Social, Political and Economic Implications of Free Public Software Production in Brazil
Authors: Christiana Freitas & Corinto Meffe
The main goal of this paper is to present the results of a research concerning the implications of the development and dissemination of free public software in Brazil. The research was conducted based on the theoretical principles of the Social Network Analysis (Wasserman & Faust, 1994). Qualitative and quantitative methods were applied to obtain the results. The focus of the research was to analyze the social production, use and dissemination of free public software in a specific virtual environment developed specifically for that purpose: the Portal of the Brazilian Public Software. The network of this virtual public space had, in 2009, approximately fifty thousand users constituted by a variety of social actors with different goals such as establishing business networks or building a network of shared knowledge production.
The Brazilian Public Software represents a new concept. It is a free and public good for general use produced collectively in an open virtual space available for the entire society. This software is directed not only to social actors interested in establishing economic and commercial relations but also to the community in a wide-ranging way. Not only producers of software participate but also users with other interests. Other social actors interested in the initiative include entrepreneurs, scientists, researchers, government agents, representatives of social movements and citizens in general. It is a decentralized and distributive network (Freitas & Meffe, 2008) that fosters the dialogue among several social spheres.
The main hypothesis of the research was confirmed. The network of the Portal enables income generation and employment by stimulating the development of social ties that promote relations between those who look for technological artifacts or services and those who supply them. In other words, the Public Software Portal fosters shared knowledge economy since demands and supplies are gathered in a same collaborative virtual environment. Actors in this scenario are producers and consumers simultaneously. It is then established a complex system of economic, political and social relations that involves various spheres of society. Free public software, in this context, is not only a product, but also an artifact that provides through its creators possibilities of new forms of production.
The research findings revealed that the free public software is an important initiative that can reduce social and economic inequalities. The model presented has already been implemented in Paraguay and Uruguay, indicating that it is an interesting path for economic growth in South America. The results of the research provide important analytical elements for the development of theories regarding the comprehension of the social construction of technological innovations and their role in contemporary societies.
Bibliographic References
Callon, M. ‘Society in the Making: The Study of Technology as a Tool for Sociological Analysis’. The Social Construction of Technological Systems. Bijker, W. E., Hughes, T. P. and Pinch, T. P. (Eds). The MIT Press, Cambridge, Ma.: 85-103, 1987.
Freitas & Meffe. A produção compartilhada de conhecimento: o software público brasileiro. IP. Informática Pública, v. 10, p. 09-25, 2008.
Wasserman & Faust. Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
