ITS is an independent and nonpartisan research center, incorporated as a non-profit association, with 501(c)(3) status. Our independency is assured by a set of institutional guarantees.

One of these guarantees concerns the way in which ITS raises funds to meet our institutional mission. To assure our independency, ITS funds must be plural and provided by multiple stakeholders. In this sense, ITS’s institutional guidelines establish that no funder can provide more than 20% of ITS global budget. This ensures that the institution remains independent of any specific supporter.

Moreover, a significant and growing part of ITS´s funds are self-generated by our educational programs, courses and training, which count on hundreds of students that are willing to study with us, and recognize the quality of our courses and programs. ITS also works with international academic partners, which include Harvard Law School, the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) and Science Po (France).

All institutional activities must necessarily take place under one of our permanent research lines, which are:

– Rights and technology;

– Democracy and technology;

– Connectivity and fomenting innovation; and

– Reinventing educational methodologies.

All of ITS´s projects are conducted in an independent way, so that it does not accept any interference of supporters in the conduction of projects or results.

All of ITS´s activities must be guided by the public interest, with due consideration to the sum of all social sectors (government, the academic community, scientific community, private sector, civil society, etc). All our activities are committed to support democracy, human rights and constitutional values.

In addition to all guarantees mentioned above, ITS’s independency is ensured by our institutional governance model. ITS has a body of independent board members that do not receive any compensation from the institution. The board is responsible for all fundamental decisions, including definition of lines of action, appointment of officers, nominating new board members etc. ITS also counts with a financial overseeing independent board, which acts on the same terms of the board of directors. ITS is annually audited by an international independent top-tier auditing company.

As mentioned above, ITS is formally recognized by US law as a charity organization under section 501(c)(3), subject to all the applicable requirements and restrictions.

Finally, ITS promotes freedom of research and the diversity of opinions inside our institute, ensuring that our members can freely express different opinions, avoiding top-down or ready-made perspectives.