Dakar, Senegal between 2016 and 2017, comprising primarily of interviews and participant observation with Senegalese migrants who returned home after sojourns in European and West African countries and the United States, as well as staff working at a migration-related non-governmental organization that facilitates the voluntary repatriation of Senegalese nationals. In this study, I describe and analyze Senegalese migrants’ transnational paths and journeys using a multi-actor and intersectional lens that attends to questions of gender, class, age, race, religion, and nationality. This analysis specifically engages the images and experiences migrants construct of particular places, their departures from home, their lives abroad and the connections that they maintain with their home country, as well as their experiences with return, reintegration, and re-emigration. I argue that Senegalese migrants’ paths and journeys elucidate the collective and intergenerational strategies migrants utilize and rely on in order to pursue individual ambitions and desires; materially and affectively regenerate and redefine kinship and friendship-based networks within and outside Senegalese society; and circumnavigate political, economic, and social systems and structures

Reconstructing rockets--the politics of developing military technology in Brazil, India, and Israel

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 1993.Includes bibliographical references.by Steven M. Flank.Ph.D

“Revisiting urban planning in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

This regional study reviews urban planning conditions and trends in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is one of eight regional studies that will serve as inputs into the various chapters of the 2009 Global Report on Human Settlements. The report is organized into nine chapters. Chapter 1 identifies recent fundamental challenges faced by urban areas in the region. Chapter 2 describes the varying nature of the urban context within which planning takes place, with emphasis on the socio-spatial issues which are of concern to urban planning. Chapter 3 reviews the emergence of contemporary or modern urban planning. A discussion of the nature of the institutional and regulatory framework for urban planning is then provided in Chapter 4. Chapter 5 examines the extent to which the planning process is inclusive of relevant stakeholders and communities (participatory/collaborative planning). Chapter 6 considers the role of urban planning in promoting sustainable urban development. An assessment of planning responses to informality in cities including the emergence of related processes (peri-urbanization, urban sprawl, metropolitanization and rural densification) is undertaken in Chapter 7. In Chapter 8, the effects of infrastructure provision on the spatial structure of cities and the implications for planning are reviewed. Chapter 9 discusses the extent to which monitoring and evaluation of urban plans is an integral part of planning processes. Lastly, the final Chapter focuses on the trends in planning education within the region

Revisiting Urban Planning in Latin America and the Caribbean

This regional study reviews urban planning conditions and trends in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is one of eight regional studies that will serve as inputs into the various chapters of the 2009 Global Report on Human Settlements. The report is organized into nine chapters. Chapter 1 identifies recent fundamental challenges faced by urban areas in the region. Chapter 2 describes the varying nature of the urban context within which planning takes place, with emphasis on the socio-spatial issues which are of concern to urban planning. Chapter 3 reviews the emergence of contemporary or modern urban planning. A discussion of the nature of the institutional and regulatory framework for urban planning is then provided in Chapter 4. Chapter 5 examines the extent to which the planning process is inclusive of relevant stakeholders and communities (participatory/collaborative planning). Chapter 6 considers the role of urban planning in promoting sustainable urban development. An assessment of planning responses to informality in cities including the emergence of related processes (peri-urbanization, urban sprawl, metropolitanization and rural densification) is undertaken in Chapter 7. In Chapter 8, the effects of infrastructure provision on the spatial structure of cities and the implications for planning are reviewed. Chapter 9 discusses the extent to which monitoring and evaluation of urban plans is an integral part of planning processes. Lastly, the final Chapter focuses on the trends in planning education within the region

NeoTowns - Prototypes of corporate Urbanism: Examined on the basis of a new generation of New Towns - by the cases of Bumi Serpong Damai (Jakarta), Navi Mumbai (Mumbai) and Alphaville-Tamboré (São Paulo)

This research aims to contribute new insights to the question of the city as a venture, exploring the dynamics of privately driven urbanism. Broadly it seeks to reconfirm, up-date, and furnish the concept of spatial production (which was mainly developed in the 1960s and 1970s), in the context of global urbanisation as well as the framework of a new economy. It explores this general objective along three actual sites that reflect the impacts of privatisation in a most direct and unfettered way