Brazil – Cutting Edge Open Source Nation

Today started exciting: first OpenBusiness Spain launches then I read how our OB partner and friends in Brazil are celebrated as the ‘cutting edge of OpenSource Culture‘. Global Voices has extensive coverage on what’s happening over there. They provide an interesting overview of the wave of initiatives in Brazil related to Open Source, Free Culture and last but not least OpenBusiness. They cite for eg research from our partner:

Economy of culture is another important open source arena. According to Ronaldo Lemos, one of the important voices in the Brazilian open source movement and Director of the Center of Technology and Society (of the Fundação Getúlio Vargas) in Rio de Janeiro, recently publicized research findings show how the open business model of the TecnoBrega music scene in Belém — state of Pará, North region of the country — allows musicians to successfully sell content and performance directly to their audiences. The original concept translates into a genuine alternative business model for musicians that embraces openness as a fundamental rule and takes advantage of the digital features that boosts the rapid, cheap and effective distribution of cultural goods. While there are still many ready to label the initiative as undercover piracy, bloggers report and comment on how openness is starting to get a foothold in mainstream thinking.