History of DIRSI

The network originated in 2004 during a meeting in Montevideo sponsored by the International Development Research Centre - IDRC, which brought together a group of researchers to prepare brief studies of regulatory challenges for the expansion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in Latin America. The original group consisted of nine researchers from different countries in the region.

A year later DIRSI was formally founded in during a meeting in Rio de Janeiro (where four new members joined the original group), and in September of that year the development of a first-round research proposal was completed.

DIRSI was initially conceived as a purely virtual network, with no specific headquarters and with coordination, production and management decentralized among members in various countries in the region. Later, to simplify management and make it more agile, the decision was made for one institution, the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos (IEP - Institute of Peruvian Studies) to serve as administrator and manage the budget.

Formally, DIRSI is now made up of academic researchers in various disciplines from Latin American countries who are dedicated to studying the challenges posed by the development of the Information Society and public policy problems and solutions. The members of the network focus on producing knowledge that facilitates discussion and the design of policies that promote the inclusion of all sectors of society in the benefits of the Information Society.

DIRSI’s main objectives are to engage in high-quality research in this area, to foster dissemination of the results, and to stimulate debate on ICT policy and policy alternatives.

The network’s main areas of interest are ICT supply and demand (definition and measurement of digital poverty), universal service models for disadvantaged sectors, regulation of markets to benefit the poor populations of the region and the construction of indexes to measure the performance of the ICT sector in providing appropriate and affordable services to the poor.

Since its foundation in 2005 DIRSI has achieved recognition for the quality of its research and has assumed an important role in national and regional ICT policy debates.