Organization of American States Summits of the Americas
 
Follow-up and Implementation: Mandates
  

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TECHNOLOGY: Hemispheric Connectivity
 MANDATES

  1. Develop a set of public policies that will allow us to promote digital inclusion, citizen cybersecurity, and access to education and culture, to digital services provided in trustworthy and secure conditions, to open and public information, and to financial services to promote universal access and accessibility to digital content and products, as well as promote citizen participation through digital tools and means. (Regional Agenda for Digital Transformation, IX Summit of the Americas, Los Angeles, 2022).

  1. Promote national research and innovation networks and their regional and international integration, recognizing that information and communication technologies (ICTs), connectivity, and digital infrastructures are essential components for the economic, scientific, and technological development of countries. (Regional Agenda for Digital Transformation, IX Summit of the Americas, Los Angeles, 2022).

  1. Promote equality of all persons in cyberspace regardless of their country of origin and facilitate equitable, meaningful, affordable, and universal broadband internet access and connectivity, particularly for remote and rural communities of the Americas. (Regional Agenda for Digital Transformation, IX Summit of the Americas, Los Angeles, 2022).

  1. Support digital infrastructure- and connectivity-related studies, national and regional networks, and projects currently underway that enable us to achieve greater integration within the region, and between the region and other continents and regions of the world. (Regional Agenda for Digital Transformation, IX Summit of the Americas, Los Angeles, 2022).

  1. Expand next generation broadband connectivity based on national capacities, promote enabling environments for new technologies, and strengthen interoperability by advancing regional harmonization on radio frequency allocation. (Regional Agenda for Digital Transformation, IX Summit of the Americas, Los Angeles, 2022).

  1. Promoting and or strengthening the implementation of national policies and plans, and as appropriate subnational plans in the areas of open government, digital government, open data, fiscal transparency, open budgeting, digital procurement systems, public contracting and a public registry of state suppliers, considering towards that end the participation of civil society and other social actors. (Lima Commitment. Peru, 2018)

  1. Promoting the use of new technologies that facilitate digital government in order to promote transparency, interaction with citizens and accountability, through development of tools for the identification, detection, systematization, and monitoring of government procedures and, to that end, strengthening cooperation and exchange of best practices on the development and application of such technologies. (Lima Commitment. Peru, 2018)

  1. Requesting that the Joint Summit Working Group (JSWG), together with other relevant regional and international bodies, develop an infrastructure platform to facilitate the exchange of experiences, training and cooperation programs for project monitoring and development, feasibility and risk analysis studies, transparent bidding procedures, and government procurement. (Lima Commitment. Peru, 2018)

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  1. In order to foster innovation, increase competitiveness and promote social development, and taking note of the outcomes of the Second Meeting of Ministers and High Authorities of Science and Technology, held in Mexico City in 2008, we commit to create conditions for increasing public investment and to take measures that promote investment in the private sector, particularly in science, technology, engineering, innovation, research and development, and to encourage the strengthening of linkages among universities, science institutions, the private and public sectors, multilateral agencies, civil society and workers. We recognise that the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights should contribute to the promotion of technological innovation and to the transfer and dissemination of technology, to the mutual advantage of producers and users of technological knowledge and in a manner conducive to social and economic welfare and to a balance of rights and obligations. Therefore, we reiterate our commitment to their protection in accordance with the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). (Declaration of Port of Spain, 2009).

  1. We recognise that the benefits of a digital society should reach all citizens of the Americas. Additionally, we consider that reducing the digital divide, both among and within the nations of the Americas, is one of the conditions for achieving internationally agreed development objectives, including those of the Millennium Declaration. We therefore renew our commitment to collaborate with regional, subregional and multinational agencies to advance progress in the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), the Agenda for Connectivity in the Americas - the Plan of Action of Quito and the Declaration of the OAS General Assembly held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in 2006 on ‘Good Governance and Development in the Knowledge-Based Society’, and we take note of the eLAC 2010 Plan of Action contained in the San Salvador Commitment of 2008. We call upon our Ministers and high level authorities with responsibility for information and communication technologies (ICT) and for health and education to promote the use of ICT in all those areas in which they can improve our public and private sectors and the quality of life of our people, and to seek to improve access for households and communities. (Declaration of Port of Spain, 2009).

  1. We recognize that scientific and technological research, and scientific development and progress play a fundamental role in the integral development of our societies, by building knowledge-based economies and contributing to economic growth and increased productivity. In this regard, we reiterate our support for the institutions established earlier in the Summits Process, such as the Inter-American Committee on Science and Technology, to create a scientific culture in the Hemisphere. We will continue to support public and private research associations and promote their interaction (Declaration of Mar del Plata, 2005).

  1. We will continue to increase investment in science and technology, with the participation of the private sector and the support of multilateral institutions. We will also intensify our efforts to encourage our universities and higher institutions of science and technology to increase their linkages and deepen basic and applied research and promote greater incorporation of workers in the agenda of innovation. We will facilitate the greatest interaction possible between scientific and technological research communities by fostering the establishment and consolidation of advanced research networks and synergies among educational institutions, research centers, the public and private sectors and civil society (Declaration of Mar del Plata, 2005).

  1. We agree that scientific and technological research and development plays an important role in creating and sustaining productive economies. We will continue to formulate policies and guidelines that support public and private research associations and promote their interaction with the productive sectors, taking into account the requirements and objectives of our countries. We will continue to enhance investments in the area of science and technology, with the participation of the private sector and the support of multilateral organizations. Accordingly, we will strive to improve effective and equitable access to, and transfer of, technology. We will also redouble our efforts to encourage our universities and higher institutions of science and technology to multiply and strengthen the links among them, and deepen basic and applied research. In all of these undertakings, we commit to the protection of intellectual property in accordance with both national laws and international agreements (Declaration of Nuevo León, 2004).

  1. Our collective hemispheric efforts will be more effective through innovative uses of information and communications technologies to connect our governments and our people and to share knowledge and ideas. Our statement, Connecting the Americas, underscores this conviction (Declaration of Québec, 2001).

  1. Facilitate the upgrading of human resources in the telecommunications sector through ongoing training programs on telecommunications policy, regulation, management and technology, and request the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL), in coordination with national agencies, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s Centre of Excellence for the Americas, and in partnership with regional and subregional organizations and the private sector, to create a focal point for information on human resource development programs to foster exchanges of information on relevant training programs among governments, universities, industry associations and the private sector, in order to assist countries of the Americas in meeting the growing need for trained and competent personnel in the rapidly changing knowledge based economy; (Plan of Action Québec, 2001).

  1. Instruct, as appropriate, our telecommunications authorities and our relevant regulatory bodies, working within our regional and sub regional agencies and organizations to develop and implement before the next Summit of the Americas a cooperative and collaborative program to support a connectivity agenda for the Hemisphere; (Plan of Action Québec, 2001).

  1. Promote the popularization of science and technology necessary to advance the establishment and consolidation of a scientific culture in the region; and stimulate the development of science and technology for regional connectivity through information and communications technologies essential for building knowledge-based societies; (Plan of Action Québec, 2001).

  1. Promote programs of cooperation, through the use of advanced information technology and with the support of the international institutions that deal with administration of justice, in areas identified by the OAS Working Group on Democracy and Human Rights, which include: Training of police and correctional officers; Necessary steps to remedy inhumane conditions in prisons and reduce drastically the number of pre-trial detainees; and Enhancing human rights education for judges, magistrates and other court officials. (Plan of Action Santiago, 1998).

  1. Promote actions to foster alliances among all sectors of society to advance cooperation and innovation in science and technology. It is recognized that university-industry relations, training in technology management and other human resource development programs, as well as participation of small and medium-sized companies, are important elements for utilizing science and technology to achieve hemispheric objectives. (Plan of Action Santiago, 1998).

  1. Promote, in cooperation with the private sector, the exchange and distribution of information concerning regulatory matters such as universal access/service, interconnection and the establishment of independent regulatory bodies, taking into account the commitments made in the World Trade Organization's Agreements on Trade in Basic Telecommunications Services (the GBT Agreement), developments in the Free Trade Area of the Americas process, and the Declaration and Plan of Action adopted by the 1996 Senior Telecommunications Officials Meeting held in Washington D.C. with a view to developing, wherever possible, and subject to national constraints, best practice guidelines and requesting when needed the assistance of CITEL, regional telecommunications organizations, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and others as appropriate. (Plan of Action Santiago, 1998).

  1. Encourage CITEL to address, with some urgency, studies of the standards coordination aspects of the telecommunications infrastructure, including the areas of Telecommunications Management Network (TMN) and Intelligent Networks (IN) so that the network can evolve to meet the interconnection requirements and to support the implementation of new applications in the regional context. (Plan of Action Santiago, 1998).

  • 13.4 Review the availability and interoperability of connections to international networks that facilitate trade, improve education and improve access to health care. (Plan of Action Miami, 1994).

  • 14.1 There is a need to re-assess the on-going interaction among the region's science and technology (S&T) infrastructure and cooperative mechanisms; to provide impetus for improved cooperation; to reduce barriers to collaboration; to augment the demand for technology; and to disseminate information about technological opportunities using new advances in information technology; and generally to improve communications among the key S&T organizations, researchers in the region, and growing technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises.
    The commitment of the countries of the Americas to non-proliferation has gained new momentum with the acceptance of the international safeguard regime by some of our countries. The outstanding progress achieved in this field is to be commended and should contribute to enhanced opportunities for cooperation in the area of advanced goods and technologies. (Plan of Action Miami, 1994).

 

 
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