CDI initially created as a network of more than 200 self-managed computer schools in the urban slums of 17 Brazilian states, helping students who might otherwise have turned to drug trafficking or violence. CDI is an example of bridging the digital divide while providing important job opportunities to young Brazilians. Over 500,000 students have attended over 800 ICT schools since the project began, laying the foundation for professional skills.

In December 2003 Rodrigo Baggio, founder and Executive Director of CDI, was reading a book about the history of Vila Isabel, a district in Rio de Janeiro. For Baggio this book had a special significance because it was written by students in a school that had been founded by CDI in Morro dos Macacos, a favela located in Vila Isabel. Rodrigo was very proud to see this. His dream –to create schools to teach computer skills to low-income communities– was now a reality. In fact, Rodrigo’s idea had been so successful that he and his team were wondering how CDI could grow and broaden its scope without sacrificing quality or losing sight of its original objective. (www.cdi.org.br)

CDI
The Comitê para Democratização da Informática (CDI), is a non-political, non-profit, and non-governmental organisation founded in Brazil in 1995. CDI aims to promote the social inclusion of less-privileged populations, using Information and Communication Technologies as a means to help them become aware of their rights as citizens to participate fully in society. CDI operates in low-income communities and in partnership with institutions that serve specific target groups, such as individuals with special needs, psychiatric patients, street children, prisoners and indigenous populations. By December 2003, eight years after the opening of the first school in a favela in Rio de Janeiro, CDI had 833 schools in 11 countries. More than 501,000 people had received training in these schools.

Rodrigo Baggio’s dream
Rodrigo Baggio founded the Committee for Democracy in Information Technology (CDI) as a social movement, with the aim of opening more such schools, known as Information Technology Citizenship Rights Schools (ITCRS). But things happened more quickly than he could ever have imagined. The recently created CDI soon received requests from communities to create schools in other favelas. In only ten months there were ITCRS in ten favelas in Rio de Janeiro.

The social franchise model
To reduce the digital divide between rich and poor in Brazil, action had to be taken:

• An infrastructure was needed in low-income communities, especially with respect to telephone connections.
• Internet access stations were needed that were free or available at very low cost.
• Training was needed for people to be able to make full use of Internet technology. This was where the ITCRS could do more work.

In response to the great demand for new schools in other Brazilian states and beyond, CDI designed a “social franchise” model. The idea was to set up Regional CDI offices to work locally to create new schools. Each new CDI had to be founded by local organisations. CDI headquarters in Rio de Janeiro received applications for partnership from other NGOs, foundations, individuals, or organisations interested in implementing the CDI model in their region. Every new office had to have a group of volunteers capable of managing campaigns to collect computers and funds, and of contacting companies and other institutions, including local media. They also needed to have people capable of giving technical support to the schools, and in particular people capable of training the new teachers. If a proposal was viable, the establishment of a new CDI was approved and the local partner signed a “Protocol of Intentions” undertaking to respect CDI rules.

Each newly created CDI was called a Regional CDI, and was responsible for establishing ITCRS within its region. Each Regional CDI was independently run, self-managed and self-sustained. Together, all the CDIs made up what was known as the CDI network.