05 March 2021 | For: Round table
Last year he put Cuba's advances in computerization to the test. The pandemic exponentially accelerated the use of the Internet. The call was to stay at home, to promote social isolation, so face-to-face activities migrated to the networks. E-commerce, apk, mobile data and teleworking have shown their potential, but also how much remains to be done. To learn about the progress and challenges in this matter, the Minister of Communications, the executive president of ETECSA and the president of the Union of Informatics of Cuba appeared at the Round Table. The computerization policy established in the country has allowed a visible acceleration in recent years of access to ICT by the Cuban population, the growth of the interaction between government and citizens, and the expansion of Internet use, he said at the beginning of his speech. the Minister of Communications, Jorge Luis Perdomo Di-Lella. The headline referred to the current environment where "there is great potential", but based on a specific and complex scenario, "derived from a re-outbreak of the pandemic that has been in the country for a year, a suffocation policy imposed by the Government from the United States and an economic crisis marked by a supply deficit, both in Cuba and in the world ”. However, I emphasize, the operations carried out by digital means and electronic commerce are increasing. Therefore, "there is an important potential for the productive sector to discover its possibilities and sell its services and products," emphasized the minister. Speaking about the infrastructure and development of public telecommunications services as a support to the Computerization process, he assured that it is the basis of services, procedures and electronic commerce. Perdomo Di-Lella stressed that this is an aspect in which the sector has worked with great force in the last three years. "We are not where we want to go, but we continue to advance with clear challenges and in line with our economy." 2020 has been the year of the fourth generation. He recalled that in December 2018 access to the Internet by mobile data was opened in 3G and at the end of 2019 and early 2020 investments in 4G began, which today represents 40% of national coverage.
According to data provided by the minister, 85% of the population receives a mobile phone signal. Of these, six million subscribers with an annual growth of 600,000 lines. Of that percentage, around 70% have a 3G signal and one and a half million (around 40%) access 4G. In this sense, he pointed out, Internet access also counts in the institutional sector and in tourism, "where we do not stop the effort to create conditions for when it reopens to offer a quality service." Likewise, create new connectivity links for the economic and social sectors, with priority on Education, Culture, Health, Sports, Tourism, Industry and the main productive poles. The minister commented that the least progress has been made in Nauta Hogar, in fixed broadband, although there is a program to expand that service as part of the strategy for the next five years. It is planned to reach new users of Nauta Hogar with the incorporation of 50,000 services and fixed wireless access, technology to prioritize Internet access in homes. The national industry plans to reactivate the production of decoder boxes
The Communications Minister explained that in 2020 two HD television channels were opened, as well as coverage grew in standard definition to 76% and in HD to 45%, prioritizing provincial capitals and places with the largest population. He reported that the national industry plans to reactivate the production of decoder boxes for access to Digital TV, which from the second quarter of this year should have a visible presence in stores, especially in those places where it will first be carried out. the partial transition from analogue to digital television. “It is a necessary process because it saves electricity. It allows to replace an older technology by a modern one and the frequencies that are necessary to use to continue the development of fixed and mobile broadband of 4G and 4G plus, as well as the next generations ”. The other field of work is associated with the services and contents to use that infrastructure, grouped in government and electronic commerce. In the case of electronic commerce, he said, the president and the prime minister of the country have asked the Ministry to play a greater role and to be promoters of it. The capacities, he acknowledged, “are not what we aspire to have, but there is already a level that can allow our population to access more new national services, with immediacy and relevance, as well as guarantee an adequate response, and in time, to the approaches and services that are processed in this way ”.
Electronic commerce, he commented, is not only a technological activity, it is an economic-commercial process that must be organized from the moment a company begins to sell its products or services. "This is one of the activities with the most potential today, but the commercialization levels that we have are still low." The minister highlighted the progress of the national platforms EnZona and Transfermóvil, "but we cannot measure the development of the country in this sense only by the use of these platforms." Perdomo Di-Lella exemplified that 26% of the collection of telecommunications services in January, be it fixed telephony, mobile and Internet, were made digitally. "The goal we have this year is to reach 50%." Each sector of the country is also being asked to set its goals, for example, transportation with the sale of tickets. "40% of the tickets in the last period have been sold electronically, a result that must continue to be encouraged." On the other hand, he added, "we must solve a group of enabling issues for the citizen that are also incentives and not just the discount, which is promoted today in telecommunications services that have a 10% discount, the ONAT and the JOIN 3% ”.
“But there are other incentives that have to do with the organization of the process. For example, many self-employed or taxpayers do not receive a legal receipt or certification this way. It is also important to receive a breakdown of all the products and services that one has bought ”. Regarding electronic government, he valued that it is an issue in which progress was made in 2020. All provincial governments and almost all municipal governments have their portal. "But it is not enough, the citizen has to resolve their concerns there. There must be an interactivity between the citizen and institutions ”. "This can only be achieved if people can solve their problems in this way, either by paying fines, obtaining licenses, and so on. We have identified more than 20 procedures to prioritize it ”. Some examples: ▪ The request for birth, death and marriage certificates. ▪ Application for an environmental permit. ▪ Payment of fines. ▪ Publication of vacant government positions. ▪ Social assistance procedures. ▪ Land registration. ▪ Request for identity document and driving license. ▪ Online payment of water consumption throughout the country (today it is only enabled in Havana). The minister made reference to other services that benefit the more than a million taxpayers that exist in the country, more than a million are natural persons and more than 20,000 legal entities. "Today the citizen can go to the tax portal and make the payment of the tax vector through Transfermóvil and EnZona, where they receive a bonus."
He announced that this year it is conceived that the affidavit can be made in this way. For this, it is necessary to carry out a process and provide the ONAT taxpayers with the digital signature service and provide greater security in the payment of taxes electronically (www.onat.gob.cu). The other point has to do with the national computer industry and its potential to diversify services and provide added value, as a sector of innovation and growth. In Cuba there are four university degrees related to ICT, from which more than 43,000 professionals have graduated. Computer Engineering is the one with the greatest territorial coverage since it is studied in 16 universities. Remove the obstacles and barriers in this sector so that you can move more quickly The minister argued that it is necessary to enrich the offer of services where there are many possibilities for the business sector, as well as to implement what has just been approved in the improvement of self-employment, which enables licenses to the activity of the computer equipment programmer. Large raw materials are not needed, he said, as there is great potential to turn ideas into products and services. He exemplified that a week ago the sale in apklis of applications by natural and legal persons was enabled and there are already more than 80 programmers who sell their applications there with a new model that stimulates the creation of national content.
The objective, he said, "is to remove obstacles and barriers in this sector so that it can move forward more quickly." The computer applications industry has, at the end of 2020, a workforce of more than 4,200 workers in its 30 companies. "This sector is welcome on its own, which is integrated and linked with the company and the university," he said. Another priority of the Ministry of Communications is to monitor the development and operation of the scientific and technological parks of Havana and Matanzas, for a better use of innovation and productive capacities. The minister commented that these corporations, made up of various shareholders, stimulate the creation of projects involving both the state and non-state sectors. In these parks there are 13 projects underway that will provide concrete solutions in the economic and social sphere. From here all kinds of projects can arise, he added while pointing out that there is a program to substitute imports with the aim of not buying computer applications abroad. “There is a demand and it is necessary to have an offer in this industry that responds to it. Sometimes you see a virtual store set up on a foreign platform, which is welcome if it is to bring new projects and investments and promote exports. But there is potential for this sector to provide more services ”. There are examples in many places and sectors, such as transportation, where the self-employed have made applications; and linkages in local development projects in the provinces. According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, 917 licenses are currently active and the provinces with the highest number are: Havana (623), Matanzas (20) and Holguín (36). "The work this year should be aimed at stimulating and encouraging these production and service processes, so that there are higher levels of digital sales and, therefore, improvements in the economy in exports and internal commercial circulation." Almost at the end, the Minister of Communications, Jorge Luis Perdomo Di-Lella, commented on the challenges that Mincom has this year. Among them continue advancing in the development and infrastructure and the extension of telecommunications services.
"Increase services and penetration of broadband and mobile, as well as greater connectivity and quality of these services." Likewise, that electronic commerce becomes the engine and impulse of the national economy in the productive sector. Regarding electronic government, the minister said that he will bet because there is greater interactivity and more services and digital procedures for the population. For cybersecurity, for his part, he recalled that this year, according to the legislative schedule approved by the National Assembly, a law related to the privacy of personal data will be discussed. In this sense, the Decree Law on postal services has just been approved, as well as it is being proposed that the new Criminal Code include computer crimes and crimes related to the use of technologies and communication. “Encouraging a critical and responsible use of technologies is very important in the population. Teaching and that our young people can discern in digital spaces, constitutes the best security we have ”. All this should contribute - he emphasized - to this sector contributing more to the country, to the quality of life of citizens and allowing us to get out of the economic crisis that we are experiencing.