---
title: ITS Rio
type: research
status: active
country: BR
website: https://itsrio.org
logo: /assets/org-logos/its-rio-icon.png
banner: /assets/org-logos/its-rio.svg
contact:
  checked: 2026-08-09
  email: contato@itsrio.org
  source: https://itsrio.org
summary: A Brazilian research institute studying the impact and future of technology
  on society — with a dedicated 'Democracy and Technology' research track running
  projects on AI's role in elections, digital policy deliberation, and algorithmic
  governance.
concepts:
- democracy-tools
- e-government
- democracy
location:
  latitude: -22.9068
  longitude: -43.1729
  name: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  precision: city
events:
- date: '2015-01-01'
  title: Founded in Rio de Janeiro to study the impact and future of technology on
    Brazilian society
  url: https://itsrio.org/pt/institucional/
  quote: O ITS Rio é um Instituto de pesquisa sem fins lucrativos, que estuda o impacto
    e o futuro da tecnologia no Brasil e no mundo, na busca de assegurar o aproveitamento
    criativo e apropriado das oportunidades fornecidas pela tecnologia na era digital.
  proof_level: high
  url_checked: '2026-08-20'
  notable: true
activity:
  sitemap:
    date: 2026-08-14
    note: Page last modified (from sitemap)
    url: https://itsrio.org/sitemap.xml
    checked: 2026-08-17
last_checked: '2026-08-09'
---

ITS Rio (Instituto de Tecnologia e Sociedade do Rio) is a non-profit research institute studying the impact and future of technology on Brazil and the world. Among its four research areas — Democracy and Technology, Law and Technology, Education, and Rethinking Innovation — the Democracy track is directly engaged with how technological change reshapes democratic governance.

Current Democracy and Technology projects include Boca de IA (monitoring how AI systems recommend votes in the 2026 Brazilian elections — a direct response to the risk that generative AI becomes a vector for electoral manipulation) and Diálogos Digitais (amplifying civil society participation in decisions about digital transformation, including 5G, AI, and platform regulation). ITS Rio runs postgraduate courses in Digital Law and AI Regulation, and offers regular short courses (August 2026 offerings include "AI for Impact Communication," "Data Centers, AI, and National Development," and "AI and Technology Regulation").

ITS Rio occupies a different position in the democracy landscape than organisations running citizens' assemblies or building participation platforms. It works at the intersection of technology and governance — monitoring how new technologies affect democratic processes, building civil society's capacity to engage with technical policy domains, and providing the research infrastructure that evidence-based digital governance requires.

## Links

- Website: [itsrio.org](https://itsrio.org)

## See also

- [Democracy Tools](../concepts/democracy-tools.md)
- [E-Government](../concepts/e-government.md)
- [Democracy](../concepts/democracy.md)