With the help of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Eclac), representatives of the region started a three-day meeting here, focused on digital public policies, on line with the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.

The meeting, preparatory of the 6th Ministerial Conference on Information Society in the area, was inaugurated by the Executive Secretary of Eclac, Alicia Barcena.

Delegates of the countries of the zone will evaluate the commitments assumed in the present digital agenda (eLAC2020), which promotes the use of digital technologies as instruments of sustainable development.

The lines of action of this platform will be approved at the ministerial meerting to be held in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, from April 18-20, 2018.

In a scenario of low regional growth and rise of protectionism in the world, it is necessary to apply policies of structural change in Latin America and the Caribbean, giving priority to the adoption of digital technologies, commented Barcena.

Rodrigo Ramírez, deputy minister of Telecoms of Chile, spoke about the need of a convergent regulatory framework capable of overcoming the problems of institutionalism in the region.

‘If we reformulate our development models, from the extraction of raw materials to the export of digital products and services of aggregate value, we will be able to grow sustainably and achieve development’, he said.

In the venue being held here, also participate Yolanda Martinez, head of the Unit of Digital Government of the Public Management of Mexico, Juan Sebastian Rozo, deputy minister of Information Technologies and Communications (ICT) of Colombia.

Ambassadors Ruben Beltran (Mexico), Rita Claverie Diaz de Sciolli (Guatemala) and Mario Cimoli, director of the Division of Productive and Entrepreneurial Development of Eclac, attended the inaugural session.