The 5 elements LatAm digital agendas should contain

All Latin American countries should consider five key elements for their respective digital transformation agendas, according to an expert. 

Countries should focus on a strong institution, a set of concrete objectives, financial resources, technology tools, and human talent, Miguel Porrúa (pictured), e-government specialist and digital cluster coordinator at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), told BNamericas. 

“From the point of view of the digital agenda, the appearance of COVID-19 boosted the countries of the region’s interest in digitizing, accelerating the interest in general of all the important groups of a society – the government, companies and citizens,” he said. 

Although every country must adapt to its realities, the bank’s experience with projects in the region has demonstrated these five elements are among the most important and effective, Porrúa said. 

A strong institution involves a minister or agency with hierarchical power to implement the digital agenda – which most of the region’s countries already have – while a set of concrete objectives are needed for the entity to plan, implement and achieve goals.

Financial resources, the third element, are among the biggest issues, since many countries have already introduced a digital agenda but struggle to obtain funding, Porrúa said.

According to a recent study from the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Eclac), lack of funding digital agendas is the main problem. 

For element four, a block of several technologies, “there has to be a digital identity, there has to be a digital signature, there has to be an interoperability platform so that the government can exchange data. And there has to be some fintech system so that people can easily pay online,” Porrúa said. 

The full potential of digital transformation can only be realized with human talent, however. 

“Right now, to meet the needs of the digital agenda of the public and private sector, it would take half a million professionals that we do not have. This gap will grow if we do not incorporate young professionals into these studies,” he said. 

Infrastructure and projects 

The IDB has a work plan to help the region’s digital transformation. 

This plan rests on the pillars of governance and institutionality, a regulatory framework, digital talent and infrastructure and digital solutions. 

Several countries have stepped up plans to pass bills aimed at strengthening digital laws. 

El Salvador, for example, introduced last year a bill that seeks to enshrine internet access as a human right, establish a digital economy, and create a unique identity number and e-wallet for every citizen, in addition to another bill that facilitates creating a digital authority to regulate technology. 

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Overall, Porrúa told BNamericas about several projects in the region, especially in Central America, where, for example, the bank is financing a US$22mn project to improve connectivity and online public procedures for Panama.

“We have an operation in each country that contributes to laying the foundations for this digital transformation. The truth is that the investment that is needed is important,” he said, adding that the IDB also aids in technical assistance. 

Porrúa said private companies offering, technology, consulting and training services are among the ones that will benefit the most. 

“We recommend governments to invest more in the digital agenda ... because the digital agenda is an agenda that supports or is based on the rest of the government's agendas,” he said. 

IDB has analyzed in several studies how the coronavirus pandemic pushed Latin American governments to implement digital agendas. 

In a study released in March, the bank found that both partial and fully online public services increased by about 15% in the region during the pandemic, mainly because of lockdown restrictions.