| BRIEF REPORT The workshop was organized by NAM CSSTC and the Government of the Republic of Guatemala, through its Planning and Programming Secretariat (SEGEPLAN), the National Council of Science and Technology (CONCYT) and its Science and Technology Secretariat (SENACYT). The workshop was mostly financed by the Government of Indonesia through NAM CSSTC and by the Guatemalan Government through the institutions already mentioned. It is worth to say that without the financial assistance of the Science and Technology Secretariat (SENACYT) and the National Council of Science and Technology (CONCYT) this meeting would not had been possible. The Information Technologies (IT) Commission deserves also credit for making this workshop possible. Also the in kind cooperation given by SEGEPLAN was a successful element, especially in the logistic activities of the entire event. NAM CSSTC decided to invite country participants and experts from Latin America and Caribbean NAM member countries to identify and give their recommendations on the most important issues that their countries and the region have been facing concerning the ICT development, the digital divide and e-readiness levels. The Guatemalan Government invited local participants from different sectors of their society in order to aware them of the importance of these issues and how the country and the region can take advantage of ICT itself. The Guatemalan Government also invited one World Bank expert to share with the participants from NAM member countries on their experiences in those issues. The workshop was attended by two experts, one from Guatemala and the other from Indonesia. Besides there were nine participants of different NAM member countries in the region. A resource person representing the World Bank and three NAM CSSTC officials also attended the meeting. The list of experts and participants is described in Attachment 1. The discussion ranged from presentations of individual country’s e-readiness figures, statistics, ICT information and a group discussion at the end. The list of papers and the agenda of the workshop are described in Attachments 2, 3 and 4, respectively. The entire workshop was videotaped and since the majority of Latin American countries speak Spanish, the workshop also had a simultaneous interpretation service (Spanish/ English) both days. In the second day of the workshop, a press conference was given in the Guatemalan National Palace (see the Workshop Agenda in Attachment 4) by NAM CSSTC Executive Director, Mr. Omar Halim; the National Coordinator of Science and Technology, Mr. Erick Constanza; the IT director of the Planning and Programming Secretariat, Mr. Rene Lavidalie and Nicaragua’s participant, Mr. Cornelio Hopmann. Some of the salient conclusions can be summarized as follows: 1) ICT can be the tool to achieve a true participative democracy. 2) The recognition of NAM CSSTC activities as an integrator and promoter of cooperation between NAM member countries in development efforts such as: poverty reduction, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) development and ICT development. 3) The e-readiness concept is defined as the level of preparation of a country to receive and adopt the Information and Communications Technology (ICT). Also “e-readiness” can be defined as the diagnosis of a country, region or continent on how Information and Communications Technology (ICT) are installed, adopted and being used. E-readiness can be defined as a tool for decision making. 4) It is important to know the e-readiness level of a country through an E-Readiness assessment. The Manuals on E-Readiness prepared by NAM CSSTC could be an appropriated hand-outs. 5) It is important to implement a strategic ICT plan for each country and then for the whole region. 6) To promote the participation or creation of the appropriate institutions, guided by the government, to be responsible of making the e-readiness study and the follow up actions, including the national ICT plan. 7) The workshop recognized the importance of E-Leadership and the need for E-Laws for sustainable ICT development in each country. 8) The cooperation between countries must be a priority in order to compete with developed countries. Regional experiences and efforts must be considered in order to achieve sustainable development in each country and the region itself. 9) Democratize the access to information for all citizens must be a priority for any country. 10) E-readiness projects and rural strategies must be very important issues in any country. 11) Regional efforts must be a priority, especially for Latin American and Caribbean countries.
Based on the recommendation made by the three working groups, there are several areas of concerns to be further formulated as follow-up actions by NAM CSSTC: 1) The importance of identifying focal points in each NAM member country in the region and to establish a regional NAM CSSTC contact office to monitor all the processes and actions taken by the participating countries.
2) NAM CSSTC can explain or assess countries on how to implement e-readiness studies using the manuals and methodology they propose (now in English and Spanish) as a start basis or guide. 3) Use the Internet to have interactive online workshops and seminars. Start to make use of existing technologies (like internet, video conferences, virtual training programmes) to have more interaction between NAM member countries. So the appropriate infrastructure must be prepared and NAM CSSTC may facilitate to do that. 4) Cooperation among developing countries should flow, especially those with some kind of advantage in ICT issues. Here is the area where NAM CSSTC can assist with this important task. 5) Organize, with the assistance of NAM CSSTC, regional training programmes concerning ICT issues. 6) Each country, through its focal points, should identify ICT experts in order to help NAM CSSTC establish their expert database. 7) NAM CSSTC should promote its website among NAM member countries as a very important source of information and experiences in different development topics. NAM CSSTC should publish information, success stories and documents generated in different languages. 8) NAM CSSTC with other organizations such as the World Bank or some developed countries can start mutual cooperation programmes concerning ICT development in NAM member countries. 9) A second regional workshop or seminar should be organized. But the next meeting should focus on public policies and leadership: E-Government or even E-Governance.
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