Digital development and public-private dialogue: core ideas of the 2014 Regional Telecommunications Conference

The new technological, cultural, and economic challenges faced by telecommunications and the way they impact on public policies, regulation, infrastructure, investment, the sustainable development of telecommunications enterprises, benefits for consumers, and the reduction of the digital gap will be the main points of the public-private dialogue.  

Pablo Bello, General Secretary of AHCIET, pointed out that "The congress is the opportunity we have in Latin America so that governments, regulators, and academia may address the shared challenges to close the digital cap and fully insert our region in the Information and Knowledge Society. The participation of renowned leaders of the digital ecosystem will allow us to strengthen the agenda that will lead us toward full digital development". 

The CRT 2014 is co-organized by the Asociación Iberoamericana de Centros de Investigación y Empresas de Telecomunicaciones (AHCIET) (Ibero-American Association of Research Centers and Telecommunications Enterprises), the Association of Mobile Operators GSMA Latin America, the National Authority of Panama's public services (ASEP, for its acronym in Spanish), and CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, with the collaboration of the International Telecommunications Union (UIT for its acronym in Spanish), the Latin America and Caribbean Network Information Centre (LACNIC), Internet Society (ISOC), and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). 

Congress Agenda 
Among the relevant activities is the panel "Public policies for the closing of the digital gap in the region", and the presentation of AHCIET's study "Desafio 2020" (2020 Challenge), where the discussion will focus on the conclusions established in the document, national wide band plans and public policies, and the alignment of the regulation with the connectivity objectives, among others. 

The initial presentation will be in charge of Mariana Rodriguez Zani, from Convergencia Latina, and will include renowned panelists such as Pablo Bello, General Secretary of AHCIET, Nicolas Karavaski of CNC Argentina, Pablo Marquez from CRC Colombia, Filipe Baptista from ARCTEL and Judith Mariscal from CIDE.

Another high level panel is the one that will address the "Expansion of regional infrastructure for Internet Connection in Latin America", with topics associated to the regulatory basis  and policies to promote investments and use of IXP, and economic, technical, and operational factors, among others. The initial presentation will be in charge of Raul Katz, CAF consultant, and the panelists in this discussion will be Jose Ignacio Peralta, Mexico's Undersecretary of Communications; David Campos, Minister Executive Secretary of Paraguay's Senatic; César Díaz from LACNIC; Aloysio Bleyer from Telefonica; Manuel Vexler from Huawei Technologies and Mauricio Agudelo from CAF.

On the same line, the protagonists of the discussion table regarding the "Importance of the spectrum to close the digital gap" and the presentation of the GSMA-AHCIET (OVUM) study, will be Sebastian Cabello from GSMA, Jose Ayala from Ericsson, Adrean Rothkopf from Millicom Group, Jose Juan Haro from Telefonica and Raul Perez Reyes Espejo, Vice-Minister of Communications of Peru, who will debate about the key role that mobile technologies play for the reduction of the digital gap, the conditions established for frequency bidding processes and the effects on public policies, and how to maximize investments related to the spectrum's value chain. 

Internet Governance will have a relevant role in the 2014 CRT, with the presentation of  LACNIC/ISOC/ICANN, who will establish a conversation regarding their implication in the sector's development, critical governance issues, resource management, governments' implications, and control of contents. The initial presentation will be in charge of Ernesto Majo from LACNIC, and the panelists in this segment will be Rodrigo de la Parra from ICANN, Sebastian Bellagamba from ISOC, Andres Maz from CISCO, Osvaldo Novoa from ANTEL; and Allan Ruiz, Vice-Minister of Science, Technology, and Telecommunications from Costa Rica. 

In addition to these discussion panels and participants, the following individuals have confirmed their presence: Susana Pinilla, CAF's Director Representative in Panama; Antonio J. Sosa, CAF's Corporate Vice-President of Infrastructure Financing; Sergio Quiroga, Ericsson's Head for the Latin American region; Manuel Vexler, Head of the Marketing and Solutions Office at Huawei Technologies; Bruno Ramos, UIT's Regional Director of the Americas; Sergio Kern, Director of Radiofrequency Spectrum and Regulation of Mobile Telecommunications at Sinditelebrasil; Adriana Labardini, Commissioner of the Federal Telecommunications Institute of Mexico; Maryleana Mendez, Director of the Superintendency of Telecommunications of Costa Rica, and many other authorities, high executives, and individuals from the chambers of the telecommunications industry.

 Finally, the 2014 CRT will be complemented by the following parallel events: 

• CAF Seminar "Trends and news in the development of Infrastructure in Latin America"(Tuesday, August 19 - 14:00 to 18:00). 

• Presentation of the Ericsson Mobility Report by Sergio Quiroga, Ericsson's Head for Latin America and the Caribbean (Wednesday, August 20 - 12:30). 

• Seminar Game Innovators  "Elements that will boost the Connected Society in Latin America by 2020" by Ericsson. 

• Workshop GSMA LA "Sustainability of the mobile industry"  regarding the online protection of children, and electronic waste" (Thursday, August 21 - 09:00 to 10:30).
   
• SCT Workshop "Mexico: toward universal coverage and democratization of telecommunications and broadcasting" (Thursday, August 21 - 14:00)

Registration, press registration, and additional information regarding the CRT14 are available at www.congresotelecomunicaciones.org