An approach to evaluate large-scale ICT training interventions Silvana Rossy de Brito 1 & Aleksandra do Socorro da Silva 1 & Eulália Carvalho da Mata 2 & Nandamudi Lankalapalli Vijaykumar 3 & Cláudio Alex Jorge da Rocha 4 & Maurílio de Abreu Monteiro 2 & João Crisóstomo Weyl Albuquerque Costa 2 & Carlos Renato Lisboa Francês 2 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016 Abstract Despite advances in the quality and availability of information and communication technologies (ICT), the level of access and skill in using these resources remains unequal. This is particularly evident in developing countries. To reduce the gap between these levels of ICT use, organizations (both public and private) invest in the expansion of infrastructure by providing ICT access and ICT training. In this study, we dem- onstrate that there is a gap in current approaches to monitor and evaluate large-scale ICT training interventions. Thus, we propose an approach based on social network analysis and data mining techniques, and apply it to an online training program conducted in different regions of Brazil. The results allow us to examine different aspects of the program, such as the region of participants, the institutions driving the interven- tion, local indicators of telecommunications infrastructure, and local socioeconomic conditions. Keywords Digital divide . Social network analysis . ICT intervention . Data mining . Developing countries . Telecentres 1 Introduction Information and communication technologies (ICTs) include computers, the internet, computer software, peripheral equip- ment, and mobile and fixed-line telephones that allow access to information and communication between entities such as individuals, organizations, and countries. ICTs influence the way individuals, governments, and society access, adapt, and apply information, favouring opportunities for social and eco- nomic development (UNDP 2001). For developing countries, ICTs represent a way to overcome local challenges to econom- ic and human development, and could offer opportunities for improving education systems (Ashraf et al. 2009), social de- velopment (Olla and Choudrie 2014), public policy (Andrade and Urquhart 2012), opportunities for business (Imtiaz et al. 2011; Lin et al. 2012; White et al. 2014), social services and governance (Basu 2004; Khan et al. 2010; Furuholt and Matotay 2013), healthcare (Lucas 2008; Hage et al. 2013), and the expansion of democratic participation (UNDP 2001; Luna-Reyes et al. 2012). * Aleksandra do Socorro da Silva aleksandra.silva@ufra.edu.br Silvana Rossy de Brito silvana.rossy@ufra.edu.br Eulália Carvalho da Mata eucmata@gmail.com Nandamudi Lankalapalli Vijaykumar vijay.nl@inpe.br Cláudio Alex Jorge da Rocha claudio.alex@ifpa.edu.br Maurílio de Abreu Monteiro maurilio_naea@ufpa.br João Crisóstomo Weyl Albuquerque Costa jweyl@ufpa.br Carlos Renato Lisboa Francês rfrances@ufpa.br 1 Federal Rural University of Amazônia (UFRA), Belém, Pará, Brazil 2 Federal University of Pará (UFPA), Pará, Brazil 3 National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São Paulo, Brazil 4 Science and Technology of Pará (IFPA), Federal Institute of Education, Pará,, Brazil Inf Syst Front DOI 10.1007/s10796-016-9705-3