30 March 2022 | For: Cubadebate
At the beginning of her presentation at the Round Table, the Minister of Communications, Mayra Arevich Marín, valued as very positive the holding of the XVIII edition of the 2022 International Informatics Convention and Fair, held last week at the Havana Convention Center.
After the pause imposed by the pandemic, he said, the appointment had several peculiarities.
Among them, he highlighted, was having an apk developed by an MSME in the sector with which all the activities of the event could be known in real time.
Likewise, he explained that the new motto, "Together for digital transformation", expresses the relevance of welcoming innovative technologies in different sectors of society. "It was possible to discuss the relevance of digital transformation, and how we should focus on the citizen to work in digital culture."
“Informática 2022 patented the political and government will to continue developing the process of computerization of society and move towards digital transformation.
1,134 delegates and exhibitors from 24 countries participated. In total, 264 papers were presented in the scientific program. It was a space for exchange between economic actors, companies and universities”, he added.
More than 7,500,000 people with Internet access Later, the minister ratified that the development of the infrastructure is one of the vital axes to be able to advance in the process of computerization of the country.
“During the covid-19 stage, the communication needs of citizens increased from isolation; with an estimated traffic growth of 2.6 times after the first year of the pandemic.”
In this sense, he argued that ETECSA had to speed up and massify access in order to guarantee the service demands of the population.
“In a covid scenario, they needed to connect more to communicate with their family, as well as implement teleworking,” he exemplified.
He also highlighted that the connectivity of isolation centers, scientific institutions, free access to the Cubaeduca platform and other Higher Education platforms was guaranteed. In this same period, work was carried out to expand 4G coverage, which is already present in all the country's municipalities, reported Arevich Marín. "In addition, 1,112 popular councils in the country have at least one way to access the Internet."
He stressed that in the country today there are more than 7,500,000 people with Internet access, of which 80% do so through cell phones.
“We have more than 7,200,000 cell phone lines. Likewise, there are some 251,000 homes connected through Nauta Hogar and this year the wireless service will start for this type of connection with some 56,000 services”. In the same way, this year it is committed to expanding the access of institutions to the network of networks, as well as developing the infrastructure.
“In 2022 we want to reach 58% 4G mobile population coverage, expand the cell phone access network, with 500,000 new users; expand the infrastructure for new users of Nauta Hogar and, as I said before, increase the connectivity of institutions and entities”.
At another point in the television program, the minister stressed that the impact of the blockade on the sector cannot be ignored, especially in the development of updated infrastructure that allows the deployment of services demanded by the population.
“Technologies that do not have more than 10% North American components are limited and therefore a lot of work is spent. To bring these technologies more expensive and more freight is paid.
Access platforms, updates from Cuba, as well as the preparation of our specialists, are also affected.” Commenting on the deployment of digital television, the minister recalled that this process began in 2013 and that we are currently going through the transition phase.
“3 million receivers have been sold. The change makes it possible to free up frequencies of the radio spectrum for use in the 4G cellular network, for greater service coverage and penetrability inside homes”.
Of this equipment, some 115,000 "boxes" have been granted to groups benefiting from social assistance, the cost of which was assumed by the Government. In the same way, hybrid televisions were guaranteed to all educational centers.
“This transition is carried out by region and began in the western region, especially by municipalities where coverage is guaranteed. This transition will allow us to improve the quality of the Multivision signal, for example”.
He reported that this year the process of partial transition from analog to digital television in the west of the country should be completed and the project should move forward.
“Achieve a population coverage of 89% in standard definition and 60% in high definition”. Online government: 76 online procedures and services are accessible to citizens Meanwhile, commenting on the digital government, he said that it is one of the projects to be carried out to implement the 2030 Development Plan.
“With a focus on the government-citizen relationship, with a more efficient, effective and transparent digital government that revolutionizes the public administration”.
“There are 263 government portals on the Internet that provide information to the population. It is advancing towards a higher stage that will allow an interactive relationship in both directions, for which 76 online procedures and services are accessible to citizens”.
“We need these portals to be updated, to put more procedures online and to close the cycle. An example of this is the ONAT where various actions can be carried out without the need to go to the places”.
We are committed to increasing the use of the digital signature in government institutions and from citizens through its implementation in online services, with emphasis on the payment of taxpayers to the country's tax system.
"The institutions must work so that the citizen has to do the least amount of paperwork possible," he said.
More than 3.6 million Cubans use digital payments Referring to electronic commerce, Arevich Marín stressed that, although there are still dissatisfactions, progress was made during the past year. There is a presence of electronic commerce in both state and non-state entities.
One of the strengths is the availability of two payment platforms: ENZONA and Transfermóvil, “which have not remained static, because covid-19 demonstrated the need to incorporate new services. For example, the payment of electricity, telephony, water, gas, taxes, fuel. Even the latest Transfermóvil update is adapted for people with disabilities”.
Both platforms have virtual stores, added the minister, and stressed that more than 3.6 million Cubans already use these digital payment methods. Likewise, payment through QR codes is promoted, which came to transform digital commerce.
“We no longer need to buy so many ATMs, nor to use so many POS, because that fast and secure possibility exists.” He pointed out the importance of suppliers of goods and services understanding the usefulness of this payment method, which is more efficient and transparent in management.
"We need to explain more the advantages to promote cultural change.
" According to the minister, more than 54% of the operations of natural persons move balance and not cash. He commented that it is intended to expand the services through the two platforms, in the case of Transfermóvil with priority in expanding the payment of water; the new design change of the APK; the use of the ETECSA mobile wallet (which will come out this year); the commercialization of advertising spaces and the integration with international catwalks.
The minister specified that, for the development of these services, in addition to software applications, hardware infrastructures are necessary, and high availability must be available to avoid failures and inconvenience to customers.
At the same time, banking development is required to assimilate these new services in the digital environment. • New businesses and facilities: Put into service the ETECSA Virtual Store for the commercialization of its products, as well as the new platform for balance deposits and cell phone payments.
Software industry development: Success is in integration The minister assured that it is “at the most important moment in the development of the software and telecommunications industry”, because new economic actors have been created, including a significant number of MSMEs that have joined this activity.
The success lies, stressed the Minister of Communications, in using that human potential developed by the Revolution and in the integration between state and non-state companies with the aim of creating products with better quality and in less time.
The national computer industry is made up of a variety of entities, including universities, research centers, and all economic actors. In addition, it has more than 50,000 graduates from universities with related careers. An example of the alliance between the state and private sectors is in Transfermóvil, which is no longer just ETECSA, but also involves other non-state projects.
The minister announced that she is working with the Union of Informatics of Cuba in the creation of a platform that relates companies and their skills, which will be useful when creating a project. • Priority has been given to the development and assurance of the infrastructure for the Cuban Apklis, Picta and ToDus platforms.
Regarding exports, he acknowledged that there is a great challenge in this activity. "We are intentionally working with all economic players to increase exports in the software industry." In this sense, he praised the results of Citmatel, which has worked very intelligently on its business model, managing to become a high-tech company.
The minister reported that the sector is ready for other entities to also hold this condition, while referring to cybersecurity: "Everything we have discussed at the Table has to be related to a secure Internet development environment," and mentioned the work of companies such as Segurmática and Segurmática Antivirus.
Regarding the technological scientific parks, he specified that those of Havana and Matanzas have been created -where the Varadero Digital City project is incubated- and sectoral programs of science, technology and innovation are carried out. Universities and research centers participate in this task.
The minister also made reference to Correo de Cuba, which "has grown in the last year from the demand during the pandemic, which represented an opportunity for the company." In 2021, 4 million postal packages were received for the parcel service, more than three times what was recorded in 2020. In one month of 2021, the same number of packages was distributed as in all of 2020, he exemplified and recognized that there is still little to do in terms of citizen attention and the modernization of the infrastructure to deliver the packages in less time.
“Cuba Post is committed to bringing those postal packages closer to the population every day, which has guaranteed to alleviate the lack of medicines and some food.”
Arevich Marín commented that work is being done on the preparation of the policy for digital transformation, which will lead to the creation of the digital agenda and the proposal for the implementation of a digital transformation program. Cuba will continue developing the process of computerization of society and moving towards digital transformation, based on the objectives of social justice that characterize its Revolution, to ensure the construction of an inclusive and supportive digital society, made up of digitally capable citizens, without territorial, ethnic, gender, age gaps or of any other type, which contributes to the development of people, their culture and the promotion of the most authentic values and principles of the Cuban Revolution.