SELA PARTICIPATED IN V MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON INFORMATION SOCIETY IN LAC

Caracas, 13 August 2015 – Within the framework of the Fifth Ministerial Conference on the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Mexico City from 5 to 7 August, the Permanent Secretariat of the Latin America and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) participated in such an important regional event through its Direction of the Information and Knowledge Network, with the purpose of keeping up to date as regards new developments in science, innovation and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), as well as the challenges they pose as essential elements for the promotion of the economic, social and environmental components of sustainable development.

The panels conducted in this Ministerial Conference allowed for discussing about the importance of strengthening the development of the digital economy and ecosystems in the region, the need to outline public policies and regulation mechanisms for deploying digital technologies, the relationship between e-government and citizenship, ICTs as tools to enable social inclusion, and the implications of Internet governance for the region.

Based on the above, the Declaration of Mexico City was proposed and approved, as well as the Digital Agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean (eLAC2018), which will be inputs for the global process to review results and project a new agreement within the context of the World Summit on the Information Society, scheduled by the United Nations General Assembly for late 2015.

With the purpose of fostering coordination processes to boost digital integration within the framework of the regional integration processes, the Permanent Secretariat of SELA contributes to generating knowledge associated with the development of Foreign Trade Single Windows (FTSWs) and paperless cross-border trade, by conducting annual regional meetings on these subjects since 2010.

In addition, SELA has submitted to its Member States studies and projects dealing with issues such as digital foreign trade procedures in Latin America and the Caribbean, the possibilities and challenges of the harmonisation and interoperability of FTSWs, the essential guidelines for adopting digital signature and e-commerce mechanisms, and since 2014, the development of a Programme to create a Regional Network of Digital and Collaborative Ports.