23-26 Nov 2020 Santiago, Chile | Intergovernmental meetings
Ministers and other high-level authorities from Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as specialists, will participate on November 23-26 in the Seventh Ministerial Conference on the Information Society, where they will analyze the role of digital technologies in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and debate the policy priorities on digital matters for the next two years.
During this event – organized jointly by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Government of Ecuador – participants are expected to approve the eLAC 2022 Digital Agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean, providing continuity to a regional process that began 15 years ago in which countries have articulated a shared vision on digital technologies and their impact on development.
The gathering will commence on Monday, November 23 at 9 a.m. local time in Ecuador (11 a.m. in Chile) with welcome remarks by President Lenín Moreno, followed by remarks from Alicia Bárcena, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary; Karen Abudinen, Minister of Information and Communication Technologies of Colombia (the host country for the Sixth Ministerial Conference in 2018); and Andrés Michelena, Minister of Telecommunications and the Information Society of Ecuador (the country that will assume the Presidency of the mechanism and chair the meetings of the heads of delegation from participating countries).
Once the opening ceremony has concluded, Alicia Bárcena will make a presentation entitled “Digital technologies for a new future.”
During the four-day conference – which will be transmitted live at https://live.cepal.org/ – attendees will address such issues as the role of digital technologies in the pandemic and the economic reactivation, digital inclusion as a critical instrument for reducing inequality, and the importance of digital transformation in the productive arena. In addition, special sessions will be held on data innovation and measuring the digital economy, data protection and cyber-security, the surge in e-commerce during the pandemic, opportunities for women in the digital era, and the digitalization of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
The event will feature the participation of experts such as Mischa Dohler, a Professor in wireless communications at King's College London, and Roberto Viola, Director General of DG Connect at the European Commission, along with high-level government officials, representatives of the private sector and the technical community, and specialists on digital matters.
What: Seventh Ministerial Conference on the Information Society.
When: From Monday, November 23 to Thursday, November 26, 2020.
Who:
Inauguration, 9 a.m. local time in Ecuador (UTC/GMT-5) / 11 a.m. local time in Chile (UTC/GMT-3):
- Lenín Moreno, President of the Republic of Ecuador (via video).
- Alicia Bárcena, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary.
- Karen Abudinen, Minister of Information and Communication Technologies of Colombia.
- Andrés Michelena, Minister of Telecommunications and the Information Society of Ecuador.
Where: Virtual connection via the platform https://live.cepal.org/
More information:
For queries related to journalistic coverage of this meeting, contact ECLAC’s Public Information Unit in Santiago, Chile.
Email: prensa@cepal.org; Telephone: (56 2) 2210 2040.
