The advance of cloud computing

The “Implementation of the National Data Centre” project, Augusto Espín, Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Information Society, Ecuador .-- Cloud computing and public policy in Brazil, Rafael Henrique Rodrigues Moreira, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Brazil .-- “The cloud is being taken up more quickly in Latin America than in the rest of the world”, interview to Lalo Steinmann, Microsoft .-- The impact of education and research networks on the development of cloud computing Eduardo Vera, University of Chile .-- “The cloud helps to narrow divides by providing access to technology resources that used to be unaffordable”, interview to Luis Urzúa, Movistar Chile .-- “Cloud computing will be a strategic sector of the economy in the coming years”, interview to Jean-Bernard Gramunt, France’s digital strategy .-- “If take-up in Latin America is as strong as predicted, it will be a good opportunity to create and export technology”, interview to Flavio Junqueira, Yahoo! Labs.

Big data and open data as sustainability tools: A working paper prepared by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

The two main forces affecting economic development are the ongoing technological revolution and the challenge of sustainability. Technological change is altering patterns of production, consumption and behaviour in societies; at the same time, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ensure the sustainability of these new patterns because of the constraints resulting from the negative externalities generated by economic growth and, in many cases, by technical progress itself. Reorienting innovation towards reducing or, if possible, reversing the effects of these externalities could create the conditions for synergies between the two processes. Views on the subject vary widely: while some maintain that these synergies can easily be created if growth follows an environmentally friendly model, summarized in the concept of green growth, others argue that production and consumption patterns are changing too slowly and that any technological fix will come too late. These considerations apply to hard technologies, essentially those used in production. The present document explores the opportunities being opened up by new ones, basically information and communication technologies, in terms of increasing the effectiveness (outcomes) and efficiency (relative costs) of soft technologies that can improve the way environmental issues are handled in business management and in public policy formulation and implementation.

The rights-based approach to social protection in Latin America: From rhetoric to practice

This paper aims to contribute to developing the normative framework for rights-based social protection systems and discusses lessons learned in some emblematic programmes implemented in Latin America which have sought to advance a rights approach. The paper emphasizes the added value of the rights-based approach and describes the normative content of the right to social security. It then describes the basic elements of a rights-based approach and examines how it is operationalized in the design, implementation and evaluation of landmark social protection programmes in the region. The paper seeks to demonstrate that, despite the large gap that still exists between the rhetoric of a human rights approach and its implementation in specific policies, there have been significant achievements in some countries in Latin America. It argues that some of the good practices in the region can serve as policy examples to follow elsewhere. The paper concludes with a number of public policy recommendations with a view to consolidating the rights perspective in social protection programmes.

Ageing in the Caribbean and the human rights of older persons: Twin imperatives for action

This study addresses the ageing of the Caribbean population and the situation with respect to the human rights of older persons. It considers the implications for public policy of these ‘twin imperatives for action’. The first chapter describes and explains the changing age structure of the Caribbean population. Important features of the ageing dynamic, such as differential regional and national trends and the growing number of ‘older old’ persons, are also analysed. The study then describes the progress that has been made in advancing and clarifying the human rights of older persons in international law. The core of the study then consists of an assessment of the current situation of older persons in the Caribbean and the extent to which their human rights are realised in practice. The thematic areas of economic security, health, and enabling environments – which roughly correspond to the three priority areas of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing – are each addressed in individual chapters. These chapters evaluate national policies and programmes for older persons and make public policy recommendations intended to protect and fulfil the human rights of older persons. The report concludes by summarising the priorities for future action both through the establishment of new international human rights instruments as well as national policies and programmes.

Macroprudential policy: an institutionalist interpretation

One of the consequences of the recent international economic crisis has been the demand for new economic policy tools, to add to the well-established monetary, exchange-rate, and fiscal policy mechanisms. In particular, more effective ways are needed to regulate the financial system and prevent the emergence of imbalances that affect the real economy. In that context, macroprudential policy has been singled out as another economic-type public policy which could help maintain financial stability. Nonetheless, the discussions and development of the literature on this topic are founded on pragmatic considerations that are not directly related to the orthodox or heterodox schools of economic thought. So the aim of this article is to provide an institutionalist reading of macroprudential policy, to understand it in terms of the theoretical content of institutional approaches.