Especial gobierno electrónico

Reforma del Estado en pos del gobierno electrónico. Columna de opinión: coordinador temático para gestión pública. XI Conferencia Regional sobre la Mujer analizará políticas de género para la Sociedad de la Información. Establecen nuevos indicadores regionales para medir el gobierno electrónico. Columna de ppinión: coordinadora del Grupo de Trabajo eLAC sobre gobierno-e. Red GEALC busca consolidar su apoyo político. Recomiendan nuevas funciones para gobiernos en foro de implantación de la CIGE. Formando funcionarios y actores sociales en gobierno-e. Plataforma de información social apoya planificación y transparencia en Guatemala. Lecciones de un intento fracasado de implementar el gob-e “desde abajo” en Nicaragua. Nueva Ley de TIC colombiana consolida trabajo hacia metas eLAC. Noticias breves del mundo de las TIC. Últimas publicaciones sobre las TIC en gestión pública.

Broadband advances in Latin America and the Caribbean

Broadband and the Knowledge Society: Interconnecting South America Jorge Atton Palma .-- Broadband deployment and digital integration Sergio Scarabino .-- “Broadband rates could fall by over 50%”, interview with Cezar Alvarez .-- Interregional cooperation to promote broadband School for Policymakers and Regional Dialogue .-- “It is important for comparisons to be made based on quantifiable and comparable aspects”, interview with Omar de León .-- “ORBA has helped generate cooperation mechanisms between countries”, interview with Fernando Rojas .-- “Ideally, the region should harmonize the use of the spectrum”, interview with René Bustillo .-- Mobile broadband will spur a new wave of innovation in Latin America Sebastián Cabello.

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.

Los derechos de la infancia en la era de Internet: América Latina y las nuevas tecnologías

Incluye bibliografía.

Derechos de la infancia en la era digital

La brecha digital exacerba desigualdades en el acceso a información y conocimiento, socialización con pares, visibilidad y manejo de herramientas básicas para desempeñarse en la sociedad. Reducir esta brecha permite sinergias virtuosas de inclusión social y cultural entre niños, niñas y adolescentes, con impactos positivos en el desarrollo de capacidades y generación de oportunidades para toda su vida. Si bien las nuevas generaciones están conectadas y sus miembros son nativos digitales, persisten desigualdades entre grupos socioeconómicos, aun cuando se han reducido gracias a los programas de conectividad en las escuelas públicas de la región. El artículo central de esta edición de Desafíos aborda –con información actualizada– las brechas y los avances en esta materia. El acceso es solo un primer paso; luego, es necesario proteger a niños y adolescentes contra los riesgos de la conectividad y potenciar los aprendizajes pertinentes y plenos de sentido, promoviendo usos más articulados con el currículo educativo. Por último, el artículo plantea que hay que vincular las políticas de conectividad con el cumplimiento de los derechos de la infancia en el marco de la Convención sobre los Derechos del Niño. Junto al artículo central, y como es habitual, se informa de encuentros y conferencias en la región durante el año y de publicaciones recientes en la materia. También se presentan buenas prácticas en el Perú para reducir brechas de género y una iniciativa conjunta de los operadores móviles y el UNICEF para proteger a la infancia en la era digital. En Puntos de vista se incluye la opinión de especialistas acerca de la potencialidad de las TIC como una herramienta a tener en cuenta para el ejercicio o vulneración de los derechos de niños, niñas y adolescentes.

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.

Children’s rights in the digital age

The digital divide exacerbates inequalities in access to information and knowledge, making it more difficult to socialize with peers and limiting awareness of and the ability to use basic tools for life in society. Reducing this gap sets in motion virtuous synergies of social and cultural inclusion for children and adolescents, facilitating skills development and generating lifelong opportunities. Although the younger generations are connected digital natives, inequalities persist among socioeconomic groups, though these have been tempered by connectivity programmes in public schools in the region. The main article of this edition of Challenges uses current information to examine the progress made and the gaps that remain in this area. Providing children and adolescents with access is merely a first step. They then need to be protected from the risks associated with information and communications technologies (ICTs), which must be harnessed for purposes of meaningful learning, promoting uses that are more in line with the educational curriculum. Lastly, the article posits that connectivity policies must be linked to the fulfilment of children’s rights in the framework of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. As is customary, this issue also contains information on meetings and conferences held in the region during the year and recent publications in this field. Mention is also made of good practices from Peru in reducing gender gaps and a joint initiative between mobile operators and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to protect children in the digital age. Viewpoints includes expert opinion on the potential of ICTs as tools that can facilitate the exercise of the rights of children and adolescents, but also lead to violations of these rights.

La nueva revolución digital: de la Internet del consumo a la Internet de la producción

Prólogo de Alicia Bárcena

Research on policies and institutions to support small and medium scale enterprise in the Caribbean: Trinidad adn Tobago report

The Government of Trinidad and Tobago continues to provide support to SMEs in order to enhance their international competitiveness. The increasing effects of globalization and the reality of several trade agreements require that local businesses attain and maintain a level of competitiveness which ensures their continued survival and growth. This report examines in detail the policy environment within which these enterprises operate. It also examines the role of the key implementing agencies such as the BDC and NEDCO for government’s policy on the sector and also the role of the respective line ministries. These organizations strive to deliver value added technical, financial and export promotion services to its clients on a subsidised basis. The services offered reflect five key business areas such as financing, training, technical assistance, trade assistance, business re-engineering, project management and export promotion. In the case of the BDC its services target six sectors: food and beverage, metal processing, leisure marine, including yachting, information and communication technology/electronics, printing and packaging and entertainment. These said sectors are identified by the government, on the basis of a study which was done by TIDCO, for the promotion of a cluster development strategy. In the case of NEDCO it targets the following sectors: art and craft, food and beverages, fashion and fashion accessories, culture and ecotourism, bed and breakfast operations, indigenous entertainment and light manufacturing.