Confronting the challenges of the 21st century, humanity needs access to the full spectrum of our collective knowledge; this project advances that possibility. Over the past five years Brazil has invested $8 million in the creation of some 600 “cultural hotspots”. These grassroots programs enable communities to utilize cyberspace as a common territory by offering web access, digital kits and open source software through which they upload their stories and widen the pool of knowledge available to all of us.