New York, March 27th, 2023.- During his remarks at the first thematic debate on the process of the Digital Global Compact on digital inclusion and connectivity, Cuba first deputy minister of Foreign Affairs, Gerardo Peñalver Portal, stressed the potential of the information and communication technologies (ICT) in the promotion of Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and the SDG.
In his statement on belhaf of Group 77 and China, Peñalver Portal stated that while the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the pace of digital transformation, and demonstrated how ICT has become an integral part of life, it has laid bare the existing inequalities in the digital sphere and highlighted the risk of the digital divide becoming the new face of the development divide.
To the Group 77 and China, other issues significantly impacting digital divide include technological monopoly, the promulgation and application of unilateral economic, financial or trade measures, the absence of consistent dialogue and institutionalized mechanisms for sharing knowledge, experience, expertise, and technologies and the need to improve regulatory frameworks.
In this sense, the Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister expressed that the Global Digital Compact must foster the international and regional cooperation and guarantee the capacity to access, conttribute and share information, ideas and knowledge.
The G77 and China reiterated its commitment to actively engaging in this very important intergovernmental process and looks forward to reaching a concise, action-oriented outcome agreed by consensus through intergovernmental negotiations.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to United Nations