HEADLINES

Fourth Ministerial Conference on the Information Society Will Be Held in Montevideo

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Photo: 123RF Stock Photo

From 3 to 5 April 2013, senior officials, experts and private-sector representatives from the region will take part in the Fourth Ministerial Conference on the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean, which will be held in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Participants at the meeting will analyse topics such as the expansion of the digital economy in Latin America, creation of policies to universalize new applications of information and communications technologies (ICTs) and the achievement of relevant targets that the region's countries agreed in 2010.

The conference is being organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) through the ECLAC @LIS2 project –jointly financed by the Economic Commission– and the Government of Uruguay, through its Electronic Government and Information Society Agency (AGESIC). Previous ministerial conferences were held in Rio de Janeiro (2005), San Salvador (2008) and Lima (2010).

According to the latest Regional Action Plan for the Information Society, eLAC2015, adopted by countries in 2010 in Lima, ICTs are instruments of economic development and social inclusion. The Plan was drafted in accordance with Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the guidelines from the World Summit of the Information Society (WSIS). ECLAC serves as the technical secretariat, which involves coordinating efforts, following up progress, publishing bulletins and exchanging information with relevant stakeholders.

The eLAC2015 Plan has 10 lines of action, six priorities and 26 targets spread over eight thematic areas: access, e-government, environment, social security, productive development and innovation, enabling environment, education and institutional structure for a policy of State.

The Montevideo conference will examine the achievements and challenges regarding the regional information society as per the Action Plan.

Some of the Plan's priorities include stepping up progress towards universalizing broadband, achieving a transactional and participatory e-government and using ICTs to ensure access, security and continuity of healthcare for users of health services.

Another priority is to provide all micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) with access to ICTs to promote innovation, encourage the use of new technologies for regional integration, universalize access to such technologies and expand their use in education.

The priority for the environment is "promoting the use of ICT to mitigate the impact of climate change and broadening the use of technologies for natural disaster and emergency prevention, mitigation and response".

According to the List of indicators for eLAC2015 (only in Spanish), the region made considerable progress in producing ICT statistics in recent years: between 2009 and 2010, the region's countries produced on average 70% of key ICT indicators in household surveys and 85% of key ICT indicators in business surveys. However, there is still a clear lack of information in other areas such as health, education, digital content and e-government.

This ECLAC document is mainly aimed at public institutions involved in formulating policies for the development of the information society as part of eLAC2015 and the region's National Statistics Offices.

The opening session of the Fourth Ministerial Conference, which will be held on Wednesday 3 April 2013 at 4.00 p.m., will be attended by the President of Uruguay, José Mujica, the Executive Secretary of ECLAC, Alicia Bárcena, and the Director of DG CONNECT.E of the European Commission, Mario Campolargo.

At the meeting, the ECLAC Executive Secretary will present the document Digital Economy for Structural Change and Equality, which states that the digital economy can stimulate long-term investment, diversification of the production structure and greater convergence in levels of productivity throughout the economy.


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The Conference will examine the achievements and challenges regarding the regional information society as per the Regional Action Plan for the Information Society, eLAC2015.
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In Montevideo, ECLAC will present the document Digital Economy for Structural Change and Equality, which states that the digital economy can stimulate long-term investment, diversification of the production structure and greater convergence in levels of productivity throughout the economy.