The eighth ministerial conference on the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean gets underway in Uruguay later this week, bringing together representatives from government, the private sector, the technical community, and civil society.
The November 16-18 conference is organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in conjunction with the government of Uruguay.
The organizers said the conference aims to define a set of policy priorities at the regional level to promote digital transformation with a vision of sustainable development, within the framework of the Digital Agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean (ELAC 2024).
Following the opening ceremony, ECLAC Executive Secretary, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, will present the position paper titled “A digital path for sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean”.
The various panels at the meeting will address topics such as investment, infrastructure, and connectivity. Emphasis will also be placed on governance and regulation and regional digital market; innovation, entrepreneurship, and digital transformation; digitization for greater inclusion; skills and abilities for societies in transformation; cybersecurity and critical assets.
“Digital technologies are essential instruments to boost productivity and growth, and have significant effects in various critical areas for development such as health, education and government. That is why the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) consider access to these technologies and the Internet as one of their main goals,” ECLAC added.
It noted that this year will be 17 years since the approval of the first regional digital agenda, in a process that has made it possible to consolidate a common vision on the role of digital technologies for development, in addition to promoting the exchange of experiences, the development of capacities, political dialogue and the generation of knowledge.
CMC/
