The chief of the Inter-American Development Bank’s Information and Communication Technology for Development Division, Danilo Piaggesi, will participate in a panel on the challenges of a highly stratified access to Internet in Latin America at a conference on Feb 2 at Columbia University, New York.
The conference "Digital Dilemmas: The Divide in Latin America", organized by the Institute of Latin American Studies of Columbia University and co-sponsored by the IDB, will address the magnitude of the gap between those with and without access to the new technologies and the impact of the digital divide.
Experts from the public and private sectors, academia and civil society will identify the best government policies and development programs to increase access to information technology and improve opportunities through civil society organization and small enterprises.
The first panel, on the importance of a widespread access to Internet tools and technology for economic and political development, will include IDB’s Danilo Piaggesi; Patrick Larvie of the Grupo Globo, Brazil; Michael Fortin, founder of Empowering Others International; and John V. Pavlik, professor and executive director of the Center for New Media at Columbia University. Albert Fishlow, senior economist of Violy Byorum & Partners, will be the moderator.
Other panels will discuss internetworking to bridge the digital divide, e-commerce and small businesses joining the information superhighway, and regulatory issues affecting Internet access.