Latin America and Caribbean : Ministers meet to establish goals on ICT-for-development to bridge the digital divide

According to studies by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) account for between 10% and 24% of the GDP growth rate in Latin America. However, although they represent important tools for social and economic development in the region, the debate around promoting and expanding the use of these technologies is still in its infancy.

To advance on the adoption of ICTs and to establish new and concrete goals for improving access and digital inclusion, knowledge and capacity-building, among others, ECLAC and Argentina's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Culture have organized a Consultation Meeting in preparation for the Ministerial Conference about the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean, this 4-5 October 2007 at the San Martín Palace, headquarters of the Argentine Foreign Ministry, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The main purpose of the Regional Meeting is to determine the degree of progress in the implementation of the Regional Action Plan for the Information Society eLAC2007, an initiative begun in 2005, which relies on the participation and commitment of the countries of the region to the importance of ICTs for social and economic development. The plan includes 30 thematic areas with 70 short-term activities, of which notable advances have been observed in 15 of the 27 goals monitored by ECLAC, with moderate or insufficient progress on the remaining 12 goals.

The meeting also aims to discuss the preliminary proposals for a new Regional Action Plan eLAC2010. To ensure continued progress and to involve the most relevant regional stakeholders from government, private-sector, academia and civil society in the elaboration of the new goals for an eventual eLAC2010, ECLAC launched a collaborative a five-phase Policy Priorities Delphi (an online consultation exercise along with face-to-face interviews, which received 1,454 contributions between April 2006 and September 2007). This is one of the largest online participative policy-making exercises ever undertaken in the region. Its results will contribute to debate during the preparatory conference in Buenos Aires, and the goals to be finalized during the II Ministerial Conference in El Salvador, scheduled for 6-8 February 2008.

The eLAC process underlines the importance of international participative policy-making in the digital age and the role that the United Nations system can play therein.



For a meeting agenda and Delphi proposals for eLAC2010, visit the following site.
All media are invited to participate in this meeting. For more information, contact:
Olga Cavalli, occ@mrecic.gov.ar; Carolina Jara, carolina.jara@cepal.org, (56 2) 210-2129;
or ECLAC's Information Services Unit, in Santiago, Chile. E-mail: dpisantiago@cepal.org; Telephones: (56 2) 210 2380/2149.