CAF participated in the opening of the meeting "Science, technology, and innovation to transform cities”

CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, participated in the opening of the Sixth Edition of the International Communications Union (UIT, for its acronym in Spanish) Green Norms Week and in the Second Meeting of Intelligent Cities for Inclusion, in the framework of the meeting of Science, Technology, and Innovation to Transform Cities, carried out by the Department of Sustainable and Intelligent Development of the Municipal Office of Montevideo. 

Gladis Genua, CAF's Director Representative in Uruguay, highlighted the importance of this international event for the future of societies. She stated, "It has become a world debate platform that brings together different national, local, and international actors".

Genua explained "In these meetings there are two significant topics that for us address the comprehensive development agenda with which we support the countries of the region. The first has to do with cities, which have become the centers where most of the Latin American population (85%) converges, and they constitute the most obvious expressions of inequality still present in our region. Between 25 percent and 50 percent of that population lives in informal settlements, without connections to efficient and quality services. This increasing urbanization has lead us to focus on policies aimed at addressing the territories, as it is there where the population lives day by day and where there is more demand for infrastructure and access to quality services". Genua highlighted that authorities are key actors to achieve these goals. 

According to the organization's Director, the other subjects of special importance are information and communications technology as an essential tool to reduce the level of exclusion, bring the territories closer to the people, and make the use of infrastructure more efficient, in order to generate public services that enable people to have a better quality of life. 

She state, "As a financial institution, we promote countries to invest in the generation of physical, human, and institutional capacities. At the same time, as a development bank, we have an important job in other areas that complement the financing of those capacities, such as the generation of knowledge and support for best practices". 

Malcolm Johnson, Vice-President of UIT, was also part of the opening panel, and during his presentation, he expressed that cities are facing great challenges which may be faced by using innovating technologies. 

Johnson mentioned that it is very appropriate that this meeting takes place in Uruguay, because there are many indicators that show that the country is a leader in the region with respect to many ICT aspects, such as  governmental services, education, innovation, and trade. He lighlighted, "The political stability and collaboration of the public and private and public sectors are crucial elements for the transition to intelligent and sustainable cities".  

At the same time, the Mayor of Montevideo, Daniel Martínez, explained that for the city it is an issue of strategic vision to achieve the development of innovation, science, and technology connected to citizens from many sides, both from the internet of things as well as specific technological solutions and technological development as a tool for empowerment and citizen participation that enables the generation of transparency in public management. He added that it is important that the intelligent city grows at the service of people. 

The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Energy and Mining, Guillermo Moncecchi, stated the government's vision with respect to the importance of these issues for development. "In Uruguay, in the past few years we have built an infrastructure, both in the area of energy generation as well as telecommunications, that rank us in the first places in the world, and we are proud for that. One of the main objectives of the government, in which we have to keep working, is to achieve wellbeing with that infrastructure for all the population. One of the paths that interests this ministry is that these types of tools and new methods be aligned with our productive country strategy", he concluded. 

In addition to the IMM, CAF, and UIT, the activities that are organized for the week are co-organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Regional Center of the Basel Agreement for the South American Region (CRDAS), and the Inter-American Association of Telecommunications Companies (ASIET; for its acronym in Spanish)  

In the framework of this event, a study carried out by CAF in collaboration with the consulting company Analysys Mason will be presented next Thursday regarding the expansion of connectivity in the continent by means of eliminating the barriers to the expansion of mobile broadband at a sub-national level. The results of the study, which establishes the inequalities in the penetration rates between countries and regions both within the continent as well as with respect to Europe, will include a series of proposals to implement actions by the institutions, with the objective of reducing the existing barriers and facilitating the expansion of mobile broadband communications infrastructure in Latin America.