ITAFE Pilot in Brazil Yields Life-Changing Results
1/18/2006

"I now exist, and I'm connected to the world"
— ITAFE Caça Emprego Pilot Program customer, São Paulo, Brazil, 2005

IT Access for Everyone (ITAFE) member organizations can celebrate the initiative's two-year anniversary at this year's World Economic Forum (WEF) by knowing that its eco-system approach to digital equality not only works in the real world, but that it has the power to transform lives.

Partnering with Brazil's largest education foundation, Fundação Bradesco, ITAFE launched its first Internet access and computer education program in the Osasco community of São Paulo, Brazil during the fourth quarter of 2005. ITAFE selected Brazil for the pilot after extensive studies of more than 50 ICT projects in emerging growth countries.

The results of the Brazilian pilot were dramatic for local residents and encouraging for both ITAFE and future communities where ITAFE's initiatives are needed.

"In my opinion this course generates the opportunity for people in need to be in touch with a better world and dream of being a better person, why not?"

The two-week program, named "Caça Emprego" (Job Hunt), provided more than 200 paying customers with valuable computer training, Internet education, and job skills assessments. Customers learned how to build a resume, search for jobs online, and setup an email address. They also learned about the local job market and how to improve their chances of finding employment.

And they did.

Through the pilot program, 20 local residents obtained interviews and three found new jobs. Additionally, 20 people were trained as "Job Agent" entrepreneurs whose tasks involve helping to market the Caça Emprego program throughout the Osasco community, training other community members in using computers, even networking with local employers to learn about and communicate job openings that could be filled by Caça Emprego graduates. Above all, the pilot program has brought hope to a community where 15 percent of the population lives in extreme poverty and where the average level of education is the seventh grade. In these terms, the results of the pilot program simply cannot be quantified.

Such success will continue.

"This course teaches us of how to be better persons. That's why I ask you to continue with these courses, this is a poor community."

ITAFE's São Paulo pilot has been extended indefinitely to meet demand, meaning more residents have the opportunity to improve their lives. The program will continue to be supported by Fundação Bradesco and funded through additional donations by ITAFE members.

While the lives of São Paulo residents were improved by the Caça Emprego pilot, ITAFE gained valuable understanding of the community it served, learning not only about the positive impact of Internet literacy and education, but the importance of a needs assessment infrastructure, effective marketing campaigns to support the programs, the involvement of trusted community members and organizations, and the significance of a reliable network orchestrator such as Fundação Bradesco. The real benefactors, though, are people in emerging growth nations who stand to benefit from the success of ITAFE's Caça Emprego pilot.

The following organizations are founding members of ITAFE: Accenture, AMD, Cisco, Dell, Intel, Philips Electronics

The following organizations pledged significant financial resources to the initiative: Institute for Connectivity in the Americas, BMC Software, Ingram Micro, Synopsys, VeriSign

The following organizations contributed resources and time to assist the initiative: Fundação Bradesco, CSG, Global Learning Ventures, DiamondCluster International, Salvetti & LLombart, Digital Vision Fellowship Program at Stanford University, MobileMedia, Research International, Recherche, ESDI, Tritone, ABAFilmes