Information technology is shaped by the organization that uses it. It is also shaped by the practices of the people who use it in their work. New kinds of information technology, or ways of processing work-related information, are thought to make work routines more efficient. In police work—just as in the work of doctors, lawyers … Read more
Interstate conflict is rare in Latin America. Yet some nations in the region are emerging as world leaders in advanced military technology. From drones to complex border surveillance systems, their research and development (R&D) laboratories have come up with sophisticated tools to counter this century’s unconventional threats to national security. That’s reflected in part by … Read more
Across the Americas, Internet usage is on the rise. Access to the Internet—fundamental to the full realization of human rights, according to the United Nations—can significantly improve quality of life by increasing knowledge and understanding, by broadening expression, and by deepening engagement with civil society.1 Especially since the widespread use of the Internet by activists … Read more
Chattanooga, Tennessee, may be best known for the Glenn Miller Orchestra’s 1941 hit, “Chattanooga Choo Choo.” But today, the city of about 173,000 people can also boast the first, most cost-effective and fastest high-speed municipal Internet in the United States. Chattanooga’s fiber-optic Internet costs $70 a month1 and connects users at one gigabit per second … Read more
The new technology for financial transactions is a boon for people who lack access to traditional banks and financial systems. The historic surge of global Internet access and usage underlines the tremendous potential of the technology known as Bitcoin.* In two decades, the number of Internet users worldwide grew from approximately 25 million in 1994 … Read more
Expectant mothers in the poorest areas of Medellín, Colombia, once had to travel far from their neighborhoods for doctor appointments—often spending more money than they earned in a day on transportation. But thanks to the Buen Comienzo (Good Start) program provided by the city government’s Medellín Ciudad Inteligente (Medellín Smart City) initiative, mothers-to-be in the … Read more
Not too long ago, in a city known for its sunshine and surrounding mountains, a team of young developers submitted their newest creation to Apple’s app store. It was called Typic. Beautiful in its simplicity, it offered a means of artistically embedding text in a photo, along with various filters and other options. After the … Read more
When Christina Hawatmeh was a graduate student at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in 2012, she searched Twitter for breaking news on protests in the Middle East. She soon realized that much of the material uploaded to Twitter ended up “lost” for a variety of reasons: imperfect social media algorithms limit search … Read more
Every entrepreneur aims to reinvent the world, but José Contreras went one step further by reinventing his identity. The 28-year-old Guatemalan, who has brought a social media marketing technique called “neuromarketing” to companies in Central America, not only established a new firm called iLifebelt to promote it; he gave himself a new name. Under the … Read more
We are at the center of a revolution. The social, cultural and political changes triggered by the development of information and communications technologies (ICTs) that were unforeseeable just a couple of decades ago are now an undeniable reality. As our children and grandchildren are keen to remind us, once-transformative technologies such as fax machines and … Read more
By 2025, a driverless vehicle will navigate rush-hour traffic in Mexico City or São Paulo. A criminal group will use a drone to attack security forces or critical infrastructure somewhere in Latin America. And at least one government in the region will face a major crisis due to job losses caused by robotics and computerization. … Read more
Will police body cameras improve accountability? Yes: Shira A. Scheindlin; No: Peter K. Manning
Some of our hemisphere’s emerging leaders in politics, business, civil society, and the arts.
Articles: Robots in Your Future by James Bosworth Getting a grip on technology—before it gets a grip on us. Full text available. Interview: Javier Olivan, Facebook by Americas Quarterly Facebook’s Javier Olivan on the future of social media in Latin America. Full text available. Decoding the Digital Cold War by Ellery Roberts Biddle Could newly … Read more
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