ECLAC adopts regional ICT action plan at Lima forum

Financial centre in the district of San Isidro (Lima). Photo: ANDINA / Victor Palomino.
Lima, Nov. 24 (ANDINA). The UN’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has adopted the eLAC2015 regional action plan at its third ministerial conference on the information society in Lima, Peru, between 21-23 November.
The plan views ICT as a means of achieving development with more innovation and equality and proposes a more active state role for the mass use of broadband.

The member states resolved to continue strengthening regional networks for research, technological development, innovation and the promotion of solidarity actions to bring the benefits of ICT to countries with relatively lower levels of development, telecompaper.com reported.

They agreed to work on finding funding mechanisms for such projects. ELAC2015 gives priority to reaching universal broadband access, which will require increasing direct investment to bring broadband to all public institutions and at a reasonable cost for homes, business and public access facilities.

It proposes to bring internet access to all schools, along with interactive applications and public multimedia content. ECLAC’s fourth ministerial conference on the information socity will be held in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 2013.