13 June 2024
Digital transformation, digital agenda and artificial intelligence: What do the new policies propose?.
At its recent meeting, the Council of Ministers approved the policies for digital transformation, the Cuban digital agenda and the strategy for the development and use of artificial intelligence in the country.
These issues were discussed this Wednesday at the Round Table with Mayra Arevich Marín, Minister of Communications; Armando Rodríguez Batista, vice minister of CITMA; Jorge Legañoa Alonso, vice president of the Institute of Information and Social Communication, and Alain Lamadrid Vallina, general director of Information, Communication and Informatization of the MES. “Digital transformation is not a disruptive element, but rather it comes to consolidate the computerization of society that we have been promoting for years,” said Minister of Communications Mayra Arevich Marín.
He also referred to the importance of policies responding to the fundamental needs of the population, as one of the essential precepts of the country's development plan. “The Ministry of Communications plays a leading role in the digital transformation policy, although this cuts across other spheres.
A cultural change is imposed where various organizations and the people themselves must participate,” said Arevich Marín. The ministry will coordinate eight strategic axes that involve, among others, the regulatory aspect, infrastructure, innovation, cybersecurity, digital content - in line with our culture and identity -, and connectivity and access, an axis that is enhanced since the beginning of computerization, with 7.8 million Cubans currently with mobile service.
“The policy indicates what we must do and the agenda explains how we will do it,” said the minister. Likewise, he commented that this agenda has driving projects, such as government portals and online procedures and services, which advocate facilitating processes and transparency of information. He also referred to other projects included in the agenda, such as the development of the bank's infrastructure, digital citizenship, the comprehensive transformation of tax activity, digital health, the smart tourist destination, etc. “The digital agenda is a living document, which will be developed and updated as practice and society itself demand,” said the minister.
Regarding the artificial intelligence strategy, he explained that it cannot be separated from the digital transformation policy, but, since its use implies risks and benefits, it is necessary to think early about the ways in which the country will develop and take advantage of it.
