• The World Summit on the Information Society and the role of Local Authorities
• Presentation
• Preparation for the Bilbao Summit
• Declaration and Plan of Action of Bilbao
• Bilbao and the Basque Country
• Program and informations to download
• Press Room
  • News
  • Links
  • Images
• Videos
• Speakers

News

Latin America will support the summit to be held in Bilbao in november to fight against the digital divide

The South American countries have met this week in Sao Paulo (Brazil) to define the common strategy which will be presented to 2,000 representatives of local authorities of the world in the capital of Bizkaia (Biscay) in two months time.

The local authorities of Africa, Asia and Europe also confirmed their support of the event in the capital of Bizkaia, where an information society without exclusions shall be jointly designed.

This week, the Brazilian capital of Sao Paulo has been host to the Regional Meeting of Latin America and the Caribbean, attended by hundreds of representatives of regions and cities from all countries in this part of the world, in search of solutions to breach the digital divide, which prevents millions of people from using the new information technologies. The Sao Paulo event has been one of four continental meetings held in preparation for the II World Summit of Cities and Local Authorities on the Information Society, which will take place in Bilbao between the 9th and 11th November of this year. Attendance of more than 2,000 representatives of regions from all over the world at this event has been confirmed. The President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade, one of the cultural leaders of Africa and the continent’s key reference in the fight against the digital divide, shall be present in Bilbao during these days.

Prior to Sao Paulo, the forums in Africa (in Senegal), Europe (in Germany) and Asia (in China), also confirmed their support of the event in Bilbao, in which the authorities of regions and cities from all over the world will draw up a plan of action to obtain an Information Society without exclusions. This strategy shall subsequently be analysed by the States in another world summit which will be held in Tunisia, a few days after that of Bilbao.

Josu Ocariz, General Secretary of the II World Summit of Cities and Local Authorities on the Information Society, was present at the Regional Meeting of Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Sao Paulo, in order to extend the formal invitation of participation in the World Summit to the cities and regions of Latin America. The conferences in Sao Paulo analysed the experience of the bodies in projects related to information technology. Among the cases considered, that of the Brazilian town of Piraí stands out. Its authorities set up the Digital Municipality Programme, which introduced access to Internet in public centres, in addition to encouraging e-commerce and enabling the electricity system to reach the most remote areas, among other achievements. Its pioneers demonstrated in Sao Paulo how, with this programme, they have ensured the universal right of its fellow citizens to use new information technologies. According to surveys carried out, the population of Piraí has increased its level of self-esteem and at the same time has strengthened its values of cooperation and solidarity s between neighbours. This investment has been awarded numerous international prizes.

In addition to meetings like that of Sao Paulo, the cities and regions of the world have exchanged their experiences through IT4ALL, the Internet platform organized by CIFAL Bilbao, which represents more than 1,500 million citizens. CIFAL Bilbao, with the support of the UN and the Basque Government, is one of the organizers of the summit in the capital of Bizkaia.

High resolution images