Inter-American Development Bank President Enrique V. Iglesias today inaugurated a series of seminars in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the IDB Board of Governors, calling on the region to take advantage of the revolution in information technology to generate greater economic and social growth and strengthen democracy.

Representatives of government, the private sector, non government organizations, and the media of both developed and developed countries analyzed how to apply technological advances in information and communication to accelerate progress in Latin America and the Caribbean during a seminar titled "America XXI: Information Technology for Efficient, Equitable and Sustainable Development".

"Our region can not ignore this revolution," Iglesias said. "It should particularly take advantage of it to achieve three concrete goals: grow more, grow in a better way, and strengthen systems of democratic government."

The new technologies can help Latin American and Caribbean countries overcome old barriers to development, such as quality of education, access to health services, and productivity of small and medium-sized enterprises, he added. Their potential to incorporate women and young adults into the labor market can reduce unemployment, he said. When information technologies are applied to government, public sector management can become more efficient, increasing transparency and giving more vigor to democracy.

New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial welcomed the participants to the IDB Annual Meeting, whose seminars and plenary sessions will continue until March 29.

Costa Rican President Miguel Angel Rodríguez participated in the inauguration of the seminar through a televised hook-up from his office in San Jose.

A message was read from the president of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, who outlined the efforts to democratize the access to new technologies and apply them to economic modernization.

Iglesias said the technological revolution inspires the same kind of enthusiasm in developing countries as in nations with advanced economies. The wave of innovation may change the way many Latin Americans live and work, he said, but if efforts are not made to provide wider access to benefits, a the digital gap will become more pronounced between the "info-rich" and the "info-poor."

One of the countries of the region that has made an effort to take advantage of new technologies is Costa Rica, which has radically changed the profile of its export sector because of private investments in informatics.

President Rodriguez pointed out that in his country, once known for exporting of coffee and bananas, now exports high tech products that accounted for 38 percent of foreign sales in 1999. Traditional products accounted for only 15 percent of exports.

The Costa Rican president also explained the steps that his government wants to take to facilitate popular access to new technologies. Costa Rica expects to connect 50 per cent of its schools to the Internet within two years, including secondary schools. At the same time it is installing free computers in public institutions such as libraries.

For rural areas Costa Rica has a program called Infoagro that provides farmers with up-to-date weather forecasting, information on pest control, and world agricultural prices.

"Our objective is to provide Internet access to at least 25 percent of our population within two years," Rodríguez said. "In the future," he added, "all Costa Rican citizens will have their own E-mail address, just as today they have identity documents."

In the public sector, he said, the government is conduction acquisitions, collecting taxes, and clearing payments on line.

In the case of state purchases, he said, information technology allows the government to stimulate greater competition among providers and give the process more transparency. In the case of taxes and payments, it allows greater speed and accuracy.

One of the most successful experiences in bringing the benefits of new technologies to the poor was conducted by the Committee for the Democratization of Information Technology, a non-government organization founded by Brazilian entrepreneur Roberto Baggio in 1994. His efforts have led to the establishment of more than 100 computer schools in low-income neighborhoods in 14 states in Brazil. This has permitted thousands of the poor to learn basic tools of computing, which improves their job and educational potential.

Baggio’s program offers similar training opportunities in jails, for both prisoners and guards. Apart from working with persons who are physically and mentally handicapped, his organization has begun a program for indigenous Guarani, who have begun to formulate their own technological vocabulary.

Speaking at one of the panels of the seminar, Baggio said that he hopes to export his model to other Latin American countries, beginning with Colombia and Uruguay, with support from the IDB and funds provided by StarMedia Foundation.

Barbados Education Minister Mia Amor Mottley described the impact of the information revolution on her island nation. She said her government has begun a vast program to reform its education using modern technologies and emphasizing broadening the access to their benefits.

One of the guiding principles of the Barbados policy is to be sure that the new development transforms its citizens in technology producers, not just consumers.

"Technology on its own will not generate equality," Mottley said. "But it does offer opportunities to countries like Barbados, because now geographic size or location doesn’t matter."

The IDB, through its Information Technology for Development Unit, which organized the seminar, supports efforts in the region to apply the advantages of the information revolution to social and economic programs. It supports initiatives to improve infrastructure of telecommunications and their regulatory frameworks and it finances the information technology components in diverse development projects.