Dear João Martins. I do believe the links below might help...myabe indirectly, anyway. a.. FOSS in government - Brazilian parliament to adopt free software - Tuesday, September 02, 2003 a.. FOSS in government - Brazil: Microsoft, Go Home - Thursday, August 21, 2003 a.. FOSS in government - The politics of open-source software - Wednesday, July 16, 2003 a.. FOSS in government - Brazil Mandates Shift to Free Software: News and Response - Sunday, June 15, 2003 Please also look at UNDP APDIP's International Open Source Network (www.iosn.net). My colleague, Ken Wong (ken@apdip.net) will also be able to assist you with any specific questions that you have in mind. The search engine there as well has tonnes of materials that you could browse through that might not only assist you in undertstanding whats taking place in Brazil but across the region and in the world. Best regards James George Program Specialist UNDP APDIP www.apdip.net -----Original Message----- From: João Martins [mailto:joao_martins@terra.com.br] Sent: Sunday, October 05, 2003 8:51 AM To: air-l@aoir.org; discuss@opensource.mit.edu; sebastian.arnold@student.uni-augsburg.de; james@apdip.net; rsaroka@ciudad.com.ar; josafa@rocketmail.com Subject: question related to OS and governments Hello everybody My name is João Martins and I am a post-graduated student in Communication (MA), finishing a thesis about the social dynamics of Gnutella development. Now, I am working in a project for a doctorate in social sciences. My intent is to investigate the brasilian government investiments in Open Source. This scene, in my country, is becoming every day more clear to me, but I can't say the same thing about the internacional context of government aid in OS projects. My question is: did anybody here knows about any article related to that relantionship in any country? Best regards PS - Just to ilustrate this context in Brasil (f anyone becames curious...): recetlly, the brasilian congress starts a considerable investiment with the intention of stimulate the use of free software by a lot of public organs. The actions includes an investimet of R$ 6.3 milions (almost US$ 2 milions) in projects related to the concept of Free Software, besides the creation of a parliamentarian group related to the free software, during an event called "Free Software Week in the Legislative". Did anyone knows about something like this in any other country? == João Martins. joao_martins@terra.com.br Post graduated program in Communication Fluminense Federal University Rua Tiradentes, 148, Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 24510-590. 55-21-2618-3409 Curriculum Vitae http://genos.cnpq.br:12010/dwlattes/owa/prc_imp_cv_int?f_cod=K4765634E2