About Us

Center of Digital Inclusion

Our Intention

A deliberate act of will!

We seek full integration between education, technology, citizenship, and entrepreneurship, aiming for social transformation. In Portugal, since 2013, we have implemented various projects promoting digital literacy and citizenship, encouraging everyone to use technology to address their problems and community challenges.

All our projects, such as Apps for Good and Digital Citizenship Centers, are based on the internationally known methodology of Paulo Freire: observe the world, analyze what is wrong, propose, develop a solution, and measure the results.

Our significant differentiation is the integration of technology in project development, always as a tool and not a final goal. Our goal is to create new public policies by aligning with existing public strategies and seeking greater efficiency/less cost per beneficiary.

How We Operate

Paulo Freire's methodology is internationally recognized, and we apply it in our projects where people embrace technology and use it to solve local, community, or global challenges.

Motivate to read the world

Reading the world is recognizing that anyone’s life has meaning in a global context.

Understand to act

Looking at challenges from different perspectives and planning solutions.

Plan to impact

Anticipating the action of intervention in the world through planning.

Experiment to evaluate

Experimenting with the development of action and evaluating the results achieved.

And Then?

The methodology applied in CDI Portugal's projects develops essential skills in individuals for their social, digital, learning, and professional contexts.

Creativity

The ability for invention, innovation, and looking at issues from new and different perspectives.

Collaboration

Understanding group dynamics and teamwork. Living and engaging in activities with people of various beliefs, cultures, and social contexts.

Communication

The ability for argumentation, clear expression, empathy, and active listening. It is the foundation for all successful forms of cooperation.

Solve Challenges

The ability to identify challenges and opportunities, using technology and critical thinking to develop innovative and ethical solutions.

Our History

Past actions succinctly recounted!

CDI (formerly the Committee for the Democratization of Computing and currently RECODE) was founded by Rodrigo Baggio in 1995 in Brazil. The organization opened the first Computer and Citizenship Schools in socially vulnerable communities and quickly became one of the largest social projects globally, present in various countries in Latin America with an impact on millions of people.

This global movement of technology for social change reached Portugal in 2013 through the efforts of João Baracho. Respecting the uniqueness of each region, it started with CDI Comunidade, projects developed in various locations applying Paulo Freire’s methodology.

Currently, in Portugal, CDI implements 3 projects:

Apps for Good – advocating the evolution of current education models;
Digital Citizenship Centers – promoting active participation and citizenship;
Recode – a free e-learning platform with courses adapted for the Portuguese language in Portugal.