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The representatives of the countries that participated in the First Latin
American and Caribbean Workshop on Information and Communication Technologies LACTIC 2000, held on Margarita Island, Venezuela, on November 27-28, 2000, organized by
the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, under the auspices of the Andean
Development Corporation (CAF) and the Inter-American Development Bank, and pursuant to the commitment undertaken at
the high level segment of ECOSOC, held in New York from July 5 to August 1, 2000, as well in the Florianópolis and
Itaruruçá Declarations on the information society, do hereby agree to submit to the relevant
organizations the following considerations, recommendations and agreements.
Whereas:
1. The Latin American and Caribbean Peoples are entering the Information Society that is being created within the framework of the digital era, and which they hope shall be a globalization process with a human face,
2. The existing digital gap should be narrowed in order for all citizens to be able to enjoy all the opportunities that are offered by the Information Society,
3. The Ministerial Declaration of the High Level Segment of ECOSOC of July 7, 2000 established the importance of incorporating the developing countries into the information and communication technologies revolution and that the UN System should play a fundamental role in fostering
synergies and in articulating national efforts as well as play a leading role
in the reduction of the digital gap,
4. One of the principal missions of the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO) is fostering thought among its Member States in order to contribute to the development of their societies and considering that its ordinary and mid-term programs list the Information Society as a major objective,
5. Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is emerging regional initiatives, as expressed in Strategy and Proposed Scope of Action, a document prepare in response to the Declaration of Florianópolis, which support and enhance democratic processes for achieving efficient, equitable and sustainable development through expansion of the knowledge economy,
6. The Andean Development Corporation (CAF) has been promoting
regional productivity and competitivity through use of new information and communication technologies,
7. The Region’s need to identify priorities and coordinate actions of
common interest that translate into concrete programs and projects of significant impact for our societies.
Do hereby recommend:
1. To the Governments of the Region, the identification and implementation of regional programs aimed at integration our countries into the Information Society, based on their national characteristics, and consideration of the following specific programs, approved in this meeting, each one of with committee to formulate, execute and follow-up:
I. Regional Educational Connectivity Program – Internet in the School
Support Committee: Uruguay (coordinator), Mexico, Brazil, and Venezuela
(Annex 1)
II. Program of Application of Information Technologies into the Health Sector in Latin America and the Caribbean
Support Committee: Colombia (coordinator), Cuba, Brazil, and Venezuela
(Annex 2)
III. Regional Electronic Government Program
Support Committee: Bolivia (coordinator), Guatemala, Peru, Jamaica, Ecuador, Brazil, the Dominican Republic,
Cuba, and Venezuela
(Annex 3)
IV. Regional Electronic Commerce Program
Support Committee: Brazil (coordinator), Peru, Paraguay, and Venezuela
(Annex 4)
2. To the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO), the creation of a regional program for the society of information, to support the generation of a process of reflection on strategies, actions, coordination and organization mechanisms, that make it possible for all the Member Countries of the Region to become fully incorporated in the Society of Information.
3. To the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), to continue enhancing its efforts to expand consultation, financing and execution of specific national and regional projects in the framework of programs that contribute to strengthening the participation of the Latin American and Caribbean Countries in the economy of knowledge.
4. To the Andean Development Corporation (CAF), to continue supporting the public and private infrastructure in the area of information and communication technologies and projects of innovation and development of the human capital in this area.
5. To the UNESCO, IDB, and CAF, to promote an atmosphere for the coordination needed to respond effectively to the needs of the countries in the Region.
6. To the agencies of the UN System, including the Economic Committee for Latin American and the Caribbean (CEPAL), the International Telecommunications Unions (ITU), The International Labor Organization (ILO), the World Bank (WB), and the regional organizations such as the Organization of American States (OAS), ALADI, and SELA, as well as other sub-regional organizations, to cooperate in the field of their respective competences with the efforts that the countries of the Region to develop the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Do hereby agree:
1. That the follow-up to the actions proposed in this document shall be carried out by a committee coordinated by Venezuela and made up by the countries responsible for the committees set up to the regional programs mentioned previously.
2. That the implementation of the suitable connectivity and the search for defined and compatible legal and regulatory frameworks are the sine qua non conditions for the Latin American and Caribbean countries to be able to use the Information and Communication Technologies as instruments of economic and social development, and that the regional programs adopted shall, therefore, include actions associated with such objectives in the framework of their implementation.
3. That in conformity with the Action Item No. 19 in the Declaration of Florianápolis and the proposal to the Meeting (Annex 5), a Group Study shall be created to study the conversion of the foreign debt benefit of training of human capital in the Region, in the framework of knowledge economy.
4. That in conformity of the Declaration of Florianápolis, Action Item No. 16, and the proposal to the Meeting (Annex 6), a Study Group be created to study the creation of a regional observatory to monitor the impact of Information Technologies on the economy and society.
5. That thematic workshops be carried out with the purpose of
strengthening specific areas of the Society of Information.
6. That the next workshops be hosted by Peru in the first semester, and by Paraguay in the second semester of 2001.
7. That the results of this workshop be submitted for the consideration by relevant international forums of the field, including Senior Segment of ECOSOC and the UN Task Force.
8. To thank the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in particular its Ministry of Science and Technology, for the organization of this Workshop, and for the warm hospitality showed to its participants.
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