The 8th Digital Government Ministerial Meeting of The Americas
Venue:
Serpro.
SGAN Av L-2 NorteQuadra 601 Módulo "G"
Brasília-DF
This Eighth Ministerial Meeting on Digital Government of the Americas, held in parallel with the Eighteenth Annual Meeting of the Inter-American Digital Government Network (GEALC Network), seeks to share regional actions for digital transformation with equity and, also, to discuss global best practices in this area.
Current challenges such as data governance and artificial intelligence, or cross-border digital services, add to the current quest for a fairer life for citizens who live on a planet at environmental risk.
Against the backdrop of a new Summit of the Americas, to be held in the Dominican Republic in November 2025, this GEALC Network Ministerial Meeting will be an opportunity to prepare relevant inputs for the discussions that will be held by the heads of state and government. As a result, progress will be made in the implementation of the commitments of the Regional Program for Digital Transformation approved at the Ninth Summit of the Americas (Los Angeles, 2022). This ministerial exchange will also be in line with the digital transformation commitments of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) since GEALC Network is part of IDB’s Regional Public Policy Dialogue scheme.
The week before the Ministerial Meeting, the G20 Summit will have been held in Rio de Janeiro, under the theme “Building a fair world and a sustainable planet”. The G20, considered the main forum for international economic cooperation, is made up of 19 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States) and two regional organizations: the African Union and the European Union. G20 members account for around 85% of the world’s GDP, more than 75% of world trade and around two-thirds of the world’s population.
The presence of the ministers of the region is important to strengthen the dialogue and exchanges that GEALC Network has been holding in its 20 years of existence against the backdrop of current challenges and related affairs. All this comes together in a virtuous combination of relevant institutions, agendas and venues.
Agenda
Plenary Session
08:25 – 08:30 – Welcome video
08:30 – 09:10 – Opening Session
- José Inostroza, Digital Government Secretary, Chile (Red Gealc president country 2024).
- Bo Ram Suh, Head of Secretariate, Presidential Committee on the Digital Platform Government, Republic of Korea.
- Paula Acosta Márquez, Division Chief, Innovation for Citizens Services, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) (TBC).
- Luis Porto, Principal Advisor to the Strategic Counsel of the Organization of American States, OAS.
- Luiz Fernandes, Vice Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Brazil.
- Mauro Vieira, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Brazil (TBC).
- Esther Dweck, Minister of Management and Innovation in Public Services, Brazil.
09:10 – 09:30 – Photo of the delegations and Opening of the virtual voting process for the excelGOV 2024 Awards
09:30 – 10:00 – Keynote speaker
- Beatriz Vasconcellos, Research Fellow at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) (download ppt).
10:00 – 10:45 – Key aspects of digital transformation
- Cross-Border Interoperability, Siim Sikkut, former CIO of Estonia.
- Digital transformation in Denmark, Adam Lebech, Deputy General Director, Agency for Digitalization, Denmark (video).
- Cybersecurity Challenges, Paula Brenes, Former Director of Digital Governance, Costa Rica (ppt).
- Moderator: Anika C. D. Shuttleworth, CEO (Acting), egov Jamaica Ltd.
10:45 – 11:15 – Coffee break
11:15 – 11:45 – Good practices of digital transformation in Mercosur
- César Gazzo, Undersecretary of Information and Communication Technologies, Argentina (ppt).
- Cristina Kiomi Mori, Vice Minister of Management and Innovation in Public Services, Brazil (ppt).
- Margarita Rojas, Director General of Digital Inclusion and ICT in Education, MITIC; Paraguay.
- Hebert Paguas, Executive Director, AGESIC, Uruguay (ppt).
11:45 – 12:15 – Historical milestone: the Mercosur Digital Citizen is a reality
- Javier Barreiro, Red Gealc consultant (ppt).
- José Luis Hernández, Senior Specialist in Digital Government, IDB.
- Enylson Camolesi – Director-President, National Institute of Information Technology, Brazil.
- Rafael Abraao Rodrígues Lago, GOV.Br, Brazil.
- Juan Pablo García, Digital Identity Director, AGESIC, Uruguay (video demostración).
- Moderator: Roberto López, Red Gealc Manager.
12:15 – 12:45: Artificial Intelligence: challenges and reality
- Inter-American Framework of Reference for Data Governance and Artificial Intelligence, Mike Mora, Department for Effective Public Management, OAS, Technical Secretariat of Red Gealc (ppt).
- Representative of Caixa Econômica Federal, Brazil.
12:45 – 13:00 – Closing of the virtual voting process for the excelGOV 2024 Awards
13:00 – 14:30 – Lunch time
14:30 – 15:15 –The Future of Digital Government and Digital Public Infrastructure
- Daniel Abadie, Head of Partnerships, Center for Digital Public Infrastructure (CDPI) (ppt).
- Rahul Matthan, author of The Third Way: India’s Revolutionary Approach to Data Governance.
- Rodrigo Assumpção, President of the Social Security Technology and Information Company (Dataprev).
- Moderator: Shelley-Ann Clarke-Hinds, Executive Manager of External Relations, Ministry of Digital Transformation, Trinidad and Tobago
15:15 – 15:45 – Africa, guest continent
- Meshack Kinyua, Capacity Lead, Space and Emerging Tech, African Union Commission (ppt).
- Modera: Vagner Araújo, Advisor, Digital Government Secretariat, Brazil.
15:45 – 16:30 – Measuring the progress of digital government
- Barbara Ubaldi, Head of the Digital Government Unit (OECD) OCDE (ppt).
- Vincenzo Aquaro, Chief of the digital government branch DPIDG-DESA, United Nations (ppt).
- Moderator: Miguel Porrúa, Data and Digital Government Coordinator Cluster, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
16:30 – 17:15 – Learnings from digital transformation in the Republic of Korea
- Bo Ram Suh, Head of Secretariate, Presidential Committee on the Digital Platform Government (ppt).
- Dong Woog Han, Senior Deputy Director, Digital Government Cooperation Division, MOIS (ppt).
- Kyung Jik Kim, Director of the Public Service Integration Division, MOIS Director de la División de Integración de Servicios Públicos del MOIS (ppt).
17:20 – Closing of day 1 panels
19:00 – 22:00 – Cultural Dinner and ExcelGOV 2024 Awards Ceremony
Plenary Session
08:45 – 09:00 – Installation of the second day of sessions
09:00 – 10:00 – Good practices of digital transformation in the Caribbean Area
- Trevor Brown, Chief Technology Officer, Ministry of Finance, Bahamas.(ppt).
- Mark Boyce, GovTech CEO, Barbados.
- Christopher Deen, Chairman, National Data Management Authority, Guyana (ppt).
- Wahkeen Murray, Chief Technical Director, Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport, Jamaica.
- Kentus Eugene, Advisor, Ministry of Public Service, Home Affairs, Labour and Gender Affairs, Saint Lucia (ppt).
- Vaneesha Acharju, Deputy Director Operations of e-Government, Suriname (ppt).
- Inshan Meahjohn, CEO, National ICT Company of Trinidad and Tobago (iGovTT), Trinidad and Tobago (ppt).
10:00 – 10:30 – Good practices of digital transformation in the Andean Area
- Vladimir Terán, Executive Director, Agetic, Bolivia(ppt).
- José Inostroza, Secretary of Digital Government, Ministry of Treasury, Chile (ppt).
- Geovanny Cruz, Advisor, Ministry of Telecommunications and the Information Society (Mintel), Ecuador.
- César Vilchez, Secretary of Government and Digital Transformation, PCM, Peru (ppt).
10:30 – 10:50 – Coffee break
10:50 – 11:30 – Good digital transformation practices in Central America
- Diego Leiva, Director of electronic governance, Micitt, Costa Rica (ppt).
- Daniel Méndez, Secretary of Innovation, El Salvador.
- Edie Cux García, Coordinator and Executive Director, Presidential Commission on Open and Electronic Government, Guatemala (video).
- Marcio Sierra, Minister of Results-Based Management, Honduras (ppt).
- Julio Germán Arias, Secretary of Digitalization and Simplification of Processes, Presidency of the Republic, Panama (ppt).
- Sigmund Freund, Minister of Public Administration, Dominican Republic (ppt).
11:30 – 12:15 – Successful digital government experiences in Brazil
- Esther Dweck, Minister of Management and Innovation in Public Services (ppt).
- Alexandre Amorim, President of the Data Processing Service (SERPRO)(ppt).
- Carlos Antônio Vieira Fernandes, President of Caixa Econômica Federal (ppt).
- Moderator: Rogério Mascarenhas, Digital Government Secretary.
12:15 – 13:00 – International Organizations Panel
- Pau Puig Gabarro, Telecommunications Specialist, IDB (ppt).
- Axel Rifon, Senior Digital Development Specialist, World Bank (ppt).
- Miguel Porrúa, Data and Digital Government Coordinator Cluster, IDB (ppt).
- Yolanda Martínez, Practice Manager for Digital Development in Latin American and the Caribbean, World Bank.
- Aura Cifuentes, Fellow, Investments Team, Co-Develop.
- Moderator: Roberto López, Red Gealc Manager.
13:00 – 14:30 – Lunch time
14:30 – 16:00 – Red GEALC Annual Assembly
- Approval of 2024 work plan report and 2025 work plan.
- Approval of Ministerial Declaration 2024.
- Election of authorities 2025.
- Photo of the Executive Committee 2025.
16:00 – 16:30 – Coffee break.
16:30 – 17:00 – Mesa de cierre
- Cristina Kiomi Mori, Vice Minister of Management and Innovation in Public Services.
- Paola Arrunátegui, Head of Operations in Brazil, IDB.
- Mike Mora, Department for Effective Public Management, OAS
- Minister from new country president 2025 of Red GEALC.
Monday 25th
14:00 – 15:30 – OECD index workshop
15:30 – 16:00 – Coffee break
16:00 – 19:00 – Undesa index workshop
Thursday 28th
09:30 – 11:00 – Virtual thematic tracks (in parallel) of the regional digital government agenda (first part)
- Cybersecurity.
- Equity and transversal aspects.
- Digital signature and cross-border interoperability.
11:30 – 13:00 – Virtual thematic tracks (in parallel) of the regional digital government agenda (second part)
- Government Innovation and Emerging Technologies.
- Data and Artificial Intelligence.
Participants
Previous Red GEALC Meetings
Red GEALC Ministerial Meetings are high-level biennial meetings that bring together leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean. They are a suitable environment where joint action among member countries is taken, horizontal cooperation is promoted and the direction and the trend of e-government is discussed. Along these lines, a space is created so that ministers and government experts can share their experiences and knowledge on the subject matter. Distinguished speakers and guests from other continents are also invited. The meeting’s purpose is to raise awareness, strengthen cooperation bonds and discuss jointly about the challenges that arise when developing public policies to modernize the state.
Ministerial gatherings take place once every two years. Digital government meetings for national directors are conducted every year.