The topics on Dominican Republic's 2030 digital agenda

Last week, the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, issued decree 527-21 with the guidelines of the country's 2030 digital agenda.

The objective is "to have an enabling regulatory and institutional environment that fosters a digital, open, inclusive, participatory and rights-based society," the decree reads.

The agenda is framed within a plan to update the legal and regulatory framework for telecommunications, a new broadband plan and a spectrum tender for 5G services.

Regulator Indotel recently received proposals from Claro and Altice to acquire spectrum.

The 2030 digital agenda is divided into six areas: governance and regulatory framework, connectivity and access, digital government, digital education and skills, digital economy, and two cross-cutting areas, cybersecurity and technological innovation .

In the area of connectivity, it is proposed to have resilient wired and wireless broadband infrastructure throughout national territory via public, private or public-private investment (PPP). It is proposed to use the telecommunications development fund (FDT) to achieve this by supporting the deployment of last-mile community networks in rural and semi-urban areas.

In addition, initiatives to subsidize demand are planned to boost affordability and access to internet. The Dominican Republic is one of the nine Latin American countries that currently meet the goal of offering a 2GB package for no more than 2% of average monthly income, according to figures from the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI).

A4AI recently raised the bar and upgraded the target to 5GB for 2% of monthly income by 2026. The Dominican Republic now offers 5GB packages at 2.49% of monthly income.

The agenda is also aimed at improving connectivity in public institutions and promoting the digital transformation of the Dominican state.

With regard to the digital economy, it is expected to support the development and incorporation of digital technologies in production processes, especially in e-commerce and technology-based financial services, such as digital payments and the electronic system of secured transactions.

The 2030 agenda also outlines promoting technological innovation in public services and the productive sector with financing, tax credits and other stimulus packages. It also includes reducing and simplifying regulatory and tax burdens to boost technology-based emerging companies.

Likewise, the plan is to develop research, development and innovation (RDI) programs on technological issues to create and improve the production and marketing of goods, services and competitive business models.

As a transversal area of the agenda, the proposal is to strengthen the national cybersecurity framework. This includes improving the protection of the state's critical and IT infrastructure and promoting cybersecurity education.

From now on, the general coordinator of the digital transformation office will develop the methodology for monitoring the progress on the digital agenda with the support of the government ICT office (OGTIC).

The digital transformation office, formed by public institutions, private civil society organizations and academia, will be able to update the agenda on an annual basis.

In addition to the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Paraguay and Uruguay have also presented digital agendas this year. Costa Rica, meanwhile, is working on the design of a national plan for 2022-2027.