20 October 2020 | For: Institutional Communication Department
The First Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Communications of Cuba, Wilfredo González Vidal participates, this October 20, in the virtual Ministerial Table of the ITU Virtual World 2020 event, organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications of Vietnam and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) . In the ministerial round, Cuba exposes the role of information and communication technologies (ICT) during the confrontation with the Covid19 pandemic; as well as highlights several national computer initiatives and the joint work of the government with the academy and with companies and the non-state sector. In his speech, the First Vice Minister of Communications of Cuba states: "Cuba works on the basis of a national plan for economic and social development that includes priority axes until 2030, where the development of telecommunications infrastructure is prioritized, starting from development of investments in advanced technologies at the international level, universal access and productive use of ICT. “The government and the Party of Cuba have paid special attention to the development and use of information technologies as essential tools for the development, the security of the country and in the current context, for the confrontation of COVID-19.
During this period, telecommunications and digital television services were expanded; the use of teleworking and videoconferencing systems, as well as government and electronic commerce services, which provide information on the status of the pandemic in Cuba and the measures that are implemented to combat it, essential for society. “Research centers, universities, computer applications and services companies, and information technology and communications professionals have contributed significantly to the confrontation with COVID-19, in the use of mathematical models, Big Data techniques, online self-investigation systems and active investigation to control cases, among other applications. “During COVID-19, Cuba has guaranteed, through television programming, to students, at different educational levels, the objectives and contents planned to be overcome at this stage; complemented by an application that allows offline viewing of teleclasses broadcast by Cuban television and a virtual reviewer to support preparation, with free access. “All the efforts made correspond to the limited resources available to the country, with the economic, commercial and financial blockade of the United States against Cuba being the main obstacle to Cubans' access to ICTs. “Faced with this global health crisis, Cuba reiterates its call for global unity, solidarity and international cooperation and to put aside political differences and eliminate the unilateral coercive measures imposed by some countries, which violate International Law and the Charter of the United Nations, while limiting the ability of States to effectively confront this pandemic. "