President Luis Abinader announced a Digital Transformation Cabinet to implement the Digital Agenda 2030. The Presidency issued Decree 527-21 placing the new entity under the Ministry of the Presidency. Lisandro Macarrulla is the present Minister of the Presidency.
In making the announcement from the Presidential Palace, President Abinader defined the Digital Agenda 2030 as the roadmap for the economic and social reactivation after the pandemic. He said it will center actions to raise productivity and national competitiveness to better position the country in global markets. The plan offers measures to improve the quality of life of Dominicans by providing better access to public sector services and a digitally transformed private sector.
“Our citizens will develop new digital skills that will enable them to access better jobs,” said the President. He called it a road plan for a more empowered and connected society.
The plan promises to contribute to sustainable economic and social development. It encompasses making broadband internet connectivity affordable to all Dominicans, with the objectives of achieving social inclusion, closing the digital divide and developing a national digital economy.
This week, the Unicef representative in the Dominican Republic, Rosa Elcarte, said that only one in five Dominican children and teenagers has regular access to the Internet.
The announcement of Digital Agenda 2030 is made on the same day that Diario Libre headlines that 62.3% of ten-year-old children cannot read or understand a simple text. The newspaper reports on Ministry of Economy findings released in a recent competitiveness report. Muckracking journalist Altagracia Salazar lectured on her morning Sin Maquillaje talk show that Dominican public schools need results not announcements.
Read more in Spanish:
Agenda Digital
Presidency
Diario Libre
Altagracia Salazar sin Maquillaje
27 August 2021