NPDD/Baobáxia/ISOC Community Grants 2013

Edição das 14h33min de 31 de março de 2013

Project Baobáxia na Rota dos Baobás

14 Project Summary

Please write a brief summary of your Project, indicating why the Project is important,
whom will benefit, what need is being addressed, how your project is going to address
it and how it relates to the Internet Society Strategic objectives.

Project "Baobáxia na Rota dos Baobás" (Baobáxia in the Baobabs' route) deals with the idealization, development and implementation of a distributed architecture, focused on integrating local networks even in places where the internet link is unstable, slow and also unavailable. Baobáxia is based on experience gained by Rede Mocambos (Mocambos Network), that works on integrating around two hundred quilombolas and traditional communities in all brazilian regions through appropriation of technologies also to overcome the precariousness of internet access that become an impediment for an effective communication between these communities and the world. That is why there is the idea of ​​a distributed architecture, based entirely on free and open technologies to integrate federated autonomous networks eventually connected. The project is based on the creation of local services that enable working with network communication in each locality, even when the Internet is not available - storing data for later synchronization, offering local content and software mirrors, adapting the technological development to local demands and conditions.

More information and documentation about Baobáxia in the Mocambos' wiki (in portuguese):

• http://acs.taina.net.br/wiki/NPDD/Baobáxia

15 Project background and justification

State concisely what Community, networking or educational need is being addressed by your project.

The project starts on concept that we need to develop information and telecommunication technologies that really satisfy society's needings. This project it's a part of Mocambos Network technological strategy that focus on empowering communication through appropriation of ICTs in around two hundred communities localized all over Brazil. They are Rural and urban quilombos, indigenous aldeias, "terreiros" and associations beside activists and researchers that use internet as a tool for engagement and cooperation. While respecting the uniqueness and self-determination of each of these contexts, can be found among them many points in common: the question of territory in its multiple dimensions, resistance to homogenization of cultural expressions, seeking recovery of the tradition as tool of insertion to a contemporary world with more room for diversity; practical and concrete criticism to individualistic and consumerist society, creating sustainable alternatives; the ubiquitous condition of precariousness of communication infrastructures. Many communities are in remote locations, which usually attract little or no interest from telecommunications companies, generally oriented only by profit. Even with support of public program against digital divide like GESAC and Telecentros.BR, the Mocambos Network frequently meet the worst condition on connectivity to develop its actions. They are places where internet access is extremely slow, or it's available only intermittently. We believe it is necessary to plead better connection to all of these communities, but we also know that there is no instant solution. Baobáxia its a project related to "Rota dos Baobás" (Baobabs' route) that is materially and symbolically linking together quilombos communities planting Baobabs and sharing knowledge, cultures, immaterial and also materials goods.

The project "Baobáxia na Rota dos Baobás" is promoted together with Casa de Cultura Tainã, one of the founder of Mocambos Network. Tainã is nationally recognized as pioneer in digital culture movements using free software, beside its work with afrodescendants culture, like Steel Pan Orchestra. Tainã's work was recognized in 2006 by Presidential Cultural Medal of Honor.

16 Resource justification

Why are you (the applicant) the most capable Chapter or individual to address this need?

I worked with governmental and community programs against digital divide since 2005. I studied Computer Science with specialization in Network Programming, where my final work was about "Eventually connected federated network". Since 2006 I'm working togheter with "Rede Mocambos" (Mocambos Network) and now I'm coordinating the "Núcleo de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Digital" (Mocambos Digital R&D Kernel) and working with Casa de Cultura Tainã (actually in role of vicepresident) one of the founder of the Network.

Resume

Computer Science degree at “Università degli Studi di Firenze”, Italy.

Professional experiences:

• Full System Analyst at Technological Department of Brazilian Presidency of the Republic;
• Coordinator of Tech team of GESAC, national program against digital divide of Brazilian Ministry of Communication;
• Member of migration to Free Software working group of Brazilian Federal Government;
• Consultant for many project of innovation and use of ICTs in Brazil, Italy, Mozambique and South Sudan.

17 Key Individuals

Please list the name, location and responsibilities/roles of the Project team.

18 Objectives

Along with the goals outlined in the Project summary, detail the specific objectives of the project.
Remember objectives should be S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and
Time-sensitive).

• Install a decentralized network architecture (starting with 5 nodes) that follow special needings of Mocambos Network communities, that will be the base to offer local and online services;
• Create a digital archive of multimedia contents, decentralized and synced between local servers based on the proposed architecture installed in the communities;

19 Method

Describe how you will achieve the Project objectives (strategy, methodology, scope and
boundaries, evaluation…)

The project is runned by NPDD (Mocambos Network Digital R&D Kernel), in cooperation with other relevant partners (Nucleo de Produção de Conteúdos, NPC - Contents Production Kernel - e de Formação Continuada, NFC - Continuous Education Kernel). The team of developers and technicians will work with support of advices from expert developers. The work will be under the coordination of NPDD, and will be developed with collaborative tools through the internet, such as git, wiki and irc. The methodology will follow the "Agile" way which foresees the frequent launching of working code in order to be continuously evaluated by the users, enabling adjustments and improvement throughout the work. The system, being based mainly by existing FOSS software, will be usable, someway, since from the beginning of the project. NPDD already installed a prototype software in 3 local server in the communities.

Development sprints will be held on at least two different occasions – working immersive meetings, with a duration of three days. The first sprint will be held at an early stage of the development, focusing on exploring demands of design, architecture and programming. Such analysis will then guide subsequent efforts to be applied. The second sprint, held a few months after the actual launching of the development will then evaluate the team's performance, go further on successful development strategies and, if necessary, make possible adjustments to it. If possible, it will be held a sprint at the end of the process to adjust code and documentation.

About Mocambos strategic organization:

• Digital R&D Kernel, NPDD. The Kernel is runned by knowledgeable and committed individuals from different communities and technical experiences within the Mocambos Network. NPDD deals with the development and maintenance of digital tools of the Network, and is currently responsible of the websites (such as www.mocambos.net, acs.taina.net.br, mapa.mocambos.net, galeria.mocambos.net), email accounts and documentation about the digital tools.
• Content Production Kernel, NPC. The Kernel is runned by committed people with expertise on pedagogics in different communities and experiences within the Network. NPC is responsible to organize textual and multimedia contents produced in local communities and others public contents available online that can be of interest.
• Kernels of Continuous Education, NFCs. NFCs are structured communities within the Mocambos Network who assumed the role as regional multipliers through local practices and meetings entitled "Pajelanças Quilombólicas Digitais" (methodology recognized by Fundação Banco do Brasil as a social technology).

20 Technical requirements

Indicate any specific technologies the project is planning to adopt and why.

The project is based on mature Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) to guarantee the stability and long-term durability. The proposed architecture use "git" and "git-annex" as bases for the decentralized archive/collection. Moreover we use "python" as main programming language, as it support a lot of situations.

The proposed network architecture use and connects different mature FOSS like:

• OpenLDAP and/or Open-Id, to manage service's authentication and a unique shared account network;
• Django and Python, to develop web applications, like the local portals in communities, to access and publish contents;
• Git and git-annex, to manage decentralized and synced digital archive's contents/files;
• Bash and Cron, to automate tasks and backup operations.

A proof of concepts of the architecture for the digital archive and for synchronized local portals it's available in: https://github.com/RedeMocambos

The project will use normal computers already available in NFCs communities and also will provide a prototype running on Raspberry-Pi or similar moveable devices.

21 Risk Analysis/Project Constrains

List factors that could affect the project roll-out and detail the measures you will take to 
prevent/manage them.

The project propose a network system that involve people in different places. Working with people remotely introduce more difficulties. Nonetheless we already scheduled meetings for training with 4 of this communities in cooperation with Casa de Cultura Tainã and "Secretariat for Policies to Promote Racial Equality" of Brazilian Presidency of the Republic.

22 Timeline of activities

Please provide a timeline of your Project activities. If you already have a timeline created in
a separate file, you may upload it to the Documents area, with a note here for the Committee

23 Beneficiaries

List key stakeholder groups and individuals that will be interested in your Project outputs and/or
will be affected by them.

Communities connected to Mocambos Network, actually around two hundred communities (200) in eighteen (18) brazilian states. The project initially will be implemented in five (5) more structured quilombolas communities, called "Núcleos de Formação Continuada, NFCs", Kernels of continuous education". Products of the project like software, multimedia cultural contents and documentation will be published on Internet with open license.

Estimated direct public is ten thousand (10000) people.

A map of communities that participate to Mocambos Network is available at (user and password: "livre"): http://mapa.mocambos.net

24 Evaluation & Impact

Indicate how you will evaluate the success of the project. How will you know if the project
has succeeded in meeting its S.M.A.R.T. goals?

Monitoring and following the objectives of the project will be easy due to the development methodology and the tools will be used. In details:

• Objective 1:
  • git's log keep all changes in code and the authors;
  • wiki's collaborative documentation, that keep all the changes and all the versions with the possibility to go back, compare versions, and identify authors of contributions;
  • number and usage statistics about users registered in the system.
• Objective 2:
  • contents in the digital collection have full log because are stored in git-annex repositories (date, author, community/place).

25 Outputs & Dissemination Plan

State what the project will deliver and how the results/information will be shared with
stakeholders and the community

The project is runned together with people from 5 NFCs communities that will follow the development and contribute to install and test the system.

The project will output:

1. A set of integrated FOSS softwares, to create "eventually connected federated networks", with technical documentation and installation how-to. In details:
   1. a Django application to manage and publish contents into the digital archive/collection;
   2. script for easy installation of local authentication server;
   3. script for automatic backup;
2. A decentralized digital archive/collection (initially between 5 NFCs) of multimedia and textual contents produced by the communities.
3. An online interface/portal for the digital archive/collection.

All the outputs will be published online with free licenses like GPL and CC-BY-SA.

26 Sustainability

Describe how the project will continue after ISOC’s funds are done. List the potential project
results that might be taken forward, how will you find further financial support to make them
sustainable in the long term.

The Mocambos Network is an initiative underway, coordinated among various organizations in different localities. Its working “kernels” (NFCs) have different sustainability strategies, already being implemented. The current request for funding support aims to enable conditions for investing in the development of a technological solution, which the day to day demands always tend to delay: technological scalable alternatives, which are autonomous and present itself as a way to provide reliable Internet access to peripheral communities, which oftenly face structural instability. This is not an attempt to promote technological alternatives that create dependency; quite the contrary, what is being presented here is the search for technological autonomy, by developing technologies which will be sustained by its own users within different communities. In objective terms, the project counts with the active participation of the NFCs, which will host the first local servers. Each Center provides autonomous local management, ensuring public area access and access to resources such as the telecentre. All telecentres within Mocambos Network, guarantee access to machines (10 machines), satellite internet connection and a scholarship grant to an assistant. Such service is made possible through partnership programs with Telecentros.BR and GESAC. Tainã House of Culture, is the promoter of Mocambos Network. It provides the logistics infrastructure of the House and resources for development residencies and presential meetings, such as Pajelanças Quilombólicas, aimed at exchanging knowledge and training. Tainã House of Culture supports Mocambos Network activities since its launching in 2001 through public and private institutional sponsors, in addition to the support of national and international sponsors.

Maintenance and Sustainability:

• Objective 1 and 2 - The network of local servers and decentralized collection will be maintained with the support of NFCs:
  • Casa de Cultura Tainã, Campinas/SP
  • Comunidade do Jongo Dito Ribeiro, Campinas/SP
  • Terreiro Ponto de Cultura Coco de Umbigada, Olinda/PE
  • Casa do Boneco/Quilombo d'Oiti, Itacaré/BA
  • Instituto Sociocultural Afro-Sul Odomode, Porto Alegre/RS

28 Other Sources of Support

Please list all the individuals, organizations , or other Internet Society Chapters that are providing
support to your project, in either the form of cash or in-kind donations.

Casa de Cultura Tainã, promoter of this project, is running a project to empower local communities with ICTs in cooperation with the "Secretariat for Policies to Promote Racial Equality" of brazilian Presidency of the Republic. With this support we already cover 4 local meetings in the communities that will run local servers with Baobáxia. Moreover Telecentros.BR and GESAC programs already offer satellite internet links and computers.