How can information and communication technology contribute to doubling Latin American and Caribbean growth in an efficient, equitable and sustainable manner?

That question will be addressed when public, private and civil society leaders participate in a forum March 23-24 in New Orleans, Louisiana on "America XXI: Information Technology for Efficient, Equitable and Sustainable Development" (www.iadb.org/regions/itdev/america21).

"America XXI" is the first of 11 official seminars that will be held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank March 23-29.

Among those attending the technology seminar will be 64 youth delegates from the Americas and Asia who are participating in a "Youth Summit" during the Annual Meeting as well as in a separate seminar, "Building Human and Social Capital: The Strategic Importance of Investing in Youth Development and Participation."

Parallel with the Annual Meeting and in keeping with the theme of applying information technology for development, the City of New Orleans has organized a Technology Village in the Morial Convention Center, site of most of the seminars and conferences of the Annual Meeting.

There high tech firms will sponsor exhibits, running from March 24 to March 27, that will demonstrate how information technology can be applied to such areas as confronting natural disasters, digital democracy, health care, finance and investment, education, and developing a new economy. (www.idb2000.org)

IDB President Enrique V. Iglesias has recently stated that in order to significantly reduce poverty, Latin America and the Caribbean must approximately double its growth rate, which is now around 3.5 percent.

At the same time, countries throughout the region are becoming increasingly aware that deployment of information and communication technology can contribute significantly to domestic prosperity and global competitiveness, helping improve the quality of life and overcome the structural roots of poverty.

The IDB Annual Meeting provides an opportunity to generate synergies for a regional knowledge-based development strategy needed to achieve, efficient, equitable and sustainable development.

The "America XXI" seminar will focus on how innovators in the region are already using the technologies to create a better future. Three thematic plenary sessions – moderated by respected journalists − will explore the implications of the emergence of a "new economy " and its impact on development, creating human capital by expanding and improving lifelong learning opportunities in the knowledge economy, and "digital democracy" − the impact of these technologies on the multiple roles of government.

Among the more than thirty panelists and discussion leaders are the following: Rodrigo Baggio, executive director of the Committee for the Democratization of Information Technology; Harold Furchtgott-Roth, commissioner, U.S. Federal Communications Commission; Mia Amor Mottley, Minister of Education, Youth Affairs and Culture of Barbados; Hugo Gallegos of the Peruvian Institute for Electronic Commerce; José Octavio Bordon, director general for culture and education of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina; Robert Blois, deputy secretary general, International Telecommunications Union; Juan José Daboub, Office of the President of El Salvador; Maria Celia Fontaina, National Association of Uruguayan Broadcasters; and Fernando Sanchez Ugarte, National Competition Commission of Mexico.