14 December 2021 | For: Presidency of Cuba
At the meeting of the National Innovation Council for the month of December, which was headed by the President of the Republic, there was a profound debate on the digital transformation in Cuba, an integrating concept, which is the continuity of the computerization process of Cuban society. For some years, Cuba has been going through a process that has been defined as the computerization of society: one of the three pillars that supports government management.
Although the actions carried out have not yet reached the magnitude demanded by the country's development, they have led to unquestionable advances in government and electronic commerce. Concepts, like life itself, evolve and lead to refining and expanding processes to get the most out of them. Along this path, Cuba assumes new precepts that lead it towards digital transformation: a new moment in which digital technologies are integrated in all areas of society, where the center of doing is people.
"Contributing and interesting", according to the evaluations of the President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, was the debate that aroused this issue during the meeting of the National Innovation Council for the month of December, which took place at the Palacio of the Revolution.
The scope and speed associated with new digital technologies —explained Ailyn Febles Estrada, president of the Cuban Union of Informatics— has led us to define digital transformation with new paradigms, as a time superior to computerization. «It is not fashion, it is something that is here to stay. It is not a simple change, it is revolutionary in many ways. It is a process, he said, it is not something that takes one day or two: it is an evolutionary process, very complex and demanding, which requires the participation of all and on which there is still no consensus in its conceptualization.
As an essential support for this new moment, the rector of the University of Informatics Sciences (UCI), Raydel Montesino Perurena, commented on some of the actions that are carried out in the country for education and training on these issues. This, he said, is a "strategic issue to achieve the digital transformation that we have proposed."
In this sense, he considered it appropriate to review the undergraduate and graduate programs to make adjustments in them that allow to sustain said process.
"The purpose has to be to include these topics in all study plans, although inevitably, some careers will have more impact than others." A fundamental role in this new moment corresponds to the Cuban Telecommunications Company (ETECSA) which, according to its president, Tania Velázquez Rodríguez, has two fundamental roles: providing connectivity to the country, and venturing into digital services and solutions. .
Cuba, he assured, is committed to the development of technology that supports this process. However, he said, they are complex actions that require financing. In this sense, the Minister of Communications, Mayra Arevich Marín, highlighted the fact that the development of the digital transformation will not be uniform from a geographical and sectoral point of view, as it must depend on the specific conditions and priorities that are established. in every scenario. We cannot simply limit ourselves to the adoption of technology, but rather the cultural changes necessary to improve or replace existing processes should be promoted, he commented.
STRENGTHS FOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION Consistent with its essential mission of analyzing issues in depth from science, leading to the contribution of experts, academics and its own members —to make proposals to the Government that allow it to make decisions—, this new meeting of the National Innovation Council was held a comprehensive assessment of the nation's digital transformation.
Multiple reflections motivated the subject among those present, who for almost four hours debated about issues associated with, for example, the use of new technologies that support the process; data security; the role that the Young Computer and Electronics Clubs can play, as well as the two existing technology parks in Havana and Matanzas; the importance of taking advantage of the strengths and opportunities that we have, many of which were expanded during the confrontation with COVID-19; and the need to put man at the center of actions.
Precisely on this last aspect, the First Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Walter Baluja García, highlighted the priority with which we must work on the digital transformation to put the satisfaction of the needs and expectations of the population at the center of its actions.
"The individual is the destination of digital transformation and at the same time the protagonist of it," he stated. And as the destiny and protagonist that is the man of this new moment, to achieve the "leap" that the country needs, special attention must also be paid to the transformation of people. This concept, shared with the audience by Diego Castilla, president of the Matanzas Scientific and Technological Park, led to the reflection of several of those present, aware that man is the fundamental capital to carry out the digital transformation.
How these issues should reach companies and institutions was also discussed at the meeting. From his personal experience as director of Automation and Information Technology at the Cienfuegos refinery, Alexis Gómez commented that the most important thing is not only to achieve "an injection of technology, but the way in which it is used and assumed by the personnel in the institutions."
Of essential alliances and the promotion of stronger relations between the University and companies, to advance in the digital transformation, it was also discussed. From this collaboration many useful projects are born that demand a better use in the country from all areas. Integrating, reaching the base, closing cycles, advancing in digital culture —not only thinking about creating skills, but also about the ability to take risks so that innovative ideas are developed— were aspects brought to the debate by Tatiana Delgado Fernández, vice president of the Union of Informatics of Cuba. One of the greatest challenges, he valued, lies in how we are able to democratize the digital transformation, take it to the base and that everyone has access to what gives the possibility of innovative transformation.
The dissimilar experiences that already exist in the country in this regard - affirmed José Carlos Sandoval, deputy director of Joven Club - confirm that citizens increasingly take ownership of these ideas, hence their emphasis on the technological infrastructure that has been created in the Cuban communities.
The intelligence, vision and preparation of the cadres in each municipality will largely depend on how the transformations are implemented. Without being conceptually analyzed so far as a process of digital transformation, the country has been taking steps to cement this path in various sectors, as part of the computerization of society. Although the vast majority of the actions require strong financing for their implementation, the studies are progressing and the ideas are consolidated. Such is the case of "Cubaómica: biomedical databases and their applications for Public Health", a project of the University of Havana, whose essential ideas were exposed by Luis Montero Cabrera, director of the Virtual Center of Biomedical of the University of Havana.
These, he said, are not new or his own ideas, but have been in the country for a long time and have been worked on by many institutions. Knowing the human body is vital to be able to do for the benefit of human health, he pointed out. In this regard, the rector of the University of Havana, Miriam Nicado García, stressed that the realization of this project would be the "implementation of digital transformation in one of the edges of the Public Health sector, in which many other sectors are involved .
According to Beatriz Mancheco Teruel, director of the National Center for Medical Genetics, the knowledge about omic sciences in the field of medicine «represents a revolution in the diagnosis, treatment and prediction of the risk of diseases at the individual, family and level. population. «From the development of this science there are applications such as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, personalized pharmacotherapy and targeted prevention strategies.
These are tools for individualized decision-making in clinical practice. It is a very expensive project, he said, which requires an infrastructure that Cuba does not have. Taking this reality into account, he proposed to evaluate different financial alternatives for its realization.
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION: A MORE INTEGRATING CONCEPT "Now we are evolving into a concept that is more inclusive," reflected the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party when commenting on the aspects analyzed by the National Council for Innovation. Digital transformation is a process, which is the continuity of the computerization of society - he added - it is a process that integrates. As has been proposed in this scenario, reflected the Head of State, the digital transformation has to be transversal to all areas of life: in political, economic and social life.
Hence its emphasis on applying this concept in an articulated manner in the National Economic and Social Development Plan, taking into account the strategic planning of the country. Here the most important thing that many of you have insisted - he stressed - is to achieve the necessary cultural change in all settings.
During the process of computerization of society, he recalled, in places where there was more knowledge, preparation and maturity, more progress has been made, hence, in many of them projects based on the concepts of digital transformation are already underway. «Now that we are going to delve into the digital transformation process, we must change the way of thinking; processes must be redesigned to transform them digitally, "he emphasized. It is not just looking for computer applications that take over the processes - he specified - it is also how the processes are redesigned so that they work in a digital world. All this - he insisted - carries culture, that is why it is important to take into account all the elements that have been raised here, among which training has a fundamental role: children, young people, cadres, managers, decision-makers and the population in general.
Taking into account the very characteristics of the digital transformation, President Díaz-Canel emphasized the need to be able to appropriate this process in the country but making an own conceptualization based on the socialist construction in Cuba, from our vision of the social sciences and the Marxist vision. Associated with this, he also exposed the need to conceive the Digital Transformation Policy in the country, because without it we will not have the priorities, the areas, the interrelationships that are emerging.
As an urgent challenge, he valued taking these ideas to the municipalities, where processes of redesigning many concepts are being experienced and local development is promoted based on the implementation of territorial development strategies. In terms of training and culture formation - he insisted - municipalities must be prioritized, because if these concepts do not reach the municipality, the process "gets stuck and will not be achieved." "We need the country to move from the bottom up and, therefore, the municipality must be prioritized in all actions, so that then it begins to be empowered."