The Latin America and Caribbean Regional Conference opens today at the Bavaro Convention Center. The European Union is the event?s leading sponsor, with a contribution of 100,000 Euros. Locally, the Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel) is organizing the event.
The conference is being held in preparation for the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society, to take place in Geneva on 10-12 December 2003. The event is one of several regional conferences planned to assess the key challenges, opportunities and constraints stemming from the burgeoning information society. The events also aim to develop a common vision and understanding for the region, with a focus on preparing a plan that will address the most relevant issues and solve the problems identified. The World Summit on the Information Society will recognize the fundamental changes that have taken place, under which the world is evolving from an industrial to an information-based society.
The Summit began as an initiative of the 1998 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, when it was recognized that the gap between information “haves” and “have-nots” was widening, while at the same time telecommunications were playing an increasingly important role at the political, economic, social and cultural levels. The goal of the summit is to focus on how key players can contribute actively to bridge the digital and informatory divides that are occurring as a result of modernization.
