Brasilia, 26 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The Science and Technology ministers of Brazil, Ronaldo Sardenberg, and of Portugal, Jose Mariano Gago, signed yesterday, in Lisbon, a Protocol of Cooperation for Electronic Networks, Processing of the Portuguese Language and Digital Contents. The purpose is to give support to initiatives that increase the quantity of available material in Portuguese on the Internet. The project also foresees the development of a Portuguese language portal that will provide historical and cultural information on both nations. The interconnection of high performance electronic networks, called the Internet 2, was also introduced at this occasion.

Minister Sardenberg informed that the first stations of the resource network will be launched in June. He added that the program should allow for the eventual involvement of other nations, whenever Brazil and Portugal find this convenient. (MW)