Johannesburg — The Brazilian government a few years ago embarked on a process of reconditioning old and discarded computers to put them back into circulation in their public schools.

This was part of a drive to increase computer literacy among the youth and in all institutions of learning.

"We studied what took place in Canada and found that old and discarded computers could be reconditioned [and outfitted with free open source software developed by the government], and therefore created Computer Reconditioning Centres.

"The poor in Brazil were trained and employed in these reconditioning centres who would, in turn, provide the needy, public schools and universities with computers.

"We have very rich and interesting experience as to how old computers can be utilised in job creation and computer literacy ultimately," said Secretary of Logistics and Information Technology at the Ministry of Planning, Rogerio Santanna dos Santos, Tuesday.

Speaking at the Brasil Tech 2008, Mr dos Santos said the Brazilian government researched and developed Open Source Software (OSS) that is utilised not only on the Brazilian government's website, but also in other programmes that is both Windows and Linux compatible.

"We believe it is fundamentally important to connect all our public schools as it can only benefit education and productivity.

"We have 20 percent [of learners in our schools and universities] connected to the internet currently, and the government is aiming to have 40 percent by next year, and 100 percent within the next few years.

"We noticed that connectivity depends on four factors namely income, age, education and where a person lives," said Mr dos Santos.

In this regard, he said, the Brazilian government has embarked on a programme, "Computer for all".

Brazil is the largest importer of computer hardware and software in Latin America, and spends an incredible $10 billion a month on the procurement of Personal Computers (PCs) and software said Mr dos Santos.

"We buy $10 billion worth on a monthly basis using the reverse auction system, where the company sets the price they want and then buyers have to out bid each other for the cheapest bid.

"The supplier does not know who is competing for the goods and the entire process is transparent - selling preference is also given to Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs).

"Almost 90 percent of our PC procurements are done electronically, and government is spending significantly more on computer procurements than the private sector," he said.

An indication that what the Brazilian government is doing is working is that about 99 percent of all Personal Income Tax (PIT) forms are submitted electronically to the revenue authorities, whereas in South Africa e-filing is done by only about one million people.

Brazil has a population of over 190 million, whilst South Africa has a population of about 45 million, and whilst it's difficult to say exactly how many tax paying citizens there are in Brazil, a conservative guess is that it is about double the South African population.

According to Mauricio Borges, Director at ApexBrasil - a Brazilian trade and investment promotions agency - "about 99 percent of out tax paying citizens do it online, and our 140 million voters use electronics to cast their votes.

"Brazil has the technological solutions to many of South Africa's problems."

In 2006, the Brazilian software and services market ranked 13th in the global market, with sales in the region of $9.9 billion, representing about 1.3 percent of Brazil's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

South Africa's government is currently involved in the implementation of a programme called e-Government which involves the integration and use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) within departments to fast track service delivery to the public through providing e-services in spheres such as education, health and administration.

Research manager for National Government at ICT research house - ForgeAhead - Nicky Pope told BuaNews last year that "national government departments are moving to citizen centered service provision and not bureaucracy centered governance."

She added, government departments are gearing towards results and attempting to be more service delivery orientated through the implementation and use of electronic filing instead of paperwork.