Using the technology to make a better Latin America

By Dr. Leonel Fernández
Ex President of thr República Dominicana 1996-2000-11-13

It is a great pleasure and honor for me to address this distinguished audience and present my ideas, past experiences and future perspectives on such an important issue as the impact of information technology on the development of Latin America.

I would like to thank the organizers of this discussion forum for such a magnificent opportunity they have given me to share my thoughts with you today.

We all recognize that we are living in an information based global digital economy world. Nevertheless, not all the countries have benefited equally in the transition to a new digital age.

The majority of activities related to information technologies are concentrated in the developed world. By march 2000, according to a United Nations Report on Information and Communication Technology, an estimated 276 million persons worldwide were users of the Internet, but this represents less than 5 percent of the world’s population.

To get the sense of how unequally internet use has spread around the world, it is interesting to note that there are more internet users in the city of New York than in the whole continent of Africa. In one sole country as Finland more people are connected to internet than in all Latin America and Caribbean together.

In Latin America only about 2% of the population has access to Internet whereas in the United States the percentage amounts to 40. It is obvious that there are great disparities between industrialized and developing countries with respect to the access and use of information technologies, and they have been categorized by the recently coined term “digital divide”.

The challenge for the international community, governments and civil society is to bridge the gap between the so-called “information haves” and “information have nots”.

To overcome the digital divide, we must create “digital opportunities”. Technological advance and competition in the information technology field have created conditions in which nations, at all levels of development, can participate and benefit from the internet revolution.

Still, developing countries have to find ways of solving their existing deficiencies and need to create the prerequisites necessary for the internet revolution to really take off. Let us mention some problems that have to be tackled for better distribution of technology:

1. Infrastructure. For information technology to really take place, it is necessary to provide electricity supply, sometimes quite costly equipment and appropriate telecommunications network.
2. Regulatory framework Without transparent, clear, up to date and efficient regulatory framework it is impossible to attract investment in this area.
3. Education There is no development without properly educated labor force.
   
4. Relevance It is not only important to introduce the information technology - it is equally important how we use it. Is the content transmitted really relevant to the specific country, economic sector or any other users’ group? We have to make sure that technology means are being used in the best way.
   
5. Language barrier English language is predominant. As a tool for the operation of technological media and as a means of communication within the network.

This is an obstacle for numerous users in many countries. In order to overcome the above barriers to a full internet penetration at a national level, governments, private sector and all segments of civil society must unite.

The international community has a special obligation and responsibility to assist countries in maximizing the benefits they can secure from information technology.

As I see it, after having gone through the experience of introducing technology into a rapidly developing country, or as some have denominated it “emerging economy”, the following issues have to be contemplated and elaborated if we want the information technology to become a powerful and dynamic agent of development:

1. Create a National Task Force that can bring together government representatives, multilateral development institutions, private industry, civil society organizations, foundations and trusts, that should provide leadership for information technology development.
2. Financing for technology projects has to be allocated in the national budget.
3. National Technology Development Strategy has to be designed and elaborated as a part of the country’s general development plan. The technology’s role has to be defined particularly in the following areas:
   · To accelerate the country’s development;
   · As a direct contribution to the economy’s output;
   · To improve the public sector administration;
   · As a potential for improving education (distance learning and training);
   · To improve the delivery of services such as health care.
4. Entry points for the use of information technology should be:
   · Education;
   · Public administration.
5. It is important to define and elaborate the relevant local content.
6. The use of local language should be promoted and the tools for it designed.
7. It is essential to integrate the isolated rural population.
8. Public access points, such as computer and telecenters should be provided. Now I would like to refer to the Dominican Republic as an example of a developing country that I am fully acquainted with and which represents a rapidly growing economy in Latin America.
   
   It is important to note that it has one of the most advanced and sophisticated telecommunications systems in the Western Hemisphere. The telephone business has been owned and managed by private sector from its very beginning and is presently thriving in a highly competitive environment.
   
   Investments have been made in cable and wireless communication that have converted the Dominican Republic into the 10th largest inbound and outbound traffic generator to the United States.
   
   During my administration special efforts have been made to introduce information technology in public education. We have equipped all public high schools with computer labs and internet access.
   
   Some distant rural communities have also been provided by video conference equipment. In order to connect the most backward areas of the country with the most up to date discoveries, treatments and techniques in agriculture and medicine, we have started to introduce multimedia technological units in far away and almost cut off regions, by means of which the community users can have access to all the wealth of information available today.
   
   This project was named Little Intelligent Communities (LINCOS) and as far we have installed five of the units that include computers with internet access, in areas where often the telecommunications and electricity supply is still deficient, video conferencing and telemedicine.
   
   The impact they had on the social and economic life of the area was so impressive that it is my sincere belief and strong wish that the whole network of these innovative modules should be installed all around the country.
   
   In order to substitute the labor intensive production model predominant in numerous traditional free zones of the Dominican Republic with the capital intensive knowledge based production free zones, we have also started the Santo Domingo Cyberpark, region’s hub for technology based production of goods and services, that was inaugurated right at the end of my presidential term.
   
   It will be an important contribution to the national economy’s output, and at the same time its operation will be based on the new labor force that will be educated at the Technological Institute of the Americas which is located within the very park.
   
   With these measures I hope I have been able to launch the Dominican Republic into the 21st century and the digital age.
   
   As for the rest of Latin America, although the obstacles are numerous, the future is bright.
   
   By the year 2005 about 60 million people from the region are expected to become active internet users, making Latin America the fastest growing internet penetration area in the world.
   
   If these expectations are fulfilled, they will become a major breakthrough and turning point in the economy of the continent, bringing in new opportunities for investment, trade and business. In summary, it will enable the emergence of the Latin America we have always dreamed of.
   
   Thank you very much