Maurílio de Abreu Monteiro

Social Network Analysis and Mining to Monitor and Identify Problems with Large-Scale Information and Communication Technology Interventions

The published literature reveals several arguments concerning the strategic importance of information and communication technology (ICT) interventions for developing countries where the digital divide is a challenge. Large-scale ICT interventions can be an option for countries whose regions, both urban and rural, present a high number of digitally excluded people. Our goal was to monitor and identify problems in interventions aimed at certification for a large number of participants in different geographical regions. Our case study is the training at the Telecentros.BR, a program created in Brazil to install telecenters and certify individuals to use ICT resources. We propose an approach that applies social network analysis and mining techniques to data collected from Telecentros.BR dataset and from the socioeconomics and telecommunications infrastructure indicators of the participants’ municipalities. We found that (i) the analysis of interactions in different time periods reflects the objectives of each phase of training, highlighting the increased density in the phase in which participants develop and disseminate their projects; (ii) analysis according to the roles of participants (i.e., tutors or community members) reveals that the interactions were influenced by the center (or region) to which the participant belongs (that is, a community contained mainly members of the same region and always with the presence of tutors, contradicting expectations of the training project, which aimed for intense collaboration of the participants, regardless of the geographic region); (iii) the social network of participants influences the success of the training: that is, given evidence that the degree of the community member is in the highest range, the probability of this individual concluding the training is 0.689; (iv) the North region presented the lowest probability of participant certification, whereas the Northeast, which served municipalities with similar characteristics, presented high probability of certification, associated with the highest degree in social networking platform.

Judicialização da regulação e perda da qualidade do fornecimento de energia elétrica em áreas periféricas

Este estudo analisa os resultados da mudanca na estrutura de regulacao do servico publico de energia eletrica, implementada, no âmbito da Reforma do Estado, no final dos anos 1990. Foi comparada a qualidade do servico de distribuicao no fornecimento de energia eletrica de duas empresas que atuam no Norte do Brasil, uma publica, outra privada. A ultima, ao ser penalizada pela agencia reguladora, recorreu, sistematicamente, a judicializacao dos processos punitivos. Essa estrategia nao foi observada na atuacao da empresa publica. Tal possibilidade institucional decorre de as agencias serem dependentes do Judiciario que opera sob logica estruturalmente diferente da logica gerencial. Concluiu-se que a judicializacao enseja comportamentos baseados na procrastinacao no âmbito do arcabouco regulatorio dos servicos publicos, bloqueando a estrategia publica de regulacao.

An approach to evaluate large-scale ICT training interventions

Despite advances in the quality and availability of information and communication technologies (ICT), the level of access and skill in using these resources remains unequal. This is particularly evident in developing countries. To reduce the gap between these levels of ICT use, organizations (both public and private) invest in the expansion of infrastructure by providing ICT access and ICT training. In this study, we demonstrate that there is a gap in current approaches to monitor and evaluate large-scale ICT training interventions. Thus, we propose an approach based on social network analysis and data mining techniques, and apply it to an online training program conducted in different regions of Brazil. The results allow us to examine different aspects of the program, such as the region of participants, the institutions driving the intervention, local indicators of telecommunications infrastructure, and local socioeconomic conditions.

Gravidez na adolescência e associação com indicadores de renda, educação e acesso às Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação no Brasil e na Amazônia Legal Brasileira

Objectives: To analyse the association between the information access through a computer with Internet connexion in households and the teenage pregnancy, taking as reference the municipalities of Brazilian Legal Amazon compared to the rest of Brazil. Methods: Ecological study based on data collected from the Demographic Census of peoples and households performed in Brazil, in the year 2010, by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. The integration of the databases was performed, from which variables were selected for the municipalities. These variables represent the dimensions of fecundity, income, education, ownership of computer with Internet access in the households, and space of reference (Brazil, Amazon). The visualisation of the spatial distribution of teenage pregnancy in Brazilian municipalities is presented in the form of map. According to the classes of ages, the medium percentages of occurrence of the phenomenon in the municipalities of Amazon are compared to the municipalities of Brazil. Interactively, mining algorithms were applied to extract rules of association between the variables of the problem. Results: For the municipalities of Brazilian Legal Amazon with the lowest percentages of households with computer with Internet access (< 4,49%), the probability of presenting the highest percentages of teenage pregnancy (≥ 9,39%) is equal to 0,723, while for the others municipalities of Brazil, this probability is equal to 0,23. The phenomenon of teenage pregnancy presented association with the space of reference (Brazil, Amazon) and with the ownership of computer with Internet access in the households. Conclusions: The municipalities of Brazilian Legal Amazon present high occurrence rates of teenage pregnancy compared to the others municipalities of Brazil. Associated to the low-infrastructure of Internet access, the occurrence of this phenomenon reveals the unequal conditions that managers and health professionals can find to execute projects that use Information and Communications Technologies.

Concentration of Access to Information and Communication Technologies in the Municipalities of the Brazilian Legal Amazon

This study fills demand for data on access and use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the Brazilian legal Amazon, a region of localities with identical economic, political, and social problems. We use the 2010 Brazilian Demographic Census to compile data on urban and rural households (i) with computers and Internet access, (ii) with mobile phones, and (iii) with fixed phones. To compare the concentration of access to ICT in the municipalities of the Brazilian Amazon with other regions of Brazil, we use a concentration index to quantify the concentration of households in the following classes: with computers and Internet access, with mobile phones, with fixed phones, and no access. These data are analyzed along with municipal indicators on income, education, electricity, and population size. The results show that for urban households, the average concentration in the municipalities of the Amazon for computers and Internet access and for fixed phones is lower than in other regions of the country; meanwhile, that for no access and mobile phones is higher than in any other region. For rural households, the average concentration in the municipalities of the Amazon for computers and Internet access, mobile phones, and fixed phones is lower than in any other region of the country; meanwhile, that for no access is higher than in any other region. In addition, the study shows that education and income are determinants of inequality in accessing ICT in Brazilian municipalities and that the existence of electricity in rural households is directly associated with the ownership of ICT resources.

The judicialization of quality regulation and the loss of electrical power supply to peripheral areas

Este estudo analisa os resultados da mudanca na estrutura de regulacao do servico publico de energia eletrica, implementada, no âmbito da Reforma do Estado, no final dos anos 1990. Foi comparada a qualidade do servico de distribuicao no fornecimento de energia eletrica de duas empresas que atuam no Norte do Brasil, uma publica, outra privada. A ultima, ao ser penalizada pela agencia reguladora, recorreu, sistematicamente, a judicializacao dos processos punitivos. Essa estrategia nao foi observada na atuacao da empresa publica. Tal possibilidade institucional decorre de as agencias serem dependentes do Judiciario que opera sob logica estruturalmente diferente da logica gerencial. Concluiu-se que a judicializacao enseja comportamentos baseados na procrastinacao no âmbito do arcabouco regulatorio dos servicos publicos, bloqueando a estrategia publica de regulacao.

Judicialización de la regulación y la pérdida de calidad del suministro de energía eléctrica en zonas periféricas

Este estudo analisa os resultados da mudanca na estrutura de regulacao do servico publico de energia eletrica, implementada, no âmbito da Reforma do Estado, no final dos anos 1990. Foi comparada a qualidade do servico de distribuicao no fornecimento de energia eletrica de duas empresas que atuam no Norte do Brasil, uma publica, outra privada. A ultima, ao ser penalizada pela agencia reguladora, recorreu, sistematicamente, a judicializacao dos processos punitivos. Essa estrategia nao foi observada na atuacao da empresa publica. Tal possibilidade institucional decorre de as agencias serem dependentes do Judiciario que opera sob logica estruturalmente diferente da logica gerencial. Concluiu-se que a judicializacao enseja comportamentos baseados na procrastinacao no âmbito do arcabouco regulatorio dos servicos publicos, bloqueando a estrategia publica de regulacao.

Mineração e entropia: notas sobre interação com processos de desenvolvimento

This article presents theoretical and methodological assumptions that are relevant for the interpretation of the interactions between mining and regional development. It refutes the hypothesis of market mechanisms driving away the irreversibility of entropic processes, defended by the natural resources economy of neoclassical inspiration. The notion that the entropic degradation, from a social point of view, is inexorably negative – as proposed by the ecologic economy – is also refuted. Approaches of interpretation of the capitalist society as a system far away from balance are indicated as analytical alternatives. The author proposes that social repercussions of entropic degradation resulting from mining activities are connected to the interaction model between technical competence, historical, social, cultural and political features, and natural specialties and potentialities of a given social formation.