1.- GAID Seminar

From the 4th to the 5th of February, 2008, a change is brought to the GAID seminar to launch the Regional Network for Latin America and the Caribbean, organized by CEPAL, the Global Alliance for the Development of Technology of Information and Communication from the Department of Economic Finance and Social Affairs of the United Nations (UNDESA GAID www.un-gaid.org), the Interamerican Bank of Development (BID) and the International Center of Investigations for Development - Institute for the Connectivity of the Americas (IDRC-ICA).

The GAID Seminar will launch the Regional Network for Latin America and the Caribbean and will reunite experts on the theme of the TIC-for-the-development in order to develop joint ideas about Information Technology and Communication and its role in the development, particularly in areas such as health, education,juvenile employment and electronic government. The seminar will take place a few days prior to the Ministerial Conference II, where these proposals can be presented. There will be a bilingual event, with simultaneous translation from Spanish to English.

To confirm your participation and receive logistic information for the GAID Seminar, please contact Carolina Jara (Tel. (56) 2210-2129).


2.- Ministerial Conference

From February 6 through the 8th, 2008, Ministers and high level authorities will meet on the goals of the Ministerial Conference II about Society of Information in Latin American and the Caribbean, eLAC2007, in San Salvador, El Salvador.

The conference will continue the initiation process for Society of Information during the World Summit (2003-2005) and the Regional Ministerial Conference from Río de Janeiro, Brazil (June 8 to the 10th, 2005). The main purpose of the Ministerial Conference II will be to determine the degree of progress Society of Information has made in the region through the Regional Plan of Action (eLAC2007) and develop proposals for a new Regional Plan of Action for the years 2008-2010.

The Regional Plan of Action eLAC2007 has increased intense interest and participation during the first three years of implementation, but the time has come to update the Plan and establish a renovated regional consensus for new goals for a plan of action until the year 2010. The renovation of this plan is critical, above all in an era of rapid technological progress, and in a region so heterogeneous like in Latin America and the Caribbean.

To participate in this event you need to register with El Salvador entering the link http://www.elac2007.org.sv/registro.php

For questions about the Ministerial Conference, contact Diego Dalton, from the General Direction Attached to Economic Finance, from Ministry of External Affairs in El Salvador (ddalton@rree.gob.sv / Tel. (503) 2231-1501). To confirm your registration and receive logistic details for the Ministerial Conference, please contact Verónica Galaz: (veronica.galaz@cepal.org / Tel. (56) 2210-2239).


3.- OSILAC Workshop

At the end, there will be a Fourth Workshop about the Measurement of the Society of Information in Latin America, the 11th and 12th of February, 2008, in San Salvador. This workshop is the continuation of a series of technical events that the Observatory for the Society of Information in Latin America and the Caribbean (OSILAC) come to annually with the objective of responding to regional and international calls, materialized in the Goal 26.3 from the Regional Plan of Action, eLAC2007. This workshop will be a place of development for the approval of a new Plan of Action eLAC2010, allowing focus on their work of emerging issues more relevant for the authorities in the region, furthermore to give a continuation to the work that the National Office of Statistics for the region in the measurement of access and use from the TIC for the development.

To confirm your registration and receive logistic details of the OSILAC Workshop, please contact Carolina Jara (carolina.jaracepal.org / Tel. (56) 2210-2129). See the attached invitation, agenda, and informative forms of inscription.

For additional information, you may contact Jennifer Ross (Jennifer.ross@cepal.org  / Tel: 56-2210-2305) of CEPAL.

The ‘Pla de Recerca I Investigacio de Catalunya’ (PRI) 2005-2008 has, amongst other objectives, the facilitation of the transition towards an economy and a knowledge based society, through the promotion of policies concerning information and communication technologies (TIC).

These policies are mainly focused on some priority lines, in which Cataluña has got strengths and opportunities, such as infrastructure, communication media and health.

The objective of this competition is to grant financial aids to support research and/or innovation projects, which aim to promote the use of the ‘TIC’ (information and communication technologies) and incorporate improvements in the health sector, especially in the concerns of diagnostics, attention to disabled people, safety of patients, management of the medication at medical centres and hospitals, the cognitive rehabilitation and the visualisation and radiological valuation of digital mammography images.

The beneficiaries can be Catalan universities and non-profit non-university institutions located in Cataluña, which have amongst their activities the development, technological innovation and the transfer of knowledge.

The project needs to be implemented within a two-year period, from the end date of the acceptance presentation period. The maximum amount granted is 100,000 Euros.

The applications, in agreement with the standardised procedure, will need to be made by the person in charge of the project, with the agreement of the vice-chancellor competent in the subject or the director of the university, hospital or research centre, and will have to be presented in paper, as well as an electronic format, at the AGAUR register.

The applications can also be presented at the Post Office, in an open envelope, so that the application is stamped or dated by the Post Office employee before registering it.

The standard form for the application and the rules of the competition can be obtained at the AGAUR offices (Via Laietana, 28, 2a planta, 08003 Barcelona), in their webpage http://www.gencat.cat/agaur and in the CUR webpage http://www.gencat.cat/cur .