IGF LAC Space

Online Moderator

The Association of Country Code Top-Level Domains of Latin America and the Caribbean (ACT-LD) offers various support programs to the internet community in the region. These programs include the FRIDA program, the Scholarship program, and the Leaders program. The FRIDA program, which has been in operation since 2004, has been assisting in strengthening the internet at the regional level. The Scholarship program provides support for individuals to participate in events held in May and October, organized by LACNIC (the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry). The Leaders program offers funding and mentoring for research in internet governance.

However, ACNIC, the regional internet registry for Latin America and the Caribbean, also acknowledges the challenges faced by the internet ecosystem in the region. These challenges include the development of technical knowledge, regulatory aspects of the internet, connectivity issues, and gender gaps. Technical challenges encompass architecture, network operation, interconnection, security, and the application of emerging technologies. Regulatory challenges include practices such as blocking illegal content. Connectivity continues to be a challenge in both urban and rural areas of the region. Additionally, there is a disparity in gender representation in the internet technical community, and ACNIC aims to address this through initiatives like the IT Women Mentoring Programme.

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) holds an event called America Accessible, which focuses on ensuring digital inclusion for all individuals, regardless of age, gender, ability, or location. This event serves as a platform for strengthening knowledge on digital inclusion policies and strategies. The upcoming America Accessible event will take place in both Varadero, Cuba, and virtually from November 8 to 10.

Furthermore, ACT-LD is working on two new projects. The first project is the Unified Domain Searcher, a search service that allows users to check the availability of domain names under the participating Country Code Top-Level Domains. The second project is a DNS measurement study, conducted in collaboration with Oxford Information Labs and NIC Chile Labs. This study aims to develop a system of indicators to monitor the state and evolution of the Domain Name System (DNS) in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The importance of monitoring regulatory initiatives in coordination with other regional organizations, such as ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), LACNIC, and the Internet Society, is emphasized. Certain regulatory proposals assign new functions to Country Code Top-Level Domains (CCTLDs) that do not align with their technical role as domain name administrators. The speaker acknowledges these challenges and believes in the significance of monitoring these proposals alongside other regional organizations.

In conclusion, the ACT-LD provides support programs for the internet community in Latin America and the Caribbean, while ACNIC acknowledges and addresses challenges in the internet ecosystem. The ITU’s America Accessible event promotes digital inclusion, and ACT-LD is engaged in projects related to domain search services and DNS measurement. Monitoring regulatory initiatives is important, and coordination with regional organizations is vital to ensure the integrity and effectiveness of internet governance.

Ernesto Rodríguez Hernández

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) plans to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its main regional platform, America Accessible, in November 2023. The event will be held in Varadero, Cuba. America Accessible focuses on improving the accessibility of information and communication technology (ICT) services for individuals of all ages, genders, abilities, and locations.

The main objective of the anniversary celebration is to enhance understanding of digital inclusion policies and strategies. The ITU acknowledges the importance of ensuring equal opportunities for all and empowering individuals. Ernesto Rodríguez, a prominent advocate for digital inclusion, emphasizes the significance of inclusion and empowerment regardless of age, gender, ability, or location.

The ITU’s commitment to digital inclusion aligns with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, and SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities. These goals aim to bridge the digital divide and reduce disparities, fostering equal access to ICT services and promoting inclusion.

The commemoration in Varadero, Cuba, will provide a platform for experts, policymakers, and stakeholders to share experiences, knowledge, and best practices regarding digital inclusion. The event aims to strengthen collaboration and understanding among various stakeholders, contributing to the development of effective policies and strategies that bridge the digital gap and empower individuals from all backgrounds.

In conclusion, the ITU will celebrate the tenth anniversary of America Accessible in November 2023, marking a decade of efforts to promote digital inclusion and improve accessibility of ICT services. The event in Varadero, Cuba, will facilitate knowledge exchange and collaboration, with the goal of enhancing digital inclusion policies and strategies. This initiative corresponds with the UN’s SDGs, supporting Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, while working towards reducing global inequalities.

Nigel Casimir

The Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) has played a significant role in advancing internet governance in the Caribbean region. Since 2005, the CTU has organized the Caribbean Internet Governance Forum, which recently conducted its 19th edition. This longstanding forum has been crucial in promoting discussions and collaborations related to internet governance.

One of the notable outcomes of the Caribbean Internet Governance Forum is the establishment of National IGFs in countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, the Grenadines, and Barbados. These National IGFs provide a platform for stakeholders to address local internet governance issues and contribute to the development of regional policies and frameworks.

Recognising the importance of involving young people in the field of information and communication technology (ICT), the CTU has been actively focusing on youth participation. They have successfully organised the Caribbean Youth Internet Governance Forum, providing young individuals with the opportunity to engage in discussions and contribute their perspectives on internet governance matters. Furthermore, the CTU is planning to launch the Caribbean Youth ICT Network, aiming to foster greater participation by young people and develop the future generation of ICT professionals in the Caribbean.

In addition to their efforts in promoting internet governance and involving youth, the CTU supports the global movement towards digital governance. They acknowledge the upcoming 20-year review of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and are planning an open forum called ‘From IGF to GDC’ to facilitate the sharing of experiences and ideas, leading to policy recommendations for the Global Digital Compact (GDC).

Overall, the CTU’s initiatives highlight their commitment to advancing internet governance, engaging the youth in the ICT sector, and supporting the shift towards digital governance. By organizing forums, establishing National IGFs, and involving young individuals, the CTU has been successful in bringing together stakeholders and facilitating meaningful discussions in the Caribbean region. Their efforts contribute to the development of policies and frameworks that can shape the future of internet governance and create a more inclusive and sustainable digital future.

Olga Cavalli

The South School on Internet Governance recently celebrated a significant milestone as it marked its 15th consecutive year in Campina Grande, Brazil. Campina Grande is known as the innovation and academic hub of the northeast region, with approximately 22 universities. This achievement reflects the school’s commitment to providing high-quality education in internet governance.

One noteworthy aspect of the school’s progress is the incorporation of new learning stages in response to valuable student feedback. The South School on Internet Governance has introduced a preparatory course, synchronous work, and research components to enhance the learning experience and adequately prepare students for the ever-evolving landscape of internet governance. By actively responding to feedback, the school demonstrates dedication to continuous improvement and meeting students’ needs.

Furthermore, the school has made significant strides in promoting inclusivity and accessibility by offering a multilingual learning program available in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. This commitment to multilingualism not only enables a broader reach but also contributes to the goal of reduced inequalities, as outlined in SDG 10. Materials available in multiple languages ensure that a diverse range of individuals can access the school’s resources and actively participate in internet governance discussions.

Additionally, the biggest challenge faced by the internet today is highlighted as fostering multi-participatory dialogue. Recognizing this, the school aims to encourage and facilitate dialogue involving multiple stakeholders. It is believed that multi-participatory conversations can lead to more inclusive and effective decision-making processes in internet governance. While some international processes may lean more towards multilateralism than multi-participation, the school advocates for the latter as the preferred approach for addressing the complex challenges facing the internet.

In conclusion, the South School on Internet Governance has achieved a significant milestone by marking its 15th year in Campina Grande, Brazil. Through incorporating new learning stages, offering a multilingual learning program, and advocating for multi-participatory dialogue, the school demonstrates dedication to quality education and addressing the challenges of the internet. It serves as an important platform for students and stakeholders to engage in discussions and collaborate towards shaping the future of internet governance.

Rodrigo de la Parra

During the discussion on internet governance, participants expressed their support for maintaining and evolving the currently established initiatives in this field. They highlighted the significance of a multi-stakeholder dialogue as a key component of these initiatives. The multiparticipatory model, which has been built over many years, was emphasized as a means to facilitate dialogue amongst multiple interested parties.

One of the main arguments put forward was the importance of initiatives such as the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). The IGF was identified as a platform that favours dialogue among various stakeholders in the internet governance space. The participants acknowledged the long-standing efforts to consolidate and evolve these initiatives, indicating a positive sentiment towards their continuation.

Maintaining an open, secure, and interoperable internet while avoiding fragmentation was another key point of discussion. The participants acknowledged that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), an organization involved in internet governance, primarily deals with technical matters. In this regard, activities focused on strengthening this important element of the internet infrastructure were identified as positive steps.

The conversation also touched upon the importance of implementing programs aimed at improving operational security and stability. Specifically, Kindness, a program designed to elaborate best practices for enhancing operational security and stability, was highlighted. The participants recognized the significance of such programs and the need for technical training starting from basic knowledge about the tools and functioning of the Domain Name System (DNS) to more advanced knowledge about implementing DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) and accompanying users.

Furthermore, the successful resumption of face-to-face roadshows was mentioned as a positive development. These roadshows, held in San Vincent and the Grenadines and Costa Rica, provided an opportunity for discussions with domain operators and the authorities of these countries. It was also noted that plans were in place to conduct similar events in Colombia in November.

Notably, one participant expressed highly supportive views towards maintaining the significant space where various active and forward-looking organizations from the region share their activities. The importance of preserving the spaces built over many years and the necessity for their evolution were emphasized. Additionally, a sense of pride was expressed as the region was identified as being the most advanced in these implementations on a global scale.

In conclusion, the participants in the discussion demonstrated a positive sentiment towards maintaining and evolving established initiatives in internet governance. They stressed the importance of a multi-stakeholder dialogue, highlighted the significance of the IGF, and advocated for an open and secure internet to avoid fragmentation. The implementation of programs to enhance operational security and stability, as well as the successful resumption of face-to-face roadshows, were considered positive developments. The participants also expressed a strong belief in the significance of the spaces where active organizations in the region share their activities and expressed pride in their advanced implementation efforts on a global level.

Germán López

Germán López’s research focuses on analysing legislative approaches to open internet regulation in Colombia. The research examines various legislative projects presented within the Congress of the Republic of Colombia that could potentially affect key aspects related to internet governance. The research findings highlight the potential risks associated with censorship, content blocking, and restrictive legislation.

While acknowledging the legitimate intentions behind these legislative proposals, Germán López points out the risks stemming from a lack of understanding of the open internet’s functioning and stakeholder interests. Many of the proposals arise from a desire to protect valuable interests within the legal framework, such as the rights of children and authors’ rights. However, these proposals may inadvertently limit the development and potential of the open internet due to a limited understanding of its logic and the diverse range of stakeholder interests involved.

In response to these findings, Germán López produced a condensed document that simplifies the elements of the research. The purpose of this document is to educate Colombia’s lawmakers about the potential risks associated with their decisions that pertain to the open internet. Additionally, sessions involving different stakeholders have been conducted to advance the discussion on open internet regulation in Colombia.

The research concluded that there is a need to continue discussions and efforts to promote an open internet. Following the publication of the condensed document, discussions on the subject have indeed been ongoing within Colombia. The objective is to increase awareness among parliamentarians about the potential risks and foster discussions around open internet regulation.

In summary, Germán López’s research highlights the risks posed by legislative approaches to open internet regulation in Colombia. The research provides insights into the potential consequences of censorship, content blocking, and restrictive legislation. Efforts have been made to educate lawmakers and facilitate discussions to promote a better understanding of the open internet and its implications. The findings call for continued efforts to sensitize parliamentarians and advocate for an open internet in Colombia.

Paula Otey

During the session, several researchers presented their findings on various internet-related topics. Germán López from Colombia discussed the legislative challenges for maintaining an open internet in his country. He emphasised the importance of sustaining these discussions to ensure internet access and freedom for all. His research shed light on the obstacles and potential solutions regarding internet governance in Colombia.

Daniela Cuspoca, also from Colombia, presented her research on the development of ICT vocational training in public schools. Her study focused on the impact of technology education on social mobility. Daniela highlighted the different stages of her work, including surveys conducted to understand the reality of the issue. Her findings emphasised the need to raise awareness and promote the importance of ICT education in public schools to enhance opportunities for social advancement.

Emiliano Venier’s research brought attention to the breaches and inequalities in internet access in indigenous communities in the North of Salta, Argentina. His study aimed to understand the specific challenges faced by these rural communities and their perceptions of connectivity. Emiliano’s research highlighted the importance of considering local and specific perspectives in addressing internet access disparities. It shed light on the reality of these communities and the urgent need for targeted interventions to bridge the digital divide.

Overall, the researchers’ presentations provided valuable insights into local contexts and realities surrounding internet access and development. Their work emphasised the significance of continued research and collaboration in addressing internet governance challenges in the region. The findings contribute to the broader understanding of the issues and inform strategies to ensure equitable access to the internet for all communities.

Juan Carlos Lara

The civil society in Latin America is actively collaborating on various initiatives to enhance digital security and resilience, with a particular emphasis on capacity-building for marginalized groups. This collaboration involves establishing a network of trust among digital security experts to exchange information and enhance their skills. Furthermore, civil society is spearheading initiatives to promote digital resilience and develop tools tailored to the needs of journalists, human rights defenders, and marginalized communities.

In parallel, there is a growing recognition that international norms and rules pertaining to cyberspace need to be inclusive and take into account human rights and regional concerns. Experts are advocating for the inclusion of human rights considerations in discussions within UN spaces, particularly in the formulation of new rules for state behavior in cyberspace. Concerns have been raised that these rules may not fully acknowledge the importance of human rights. Therefore, it is vital that future regulations in cyberspace reflect and respect human rights principles.

Additionally, research conducted in the Amazon region has shed light on the challenges faced by indigenous communities in terms of digital connectivity. Connectivity plays a significant role in reducing inequalities and promoting development in rural and underserved areas. The research findings highlight the need for greater attention and resources to address the connectivity challenges faced by these communities. Moreover, a report titled “Latin America in a Glimpse” has been published, highlighting the issue of gender violence and its intersection with connectivity challenges. This report underscores the importance of improving connectivity to address social inequalities and enhance inclusivity.

Lastly, regulatory changes in the digital landscape should prioritize human rights considerations and encourage multistakeholder participation. Concerns have been raised about the adequacy of initiatives related to artificial intelligence, platform regulation, and combating misinformation in terms of upholding human rights. It is essential that regulatory frameworks strike a balance between societal needs and individual rights while ensuring meaningful involvement of all stakeholders.

In summary, the civil society in Latin America is actively working to strengthen digital security and resilience, with a specific focus on capacity-building for marginalized groups. International norms and rules for cyberspace must incorporate human rights and regional considerations for a balanced approach. Research highlights the need for increased attention and resources to address connectivity challenges in rural areas. Regulatory changes should prioritize human rights and foster multistakeholder participation to create a fair and inclusive digital ecosystem.

Daniel Triviño

Zero-rating (ZR) plans, employed by various mobile data operators, have the potential to bring both benefits and drawbacks, depending on the specific context. On one hand, ZR can promote broadband adoption, reduce the cost of mobile internet plans, and improve the adoption of information and communication technology (ICT). However, it is important to consider the potential harm that ZR can cause.

One concern is that ZR may favour certain content over others, which raises questions about net neutrality and could impact social benefits and individual rights, particularly for those in lower socio-economic segments. This could lead to limited access to diverse information and potential economic opportunities for disadvantaged communities.

Additionally, the impact of ZR can vary across markets. In Brazil, where the market is not concentrated, ZR may not have a strong positive effect, whereas in Colombia, it could benefit the lower socio-economic strata. This highlights the importance of considering market dynamics when assessing the consequences of ZR.

Another drawback is that ZR might result in a reduced internet experience, limiting the availability of applications and services for users. This could hinder the development of digital skills and contribute to the spread of misinformation.

To address these concerns, it is suggested that current ZR practices and policies should be carefully reviewed and regulated. Instead of further concentration among large operators, a competitive and diverse ZR market should be encouraged. ZR plans should aim not only to reduce costs but also to improve users’ digital skills. Appropriate regulations are needed to prevent the spread of misinformation and manipulation by content providers. Diversification among content providers, rather than solely targeting larger platforms, should also be promoted.

In summary, ZR plans can bring benefits such as promoting broadband adoption and reducing internet costs, but they also have potential drawbacks including content favoritism, limited applications, and the spread of misinformation. To mitigate these issues, it is necessary to review and regulate current ZR practices, promote a diverse ZR market, and focus on improving users’ digital skills. By taking these steps, the negative impacts of ZR can be minimized, and its potential benefits can be maximized for all segments of society.

Pilar Iupi-Losprete

The analysis examines the content creator ecosystem in Argentina, highlighting several significant points. Firstly, it reveals a substantial market for content creation in Argentina, with approximately 36 million people spending an average of 3 hours and 22 minutes per day on social media. This presents ample opportunities for content creators to engage with a large audience.

Moreover, brands have recognized this shift in consumer behavior and are redirecting their advertising spending towards digital platforms and social media. This indicates a growing demand for content creators and provides potential avenues for monetization.

However, content creators in Argentina face various challenges. One of the main obstacles is understanding platform algorithms. To maximize their visibility and reach, content creators must dedicate a substantial amount of time to understand these algorithms and tailor their content accordingly.

Another challenge is the lower value of clicks in Argentina compared to other regions. This poses a hurdle for content creators seeking to earn significant revenue from their work. As a result, some creators resort to strategies like modifying their accents to appeal to a global audience and overcome this monetization limitation.

Additionally, the analysis explores different types of content and their corresponding monetization strategies. Content can be categorized as synchronous, recent, seasonal, or evergreen, each requiring different approaches to monetization. Platforms that offer more direct monetization possibilities generally host healthier content, highlighting the link between revenue generation and content quality.

Furthermore, expansion and internationalization emerge as necessities for content creators in Argentina. To sustain themselves, creators must seek opportunities beyond national borders. Currently, the distribution of ad money follows a long-tail format, with a small portion of creators claiming the majority of revenue. This pattern emphasizes the importance of expanding one’s global reach to access a broader market and increase revenue potential.

In conclusion, the content creator ecosystem in Argentina is characterized by a large market, increased brand spending on social media, and the use of third-party services for monetization. However, creators face challenges such as understanding platform algorithms, lower click values, and the need for internationalization. Successful monetization strategies vary depending on the type of content, and platforms that allow for direct monetization generally foster healthier content. To thrive in this ecosystem, content creators must adapt to these challenges and explore global opportunities.

Onsite Moderator

The analysis of the Internet community in Latin America and the Caribbean reveals several important points. Firstly, LACNIC (Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry) offers a range of support options to the community in the region. These include the FRIDA program, which provides support to projects and initiatives aimed at strengthening the Internet at the regional level. LACNIC also has a scholarship program that facilitates participation in events held in May and October. Additionally, their Leaders program provides funding and mentorship opportunities for research. Another noteworthy initiative is the IT Women Mentoring Program, which promotes professional development and aims to increase women’s involvement in the Internet technical community.

The analysis also highlights the challenges faced by the Internet community in this region. One significant challenge is the development of knowledge and research on technical issues and regulatory aspects of the Internet. The complexity of these areas poses difficulties for the management and evolution of the Internet. Moreover, the blocking of illegal content practices requires the strengthening of the multistakeholder model, indicating the need for further work in terms of Internet regulation.

Connectivity is another major challenge in this region. Despite progress, there remains a gap in both the quality of access and the capacities of Internet service providers, particularly in urban and rural areas. This indicates that efforts to improve connectivity infrastructure and access across the region are needed.

Furthermore, the analysis highlights a gender gap in the participation of women in the Internet ecosystem, especially in the technical community. This gap emphasizes the need for increased efforts to promote gender equality and diversity in the Internet industry, encouraging greater participation and contribution from women in the technical aspects of the Internet.

In conclusion, the analysis highlights the importance of support options offered by LACNIC, challenges in knowledge development and Internet regulation, connectivity issues, and the gender gap in the development of the Internet community in Latin America and the Caribbean. Efforts should focus on strengthening regional initiatives, promoting knowledge and research, improving connectivity infrastructure, and addressing the gender gap to ensure a more inclusive and robust Internet ecosystem in the region.

Daniela Cuspoca

The education system in Colombia is facing challenges in effectively integrating technology into classrooms. One of the main issues is the lack of clear guidelines on how to use technology in a productive and beneficial way. Currently, there are no concrete instruments of good practice available for teachers to refer to, leaving them to make their own decisions on whether to undergo state-promoted training. This lack of guidance and support can be daunting for teachers who may already be unfamiliar with digital tools and unsure of how to incorporate them into their teaching.

To address this issue, it is crucial for teachers to receive more instruction in digital issues. In cities like Medellín, there are entities that focus on providing digital training for teachers. This is a positive step in the right direction as it equips teachers with the necessary knowledge and skills to begin covering digital issues in the classroom. However, many teachers still remain unaware of how to effectively integrate digital skills into their teaching practices. Therefore, there is a need for more comprehensive training programs that not only introduce teachers to digital tools but also guide them on how to incorporate these tools into their pedagogy effectively.

While efforts have been made to provide schools with computers and tablets, it is important to recognize that technology adoption in schools is not just about the provision of devices. Programs in Colombia mainly focus on providing the hardware but neglect to include components for their effective use. The Secretariat of Education has acknowledged that the mere provision of technology is not sufficient and that attention needs to be directed towards other elements, such as training, support, and guidance.

Furthermore, there is a significant need to develop digital skills among students, particularly those in vulnerable conditions. While students may know how to use the internet, they often lack awareness of the risks involved. It is crucial for students to not only acquire basic digital literacy but also to develop critical thinking and digital citizenship skills. By focusing on skill development, students will be better equipped to navigate the digital world safely and make informed decisions.

In conclusion, Colombia faces challenges in integrating technology effectively in classrooms. The lack of clear guidelines and support for teachers, alongside the focus on device provision rather than effective use, contribute to these challenges. To address these issues, it is crucial to provide teachers with comprehensive training programs and support to help them integrate digital skills into their teaching practices. Additionally, attention should be given to the development of digital skills among students, particularly those in vulnerable conditions, to ensure they are equipped to navigate the digital world responsibly.

Emiliano Venier

In North Salta, Argentina, there are significant inequalities in internet access among Indigenous communities. Rural areas, especially Indigenous communities, face precarious connectivity and underdeveloped tech devices. Additionally, the cost of internet accessibility is significantly higher for Indigenous communities compared to the rest of Northern Argentina.

Efforts to bridge the digital divide include non-governmental organizations like the Greater Mission Community Network and the Gran Chaco Foundation, which aim to bring connectivity to Indigenous communities. However, the state’s attempts to promote internet accessibility have been deemed insufficient, with last mile connectivity remaining a significant obstacle.

Furthermore, there is a lack of content in native languages on the internet, particularly for the Uichí people, one of the most represented groups in the region. This exacerbates the digital divide and hampers communication, cultural preservation, and education within Indigenous communities.

On a positive note, Indigenous communities utilize internet and technology in unique ways that differ from Western cultures. They strengthen their cultural identities, contribute to environmental care, and promote recognition and revitalization of native languages.

In conclusion, the digital divide for Indigenous communities in North Salta, Argentina, remains a challenge. It is crucial to improve connectivity policies, infrastructure, and digital literacy to ensure equitable access to the internet. Addressing the lack of content in native languages is also essential for cultural preservation and inclusivity in the digital space. Efforts made by non-governmental organizations are helping, but more comprehensive strategies and policies are needed to bridge the gap effectively.

Fernanda Martínez

The Centre for Technology and Society Studies (CETIS) is a renowned institution that focuses on conducting in-depth research and providing comprehensive training programs in the field of digital processes and internet governance. They are actively engaged in exploring various aspects of technology to foster a better understanding of its impact on society.

CETIS goes beyond research and education by organizing events that create awareness and sensitization regarding technology-related issues. These events are vital in informing and engaging the public, promoting discussions, and driving positive change.

Ethics and responsible technology implementation are significant concerns for CETIS. They strive to influence and implement ethical principles and solutions that are sensitive to local contexts. By doing so, they aim to ensure that technology and internet governance practices adhere to fairness, accountability, and respect for human rights.

Connectivity, digital literacy, interoperability, and collaboration are key elements emphasized by CETIS in addressing the challenges within the digital ecosystem. Recognizing the importance of collaboration, CETIS actively collaborates with regional organizations to carry out their programs and research initiatives. This spirit of cooperation allows for shared knowledge and resources, leading to more effective solutions and outcomes.

One noteworthy aspect of CETIS is their dedication to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Their work aligns with SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). This demonstrates their commitment to using technology as a means to contribute to global development and create a more sustainable future.

At a recent conference, Fernanda Martínez expressed her appreciation for the efforts made by the Association of National Internet Registries (ACNIC) in initiating a leadership program. She sees great value in the opportunities it provides for personal and professional growth. Furthermore, as a researcher, Fernanda Martínez has shown interest in collaborating with other researchers to strengthen their findings and contribute collectively to the field.

In conclusion, this conference has highlighted the significant role that technology plays in shaping our society. CETIS’s research, training programs, and events contribute to raising awareness, addressing ethical concerns, and encouraging collaboration. Furthermore, the appreciation expressed for ACNIC’s leadership program and the eagerness to collaborate with fellow researchers demonstrates the importance of fostering partnerships and driving collective progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Onsite Moderator:
for LAC-TLD, CETIS and LACNIC. My name is Alessia Zucchetti, Coordinator of Research and Cooperation Projects at LACNIC, and I will be presenting, giving the opening of this session. And, well, in this instance we will have, during the first hour, as you know, the different invited organizations will have about five minutes to inform about the progress and projects. As well as answering the question raised, which is, from the perspective of your organization, what challenges related to the management and evolution of the Internet in the region can you identify? In the second part of the session, different organizations will be able to present the research and the results obtained. Well, thank you very much, and I give the floor to Rocío from LAC-TLD, who will continue with the moderation of the session.

Online Moderator:
Thank you very much, Alessia. Welcome everyone to this new edition of the IGF LAC Space. Thank you to those who connected and are in the room as well. So, in this first part, as Alessia announced, we are going to invite the organizations in the region to share their updates and also to answer the question that we send you in advance about the challenges they identify from the perspective of their organization for Internet governance in Latin America and the Caribbean. I wanted to remind everyone that each organization has five minutes to make their update, and also to remind you that, as we are showing on the screen, we have Spanish and English interpretation available, so you can choose the language in which you will make your update. Ahora voy a pasar inglés para presentar al primer speaker. So, the first organization that is invited to share its updates is CTU, Caribbean Telecommunications Union, and I would like to invite Nigel to take the floor. Nigel, whenever you are ready. Thank you.

Nigel Casimir:
Good morning, everyone. Thank you very much, Rocio. I am Nigel Casimir. I’m the Deputy Secretary General of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union, and I’ll just say a few words about what the CTU has been doing in terms of projects and so on associated with Internet governance. Our main major ongoing project in Internet governance is the Caribbean Internet Governance Forum. And I say main ongoing because we first began this in 2005, and just in August of this year, we had our 19th edition. And our CIGF, Caribbean Internet Governance Forum, is one of the recognized NRIs of the IGF, one of the national and regional initiatives of the IGF. And I’m happy to say that over the years, we’ve spawned at least three national IGFs within the Caribbean region, Trinidad and Tobago, Citizens of the Grenadines, and Barbados in particular, of which the first two meet and have continued to meet annually. But one key output of our Caribbean Internet Governance Forum has been a document we call the Caribbean Internet Governance Policy Framework. And this document is basically a compilation of our Caribbean priorities and policy recommendations associated with Internet governance through all the priority areas, like, for example, infrastructure development, Internet operations, technical operations, the legal and regulatory area, awareness and capacity building, research, and so on. So in that document, which was first issued in 2009, you will find what are the Caribbean priorities associated with Internet governance arising from the proceedings of the Caribbean Internet Governance Forum over the years. This last CIGF we had in August approved the completion of the fourth edition of this policy framework document, issue 4.0, as we call it, and we expect that we would be issuing that in this quarter, the last quarter of 2023. So our work continues through the CIGF and the policy framework associated with it. There is more in terms of what has come out of this Caribbean Internet Governance Forum in that over the past two years, we’ve also run a Caribbean Youth Internet Governance Forum in association with the CIGF. And this is our attempt to foster greater participation by young people in the region and also foster what we call the… what do you call that? Career development and succession planning. That’s what Tim was looking for. Foster succession planning in terms of persons involved in Internet governance in the Caribbean. Alongside that, we also have a new initiative that we are trying to get off the ground and hopefully it will be launched at our CTU ICT week next week in Barbados. It’s something we’re calling the Caribbean Youth ICT Network. This would be a group, again, of young people involved with ICT in more than just the pure Internet governance area. But again, fostering that collaboration and development of youth in the Caribbean. We’ve also recognized that there is soon to be the 20-year review of this IGF and we’ve seen documents issued from the UN, UN Secretary General, our Common Agenda, and the other document associated with that. That will lead us to the summit next year, the summit of the future, the GDC, the Global Digital Compact. That’s the document I was trying to remember coming out of our Common Agenda. So over this year and into next year, there is the development of the Global Digital Compact. And a specific project we have this year at this year’s IGF is an open forum. This will take place on Thursday, October 12th, and we call it From IGF to GDC. And what the focus is going to be is on a new era for global digital governance. And there is this debate going on as to whether we move from Internet governance to digital governance, which is slightly wider. And we’ll be taking a SIDS perspective on this evolution. There have been, we would say, some shortcomings in terms of meeting the policy requirements of small island developing states in the current Internet governance scenario. And as we move into the global digital governance concept, our open forum, we would be looking to probably foster some policy recommendations and so on that we can take on board in putting together this Global Digital Compact looking forward to the future. So that’s an idea of some of the things that we’ve been doing in terms of the Caribbean and the CTU. And I’ll stop and pass it back to you, Rocio. Thank you.

Online Moderator:
Thank you very much, Nigel. And I will now ask the technical team if they can help us and make Olga Cavalli, Paula Otegi, and Fernanda Martinez as co-hosts in the Zoom session, please. If you can help us with that. Now I will give the floor to Olga Cavalli from the South School on Internet Governance. Thank you very much, Olga. The floor is yours.

Olga Cavalli:
Thank you, Rocio. Should I speak English or Spanish? Whatever you prefer. Okay, I will go for Spanish, which is easier for me. Thank you very much for always organizing this space that I find so important for our region, for meeting and sharing. I don’t know if I can share the screen. I brought some pictures. It’s not long. Don’t be alarmed. I can’t yet, but it doesn’t matter. While I’m telling you… Let’s see if I can do it now. No, I can’t. Some news about the South School on Internet Governance. We organized it… We celebrated our 15th consecutive year. This time, unlike previous years, we wanted to leave big capitals and go to other cities in our wonderful region. We went to the city of Campina Grande in the northeast of Brazil, which is considered the innovation and academic hub of the northeast of Brazil. It’s a very beautiful city with about 22 universities. Let’s see if I can do it now. No, I still can’t. It doesn’t matter. So… I’m going to look at my notes. And we had, for the first time, we recovered the number of pre-pandemic scholarship participants. In Mexico, we had about 250 participants in the room. This year we had 200 participants in the room and we had 200 virtual participants. Well, I’m still out of power, it doesn’t matter. So it was, after 15 years, to return. We had two years totally virtual. Last year was a new year because we had nothing more than 60. We were just getting out of the pandemic. So we had a very nice session in Campina Grande. The difference, the novelties that we have in the school are several. From the comments that the students make every year, we have been incorporating new learning stages. Now the complete, synchronous, hybrid, in-person and virtual week is complemented by a preparatory course, totally virtual, with material prepared by the team of the School of Southern Internet Governance, with videos, podcasts and reading material. Then there is this complete week of synchronous work, in person or virtual. And we have also reached an agreement with the University of Mendoza, which is where I graduated as an engineer. For those who have faithfully completed these two stages, they can do a research, a research work with the university and receive a diploma from the University of Internet Governance and Regulations. This year we had participants from 34 countries. What happened with the pandemic is that people started to participate from anywhere in the world. Most of them are from Latin America. However, we have people from India, Italy, Europe, North America, Africa. Last year we had graduates from Africa. This year everything was done in three languages. All the materials were in three languages. The preparatory course, the simultaneous translation in Campina Grande and also all the materials for the diploma will also be done in three languages, with the collaboration of teachers from the University of Paraíba. We also have the book in three languages, Spanish, English and Portuguese, on the website of the school, which is called www.governanceinternet.org. Can I show you a photo? No, I can’t. I’ll send it to you later. I wanted to thank you. Regarding the question, I think the biggest challenge of the Internet today is to continue fostering the multi-participatory dialogue. Those of us who follow the international processes have seen that there are a series of processes that are not necessarily multi-participatory, but rather multilateral, which is not bad. However, I think the path of multi-participation is the right one. For this, the school, both now and at the beginning of the year, worked with all its graduates, with more than 70 graduates, in a document for the Global Digital Compact, which is published on the Global Digital Compact website. And now we are working on a document offering ideas on how to strengthen the multi-participatory process for the fulfillment of the future of the United Nations and WSIS Plus 20. That’s all. Thank you for your time. I’ll send you the presentation later.

Online Moderator:
Thank you very much, Olga. I apologize for the technical problems. I understand that there was a problem and that’s why you couldn’t go up with the host. But thank you very much for your update and also for answering the question that had been raised. Now we will continue with the next presentation. I will invite Rodrigo de la Parra, Vice President and Director of the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean of ICANN. Rodrigo, when you are ready, go ahead. Rodrigo, I don’t know if you can hear us. Okay. Voy a cambiar inglés. So the technical team, I would like them to help us if you can make Rodrigo de la Parra a host as well so he can open his mic. Okay, thank you. I guess he can now. Rodrigo, no sé si puedes abrir tu micrófono ahora. Sí, creo que sí.

Rodrigo de la Parra:
Ya puedo. Hola. Gracias. ¿Cómo están? Saludos. Buenos días a Kioto. Buenas tardes aquí desde nuestra región. Los saludo y los felicito por mantener esta iniciativa a LAC-TLD, a LACNIC y a CETIS. Creo que es un espacio muy importante que debemos mantener y para compartir toda esta serie de actividades que realizan todas estas organizaciones de la región. Creo que siempre muy activas y muy propositivas y avanzando desde luego nuestro modelo de múltiples partes interesadas o multiparticipativo. Y entonces en este tono quisiera empezar con contestar la pregunta sobre el desafío. Y creo que coincido con Olga en su apreciación. Creo que debemos enfocarnos a consolidar y desde luego donde sea necesario evolucionar estos espacios que tenemos actualmente que nos ha costado mucho trabajo construir durante muchos años en donde el principal componente es favorecer el diálogo de las múltiples partes interesadas, incluyendo las iniciativas que hemos escuchado y por supuesto este espacio, el marco de este espacio, el IGF, que tiene también como parte esencial este diálogo de múltiples partes interesadas. Así que nos queda un trabajo interesante en los siguientes años, demostrarnos, demostrar el trabajo que realizan todas las organizaciones que estamos aquí representadas y realmente la relevancia de avanzar en los distintos temas, cada uno dentro de su propio rol, de su propia responsabilidad, pero siempre con este espíritu que acordamos también hace ya 20 años con el proceso de UISIS, de la Cumbre Mundial de la Sociedad de la Información. En cuanto a, desde luego, bueno, los retos particulares como organización, bueno, pues continuar con el compromiso de mantener una Internet abierta, segura, interoperable, evitar que exista fragmentación en Internet. Nuestro ámbito de acción como ICANN es evidentemente técnico y es así que, bueno, nuestras actividades han estado enfocadas a fortalecer este importante elemento de la infraestructura de Internet. En este año, para nuestra región, bueno, ya llevamos dos de las tres reuniones que ICANN ha tenido globalmente. Hay que destacar la primera del año que se llevó a cabo en Cancún, en México, y que muestra también que estamos regresando ya a los números de participación en persona prepandemia, lo cual es muy importante e hizo que fuera una reunión muy nutrida con gente de la región participando en los distintos procesos dentro de ICANN. Después, bueno, pues destacar, yo espero que también los otros colegas de la comunidad técnica de la región también platicarán un poco de estos acontecimientos, pero yo creo que ha habido un par de reuniones muy exitosas durante este año en donde hemos participado de forma colaborativa. Las organizaciones que estamos albergadas en la casa de Internet, en Montevideo, en Uruguay, hemos organizado reuniones con los gobiernos de la región a través de dinámicas en donde hemos mostrado cómo este ambiente justamente multistakeholder o de múltiples partes interesadas ayuda a llegar a resultados óptimos en las discusiones. En fin, ha habido acercamientos con la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe de Naciones Unidas, la CEPAL. Recientemente tuvimos una sesión muy buena en São Paulo, en Brasil. Seguimos también con nuestros programas de capacitación técnica que empiezan a ir desde el conocimiento de las distintas herramientas que existen, conocimiento sobre cómo funciona el DNS y más avanzado a la implementación de otras soluciones que abonan a la estabilidad y a la seguridad de Internet, como es el caso de DNSSEC. Hemos participado muy de cerca con operadores de red en varios países de la región. Hemos estado impulsando un programa de ICANN que se denomina Kindness. Es un programa que trata de elaborar mejores prácticas diseñadas para mejorar la operación de seguridad y estabilidad en los operadores de DNS de la región. Esto incluye desde luego la implementación del DNSSEC. Empiezan desde capacitaciones técnicas y se acompañan a los usuarios. until there is an adequate deployment of these tools. And we have found that in our region, it is the most advanced in these implementations around the world, which fills us with pride. And we will continue to work. Recently, we had the DNSSEC Day in Paraguay, which was very successful. Thank you very much. Finally, I would like to share with you that we have resumed our face-to-face roadshows. This year we were in San Vicente and Las Granadinas, which was also a very important collaborative effort. We were able to talk with the domain operator, the high-level country code register of this country, and also with the authorities. We did the same recently with Costa Rica, and in November we will be going to Colombia. So, well, we are very motivated and very happy, and also grateful for this space. Once again, I congratulate you. I wish you a successful IGF. Don’t miss the calendar of the IGF sessions in Kyoto and participate in those that are of your interest. And, of course, the ones that we have proposed as an organization. So, with this, Rocío, I end and thank you very much for your attention.

Online Moderator:
Thank you very much, Rodrigo, and also for sharing some of the initiatives that we are working on together with the organizations of the technical community in the region. So, thank you very much. Now we will continue with the next update, and in this case I will invite Juan Carlos Lara, from Digital Rights, to share his news. So, Juan Carlos, you have the floor. Thank you. Hello? Can you hear me? Yes? Yes, perfect.

Juan Carlos Lara:
Okay. Thank you very much, Rocío. Good morning, everyone. Good afternoon, good evening to everyone connecting remotely, especially from Latin America and the Caribbean. My name is Juan Carlos Lara. I come from Digital Rights with our main offices in Chile. It’s been a long trip to Kyoto, but I am very happy to participate, and I would like to thank LACNIC, CETIS, and LAC TLD for this space and for continuing the discussion on the priorities and activities in Latin America and the Caribbean regions. First of all, since my update comes from a civil society organization, I would like to highlight some of the activities that we have been conducting in the past year, not just limited to those of my own organization, but I would really like to emphasize the fact that civil society in Latin America has been working hand in hand in many different topics, which I think are important for the upcoming initiatives at the UN level and also in the region. I would like to begin by highlighting the work from Derechos Digitales in establishing and maintaining a network of trust among experts in the digital security sphere, both to exchange information as well as to generate instances of capacity building, especially regarding digital security and tools for journalists, human rights defenders, and many other groups of marginalized communities that can suffer from attacks in the cyber realm. Additionally, with other civil society organizations, within this week we will be launching a network on digital resilience. We would like to keep your eyes open to our announcement on that during this week. We have also been working alongside other civil society organizations and academic organizations in the Latin American region in UN spaces such as… Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. …ACTs, both instances where countries at the UN level are discussing new rules or new norms for the behavior of states in cyberspace and the prevention of cyber attacks, but we are concerned that new rules or norms can affect or not properly acknowledge human rights. And we have been working on that by both analyzing and also advocating for human rights considerations that take into account the concerns that we have from our region. Finally, from the Direchos Digitales side, I would like to highlight a couple of initiatives. One of them has to do with research that we have been conducting in the past few years on connectivity in the Amazon region in four countries with the purpose of also emphasizing and giving visibility to the challenges of connectivity in rural areas for indigenous communities and for many groups that might be underserved in their access to the Internet. And a separate one on the challenges of connectivity but also on violence, especially with a gender perspective, in the most recently launched report of Latin America in a Glimpse that we were happy to launch this June. And last but not least, we have been participating alongside many other groups here in this meeting as part of the multi-stakeholder committee for the LAC IGF meeting, the meeting of the Latin America and the Caribbean IGF that will take place later this year. This has been a challenging process, but we are happy to note that we will be able to meet each other in person again after a few years of only holding online meetings of that sort. As for the prompt that we received on the challenges related to the management and evolution of the Internet in the region, I think there are a couple of things that we really need to keep highlighting. One of them has to do with the challenges that we have for connectivity and the need for a higher amount of action from different stakeholders in providing connectivity in different areas as well as enhancing capacities to make better use of the Internet and not just to consume information. Also, we have an evolving regulatory landscape where we see many initiatives both in law and in policy with regards to things like artificial intelligence, platform regulation, the combat against disinformation and misinformation, and we would really like to note that civil society organizations are concerned that many of these initiatives may not be taking into consideration both human rights and, at the same time, the need for multistakeholder participation. And finally also that we need to also bring those multistakeholder perspectives and active and meaningful participation from different groups in the global spaces, including those that are heading towards the Global Digital Compact and the Summit for the Future and, of course, meetings such as the one that we are gathering for today. So, that’s it from my side. Thank you very much.

Onsite Moderator:
Yes, in the case of ACNIC, we would like to briefly mention the main opportunities for support that ACNIC offers. to the community in Latin America and the Caribbean, and how these programs are looking, in large part, to respond to the challenges that are presented at the regional level. Among these programs, I will briefly highlight some. On the one hand, we have the FRIDA program, the Regional Fund for Digital Innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean, the scholarships program, the leaders program, the Policy Shapers program, the support initiatives for NRIs, the Collaboration Project for Applied Research with academic institutions and research groups, the IT Women Mentoring Program and the LACNIC Campus. In the case of the FRIDA program, since 2004, it supports projects, initiatives or solutions for the strengthening of the Internet at the regional level, and this is done through an annual call to proposals that are made in the month of April of each year, and it is open to multiple actors in general. The LACNIC scholarship program provides support to participate in the events held in May and October, also generating the opportunity to interact, get involved and get to know regional technical community leaders. On the other hand, the Leaders program, which offers funding and mentoring to carry out research and is aimed at people involved in Internet governance. The Policy Shapers program, which emerges in 2022 in order to support candidates selected in their inclusion in Internet governance through different training stages. On the one hand, a first stage of participation in the first annual event of LACNIC in May of the specific year. A second stage, which consists of the implementation of a diploma in human rights to privacy and the protection of personal data. And a third stage, which culminates with the implementation of a diploma in Internet governance, DIGI. On the other hand, LACNIC continues, as I mentioned initially, providing support to NRIs through a $1,000 fund, access to training tools and the possibility of coordinating talks by staff experts on different topics. The IT Women Mentoring Program is a program that has been around for three years and seeks to promote professional development and women’s involvement in the Internet technical community, developing technical work with the support of a mentor who is also a reference of that topic. And for a period of six months, they can access training in transversal skills, as well as in technical areas. And to conclude, in what has to do with collaboration for applied research, this is a project that emerges in 2022 and that seeks to generate, and through which alliances have been generated with groups and research centers at the regional level, about technical issues to promote the development of knowledge and the dissemination of research that has preliminary results. And finally, the LACNIC Campus, which offers courses, training and currently also specializations in multiple topics. Regarding the specific question related to what has to do with the challenges we identify, one of these is punctually associated with what I mentioned about the development of knowledge and research on technical issues, such as architecture, network operation, interconnection or security, and also what has to do with the use and application of emerging technologies to the stability and security of the Internet in the region. These areas themselves represent challenges for the management and evolution of the Internet. Another challenge can also be generated around the regulatory aspects of the Internet, where practices such as blocking illegal content, for example, highlight how the strengthening of the model of multiple interested parties is required in order to work in an articulated way in case these practices advance. I would also like to highlight that the different programs developed by LACNIC also allow us to monitor the problems and needs that other organizations present and detect through their experience and their areas of action. Among these, a specific example is that of connectivity, which continues to be a challenge both in urban and rural areas of the region, but where, however, in recent times we have detected a greater attention to other aspects associated with the quality of access or the improvement in the capacities of Internet service providers in the region. Another of the needs is also associated with digital inclusion at a multidimensional level such as artificial intelligence or machine learning in human rights associated with the Internet. To conclude, I would also like to highlight the gender gap, but particularly the gap related to the participation of women in the Internet ecosystem and specifically in the technical community at the regional level, which is also a specific challenge of the region.

Online Moderator:
Thank you very much, Alessia. We will continue now with the next organization, which is CETIS, the Center for Technology and Society Studies at the University of San Andrés. I invite Fernanda Martínez to share her news.

Fernanda Martínez:
Thank you very much, Rocío. It is a pleasure, as always, to be able to share this space with other organizations in the region. As Rocío said, I am the Executive Director of the Center for Technology and Society Studies at the University of San Andrés, which is an interdisciplinary research, dissemination and training center on policies and development of digital processes in Latin America based in Argentina. We have three axes of action that coexist and have synergy between them. On the one hand, we have training programs. We have three current programs. One, which is already in the tenth edition, in charge of Santiago Gini. Then we have a diploma in Internet Governance directed by Carolina Guerre, which is in its sixth edition, which also has a hybrid format. Santiago has an intensive week that will be in November in Montevideo, and then it has four virtual modules, virtual, not face-to-face. And then, this year we have incorporated a new program, an international diploma in data protection directed by Pablo Palazzi and coordinated by Mariano Perosotti. In addition to these programs, which are entirely from CETIS, in recent years we have begun to collaborate and work together with organizations in the region, such as this year with Wikimedia Argentina, where we jointly dictated a course on Introduction to the Study of Fundamental Rights in the Digital Ecosystem. The reception was very good and we plan to replicate this course next year in the first semester. The truth is that this type of alliances we believe are fundamental and are part of the answers to the challenges. Then, on the other hand, the other strong component we have has to do with research. This year we have launched a project of creators and content platforms in Argentina, analysis of the value chain and the modes of production and monetization. The truth is that we are very happy with this project. It is a little work, but very interesting. In the second half of this space we will have the participation of Pilar and Pinto Prete, who will be telling us some findings of this research. We are also about to launch the third stage of the IA project, which is a project that seeks to think from an ethical perspective about the problems of artificial intelligence. The focus of this third edition will be on the metaverse and interoperability. We are also developing a document on disinformation in Argentina from a multisectoral perspective. We understand that this topic is at the forefront in Argentina mainly because of the elections and also in the region, but we were interested in knowing a perspective of all the actors involved and there were no studies that had that approach. And finally, we will be launching the number coordinated by CETIS, the Latin American magazine of economy and digital society, under the motto of the band Aya a un futuro de realidad extendida, 15 years of research on the Internet, development and digital governance in Latin America, which has to do with the celebration of the 15 years of CETIS that was last year. And for this case, we will be launching the third edition in Brazil and Colombia. The third component of our activities has to do with events, events of dissemination, awareness, sensitization. This year, among others, the annual data protection forums were highlighted, which included the presence of officials and referents in the academic, business, and personal data developed by the agency Access to Public Information, which was recently elevated to the Congress of the Nation. A workshop was also held on the responsible use of artificial intelligence in justice. towards the co-creation of practical tools for a sustainable digital transformation. We understand that our three axes are nourished, and that our idea is, from training, from research, to be able to generate influence, as in these two projects that I have just told you, these events, where they finally have a correlation in practice. And we have also participated, the various researchers at CETIS, in various regional processes. Finally, regarding the question, well, I agree with the colleagues who preceded me in the importance of consolidating spaces, in the importance of interoperability and in the importance of connectivity and digital literacy. From our academic space, let’s say, we consider that one of the challenges is, let’s say, being prudent when thinking about solutions and responses, for example, normative or implementation, that are in accordance with the ethical principles and located, that is, that they take into account the particularities of the region. And that is why we consider it very important to continue strengthening research with a focus on our region. So, well, thank you very much.

Online Moderator:
Thank you very much, Fernanda. Now we are going to continue with an update that we just added to the agenda at the last minute. And I wanted to invite Vice Minister Rodríguez, who is the Vice Minister of Communications of Cuba. I understand that he is in the room, if he can take a microphone. And just to remind you that we ask that your update does not exceed five minutes.

Ernesto Rodríguez Hernández:
Yes, good morning, good evening to the colleagues from the region who also accompany us. Thank you, Rocío. First of all, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to share with you a brief information. In 2023, the International Telecommunications Union celebrates the tenth anniversary of America Accessible, an event that constitutes the main regional platform of the International Telecommunications Union, focused on the accessibility of TICs to guarantee the digital inclusion and empowerment of all people, regardless of their age, gender, ability or location. America Accessible has as its objective in this edition, which incidentally will be celebrated from November 8 to 10, in the Balneario de Varadero in Cuba, to strengthen the knowledge of the members of the International Telecommunications Union on digital inclusion policies and strategies, while facilitating the exchange of good practices to guarantee the accessibility of ITIC telecommunications products and services for people with disabilities, girls, boys, women, indigenous peoples, older people and young people. At the same time, America Accessible provides an opportunity for all participants to share experiences and knowledge about projects and accessibility initiatives for TICs in the region of the Americas to benefit the multiple parties interested. The event will be held in person and you will be able to participate virtually. We would like to invite you, to tell you that it will be an honor for us to welcome in Varadero, Cuba, from November 8 to 10, all those who want to share their experiences about accessibility and use of information and communication technologies. Thank you very much for the opportunity.

Online Moderator:
Thank you very much, Deputy Minister. And to close this round of updates, now I am going to present a representation of the ACT-LD, the Association of CCTLs of Latin America and the Caribbean, our news. And this time I wanted to talk about two new projects in which we have been working in the ACT-LD in the last two years. The first is the Unified Domain Searcher, which I imagine some of you have already heard about. This searcher consists of a search service for the availability of domain names under the CCTLs of Latin America and the Caribbean that are participating in this project. And the searcher basically offers a unique, simple and non-intermediate search that presents the results of a query in equal conditions for all the CCTLs integrated into the project. Through this service, users can verify which options are available for registration, which options are already registered, and in turn, they can be redirected to the web sites of the CCTLs they have selected, both to advance in the registration process and to consult the public and available information about the domains that are already registered. At ACT-LD, we are very excited about this project because it is the first time that we are collaboratively developing an additional channel for the promotion of domain names in the ecosystem and also because it is the first project that is aimed directly at users and registrants by providing them with a simple, unified service that is also optimized for their use. Another aspect that we also like to highlight is that this project allows ACT-LD members to contribute to the promotion of the domain name registry in a collective and regional way. Currently, this project has 15 members of the 31 associated CCTLs of ACT-LD, and this is almost 50%. We believe that the search for a unified domain is the result of an articulation of efforts, interests, and resources that is only possible thanks to the trust and collaboration that is promoted in many organizations in the Internet ecosystem and also in the case of ACT-LD. In this way, we see that our community managed to develop and express a service that is aimed at all registrants, entrepreneurs, and all kinds of companies that want to register their domains under the CCTLs of the region. Currently, we are working to increase the number of CCTLs that are integrated into this project, and we are also putting in a lot of effort to promote the dissemination and knowledge of this consultation service for all those who want to use it. If you want, you can already consult it at the URL buscador.lactld.org and also in the menu of our website. The second project that I wanted to share in this update is a study that we recently announced and that we are going to be undertaking in conjunction with Oxford Information Labs and also NIC Chile Labs, and it is a study that is focused on the measurement of the DNS in Latin America and the Caribbean. The proposal that we are proposing consists of developing a system of indicators to measure the state and evolution of the DNS in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean, with a specific focus on the CCTLs. We believe that this project is important because, in a way, it is seeking to fill a gap in the spectrum of available data in the region and, in a way, it seeks to close this gap or seek to offer, in a way, current information that is systematized and that also contributes to strengthening the construction of a data culture between the CCTLs and other actors in the ecosystem of Latin America and the Caribbean. And we also hope that the findings derived from this study can provide value to other actors in the regional Internet ecosystem and can also provide new ways to approach the measurement of the DNS that allow us to identify trends, opportunities for improvement, development, and innovation in what are the best practices for the CCTLs and other operators in the ecosystem. Finally, I would like to mention that this study was recently selected by the ACNIC Cold Program to obtain a grant in the category of Internet Stability and Security. So, we will be advancing in these developments. Finally, to close my update, from the LED Act, we also raise the question about the current challenges. We agree with many of the ideas that have been shared so far in the session, especially in the importance of guaranteeing a multi-stakeholder model in which all the actors that were originally defined in this model have their place and space in equal conditions with the others. And another challenge that we notice in the ecosystem and in the field of action of the CCTLs is that we see that, in a generalized way, the diversity of CCTLs in the region has detected an appearance of a certain kind. these regulatory initiatives that are not compatible or that can become inapplicable in the operation of a CCTLD. In some cases, these initiatives even assign new functions to the CCTLDs that do not correspond to the technical function of a domain name administrator. That is why we believe that this poses a challenge to our community, and in that sense, we believe that it is also very important to monitor these regulatory proposals in coordination with other organizations in the regional technical community, such as ICANN, LACNIC, Internet Society, to address these challenges on time and also from a multistakeholder perspective, where we can involve all the perspectives of the other actors that are affected by these types of regulatory initiatives. So, that is our update from LAC-TLD, and with this we close the round of news from the organizations in the region. We thank all the organizations that participated and shared their news and developments in the last year, and now we are going to continue with the second section of the IGF LAC Space, and for that, I am going to give the floor to Paula Otey from LACNIC. Thank you very much.

Paula Otey:
Thank you, Rocío. Good morning to everyone in Kyoto. Good evening here in Uruguay. Well, as Rocío said, we are going to start this second block of the session, which is a space that we started two years ago, and this year we continue to promote it, and it is a space for the presentation of research in the region and what we want with this is to share certain findings on issues of relevance for our region regarding the use and development of the Internet. We also seek to share the main interests that we have as a community around key issues of Internet governance, and of course, as is usual, we seek collaboration between the different parts of our region. Today we are going to know some research carried out by the LACNIC Leaders Program, which Alessia mentioned earlier in the first block, and also research carried out by CETIS. So, to start this first block, I am going to give the floor to Germán López from Colombia, who I understand is in the room, he is presently in Kyoto. He is one of the 16 researchers who had the program in the 2022 edition. His research is called Legislative Challenges for the Open Internet in Colombia. And well, he is going to give the floor to Germán López from Colombia, who is one of the 16 researchers who had the program in the 2022 edition. And well, he is going to give the floor to Germán López from Colombia, who is one of the 16 researchers who had the program in the 2022 edition.

Germán López:
Now, yes. Well, really, thank you very much and good morning to everyone. It is a great pleasure to accompany you today. Again, my name is Germán López, I come from Colombia, and as Paula mentioned, also Paula, a pleasure to greet you virtually, also Alessia from LACNIC. I was part, or I am part of the Leaders 2.0 program, and also from the LACNIC Policy Shapers. Also, in fact, Julián is with me, who was my mentor for that research. So, Julián, thank you very much for all the support with that study. And suddenly, just before getting into the subject, of course, it is very pleasant to be here with you, and above all it is very pleasant, because precisely the opportunity to be part of that Leaders 2.0 program, somehow it became a moment of, let’s say, of progress and also to move a lot of other projects that ended up being related to that particular research. So, precisely, and incidentally, I take this opportunity to apologize in advance, as soon as I finish speaking, I will have to go to an ISOC session, because also working on that same subject, and working on issues of internet research, I was chosen as one of the Youth Ambassadors of this year, so I have to go to a meeting there, and in fact, the reason why I’m in Japan, is because I also end up being part of the Open Internet for Democracy program, precisely talking about this issue of legislative challenges to the internet. So, really, infinite thanks to the ACNIC team, infinite thanks also to Julián, because this ended up being an important step for a lot of other things that are happening very interesting on internet governance. A little bit to get into the subject, and it can also be very concise, with the subject of my research, of all for one and one for all, legislative challenges for the open internet in Colombia, the beginning of the question and what leads to the investigation is an observation that I think is quite simple and quite clear for everyone, which is, within these discussions that we have in the space of internet governance, there are some actors that clearly have a greater regulatory weight than others, and particularly that happens with the government, and also, of course, with the legislative branch. Legislators, norm makers in our countries have a predominant role in how that regulation works, and that is the internet. In that sense, and precisely taking the case of Colombia, what I sought to do was to analyze specifically how the Congress of Colombia was approaching, how the parliamentarians of Colombia were approaching the discussions on open internet regulation. Particularly, what caught my attention was to analyze for the last three or four years what had been the legislative projects that have been presented within the Congress of the Republic of Colombia, whose content could affect or regulate a relevant element for internet governance, or especially for the logic of open internet. In that note, after analyzing several law projects, what I sought to do was to create a typology of different risks that existed within those law projects for open internet, and that revolved around issues such as censorship, content blocking, or directly blocking some legitimate content from the internet. And a little bit of what I found in the research is that, in general terms, many of these proposals, in fact, come from a legitimate place, which is to seek to protect some valuable interest within the legal framework of our country, an important legal asset, such as the rights of children, the rights of the author, the good name, etc. But many times these legislative projects, precisely because they do not understand the logic of multiple interested parties, and because they do not understand the logic of how the internet works and how the internet works, as we know it within that open logic, can limit the development of it, and could become a barrier for open internet in Colombia. So, once that typology was finished, and once that research was finished, what I proceeded to do was to convert that document, that paper, into a much shorter document, elaborated with legal design, which sought to somehow simplify and create a very, very short document, very, very short, in which there were the basic elements of that open document, and which was directed or is directed to the congressmen of Colombia. After that document was finished, we had several chances to do, together with the support of the University Externado de Colombia, some sessions to invite different stakeholders of civil society, academia and also some people from the legislative work units of the congressmen, and in that way precisely advance in that discussion. What has happened since that moment, that we are talking about, I think maybe a year ago, like October last year, is precisely that we have continued talking about the subject, we have also continued trying to promote that discussion, very in line with several goals of the Internet Governance Forum, and also of other organizations, to seek to bring the discussions of open internet and seek to sensitize parliamentarians about those risks that are there, and it is precisely the work that has come, so to speak, in a much more practical way in Colombia, after the publication of that document. Again, thank you very much for your attention, a special greeting to the colleagues of ACNIC, to Paula, especially for all your leadership, and thank you very much to all.

Paula Otey:
Thank you very much, Germán, for sharing with us the main findings of your research. Above all, I emphasize the aspect that you were just talking about, of generating continuity in these important discussions. So we let you go to your next session, all the successes in the week, and then we will continue with the next research of the Leaders program, and I would like to introduce you to Daniela Cuspoca, who is also from Colombia. Her research is entitled Technology, Education and Social Mobility, Development of TIC Vocation in Public Schools in Colombia. She is virtually with us, so Daniela, if you are ready, I give you the floor and welcome you.

Daniela Cuspoca:
Of course, Paula, good morning everyone. As Paula mentioned, my name is Daniela Cuspo, I am a researcher at the Center for Internal and Social Studies at the University of Rosario in Colombia. Thank you very much for the opportunity, leaders and LACNIC, for this opportunity to expose the research of each one. My research and my role as a researcher has been quite interdisciplinary, although my background is as a lawyer right now, finishing my master’s degree in economics. From the Center, we seek to precisely solve these problems and analyze them from a rather interdisciplinary approach. What is happening? What impact do technologies have on society? And particularly with this research in education, what I wanted to ask and solve a little is what is happening with the arrival of new technologies and how we are mediating these learning processes, especially in schools. My research was primarily focused on public schools in the country, because it is there, let’s say, where the training process of 80% of students in the country is centered. A little of what I wanted to analyze with that is how the country, how the educational policy was facing this challenge of training students in new skills, in appropriation, in digital risks, for example. And also with a well-marked conversation, and it is clear, who has access to this knowledge about risks, who is developing these digital skills? This is because most of the students who access these public schools are students in conditions of vulnerability. Let’s say, I made the judgment in the research, because private schools typically have a much faster pension update. Let’s say, they have been doing much more short-term educational innovation processes according to the needs of the market, and that is why I focused on this particular research. Well, the research has two stages, one in which we made a theoretical framework of the educational policies of the country, in which, just like in the region, a massive funding process was made in a priority way. Let’s say, the programs here are marked primarily by the delivery of computers, the delivery of tablets, but not necessarily linked to appropriation components and how to manage them, to generate awareness of, for example, digital risks in classroom areas, personal data protection for minors. This has not yet been discussed in the country. There is a second wave, a second wave in which these programs are being adjusted. There is a greater component of literacy on the part of teachers and a greater, let’s say, awareness on the part of the Secretariat of Education that not only, let’s say, the delivery of computers and classroom areas is required, but that it necessarily has to be accompanied by other components that also require, let’s say, attention. There is a compass, and that is the name that has been given, let’s say, to these coordination policy tools between ministries, because, let’s say, this is not only, and it is interesting because it is not only a component of education, but it also necessarily requires a dialogue with the ministries of technology or science, depending on the countries, in the case of Colombia, of technology, so that, effectively, technical communication can be made. But, as I have mentioned, the conversation in Colombia has not yet come to generate clear guidelines. Even, as we will see later, teachers do not know how to generate that appropriation in classroom areas, they do not know how to generate and have these conversations of digital risks in classroom areas, because there are not necessarily guidelines on how to use technology in classroom areas. It has been left almost to the freedom of each school, whether it is wanted or not, and if, suddenly, teachers want to be part of these training processes that the State has been promoting in recent years. Well, here I did a very particular research between two cities, Bogotá and Medellín, which, well, for those who do not know a little the marked differences between these two cities in the country, Bogotá is a city that has been a little more alien to the processes of science and technology. Medellín has decided to invest heavily in the creation of an ecosystem of science, technology and innovation in the city, and not only from the productive component, but from the educational component. And that has implied not only the generation of a higher budget for these sectors, but also the creation of public entities that, for example, are in charge of the training in digital issues of the teachers who are going to teach classes inside the schools. So, teachers are constantly being instructed on how they can teach students these issues. This, let’s say, will be important because later, as part of the research, a series of surveys were done, differentiated for the teachers of Bogotá and Medellín. In both cases, they highlighted that there is no alignment, there is no concrete instrument of good practices on the part of the teachers, on the part of the Secretaries of Education, nor the Ministry of Education, nor the Ministry of Technology, on how this appropriation of technology should be carried out in classrooms. What was desirable? What was not desirable? Talking about these issues competes with the technology class, or is it a transversal issue that I would touch on, for example, in social sciences, on issues of fake news. So, there was no clarity on the part of the teachers on how to start touching on these issues in classrooms. Many of them said, this is a technology issue, but the technology area is suddenly one a week, so it is cut short at the moment. In the current curricula of public schools, they do not teach, for example. It is an issue that is very much in the air and that depends, again, on the intention that each teacher has at the time of teaching. So, this is a bit of a summary of the research. What we want here is to raise awareness of how we are landing this need for the development of digital skills, especially in minors, who suddenly know how to use the internet better, but are not necessarily more aware of the risks that this implies. And that it also has implications on the mentality, for example, the serious dependence they have on the use of technologies. And that will definitely mark the use, or the misuse, or the misuse, that they will potentially give to the future. So, thank you very much for the space, Paula. And well, it was a pleasure to participate.

Paula Otey:
Great, Daniela. Thank you very much for sharing the results and your experience in the work you have carried out. I emphasize the different stages you told us about the work, the importance of the surveys you mentioned at the end, to know, let’s say, the reality of the issue and to raise awareness in some way. So, thank you very much, Daniela, for the presentation. And to close this first part, then, on the part of the Leaders of LACNIC program, I have the last research, and it is connected to Emiliano Venier, who is from Argentina. His research is entitled Breaches and Inequalities in Internet Access in Indigenous Communities of the North of Salta, Argentina. So, Emiliano, if you are ready, I give you the floor and thank you very much for being here.

Emiliano Venier:
Well, thank you very much for the opportunity to present the report that was developed within the framework of the Leaders of LACNIC program. This research, which focuses on breaching and inequalities in access to digital rights or connectivity and internet access by Indigenous communities of the North of the Argentine Republic in the province of Salta, in a region where there is the greatest diversity and quantity of indigenous peoples. It is part of a research project that seeks to highlight all kinds of inequalities in access to digital rights, communication rights and cultural rights, which is financed by CONICET and the Research Council of the National University of Salta. The project, as a summary of some of the objectives, was basically to be able to highlight the situation of connectivity in the indigenous populations of this region of the North of Argentina, which includes a region called the Great American Chaco. It is like a part of a great region called the Great American Chaco. The objective was basically to be able to highlight the inequalities of indigenous communities, both of rural indigenous communities, those that live more isolated, and of indigenous communities in peri-urban regions. In this context, the research takes some of the categories and indicators that UNESCO proposes for the universality of the Internet and we basically take the categories associated with access and connectivity. But we were also interested not only in realizing these inequalities in the access of communities, but also in being able to highlight what were the forms of appropriation and use of technologies of the communities in that region. In that context, the appropriations, which are not necessarily the same as the appropriations of the Internet, but rather the appropriations of the Internet and the use of technologies of the communities in that region. the appropriations that we use, let’s say, in Western cultures, but they have to do with uses and appropriations related to the strengthening of their cultural identities and the struggles that the native peoples carry out or dynamize, with different experiences that are somehow present in the study. Basically, the care for the environment, the recognition or strengthening of native languages, among other activities, among other uses that we have seen relevant. Then, in the different indicators in terms of speed of connectivity, type of connectivity or type of technology to which they were connected, if one analyzes what is the average in Argentina and what is in the province of Salta, we find that all the indicators that account for connectivity in rural populations, those indicators are much lower. Connectivity is more precarious, devices are also more precarious, the cost of access, what is the accessibility indicator of the Internet connectivity service by the native communities also involves an accessibility threshold that is much higher in native communities than in the rest of the population of Northern Argentina. Another issue that we have also raised and that is also present in the study was the amount of content in native languages, particularly native languages in this region. And there we find the scarce amount of content in those languages, particularly in the Uichí language, which is one of the peoples that has the most representation in that region. There is practically no content generated in that language, neither from official sources nor from journalistic sources. So there we find that there is also a limitation in the access to digital rights, in this case to information in the language of those peoples. From this particular situation, we have also found that the national state and the provincial state have tried to carry out policies to allow or to promote connectivity in these regions. And despite all the efforts of the state to carry out, let’s say, especially what is the Internet trunk network of fiber optics, what we find is a deficiency in the last mile connectivity. There are many communities where the trunk network of fiber optics passes in front of the communities and the last mile connectivity does not allow them significant access to the Internet, to those communities, the suburban ones, but at a much lower level in the more isolated communities. So as a way to overcome that limitation, we also find experiences that are very germinal, that are just developing, of community networks of the Internet, or more than community networks, projects of non-governmental organizations that seek to give some type of access and connectivity to some original communities. And there we describe the case of the Greater Mission Community Network in a locality called Santa Victoria, and another experience of the Gran Chaco Foundation in a series of projects called Nanum Village, where they bring connectivity to the communities. Within the conclusions, what we realize is the need to deepen connectivity policies to be able to bring significant connectivity to the communities. This involves the infrastructure layout of the last mile connectivity, but also everything that has to do with digital literacy, from the management of some Internet tools to what has to do with technical training to enable the deployment of community networks of the Internet. From these issues, we have begun to work on training projects in communities and continue to deepen the analysis of the connectivity situation, especially to promote the development of community networks or deployment infrastructure within indigenous communities so that they have the possibility of accessing the Internet. Basically, that is the research project and the investigations that we have done.

Paula Otey:
Great, Emiliano. Thank you very much. Thank you for sharing this reality of rural and indigenous communities. One of the main aspects of the Leadership Program, I would say, one of the most important, is to know how issues such as connectivity are perceived, for example, from a purely local and specific perspective. So I thank you very much for your participation. I want to thank the three researchers for their presentations and for representing the group of 16 researchers that had the 2022 edition of the Leadership Program of ACNIC. It is a representation because we do not have time to invite them all, we would love to, but I invite you to know the findings of this edition and of all the editions on our website. I will leave it now in the chat so that you can know it. And having said that, I will pass the floor to Fernanda from CETIS to continue with more research. Fer, are you there? Here I am, Paula. Well, thank you very much.

Fernanda Martínez:
The truth is that through you, I also congratulate all the people at ACNIC for this initiative of leaders, because the truth is that the three exhibitors who presented their research are extremely interesting. I can’t wait to talk to Daniela about the subject, and even with Emiliano, because one of the things I didn’t name when I presented it to CETIS is that CETIS was in charge of doing the research of UNESCO’s Romex, the Universal Internet Indicators, UNESCO in Argentina. That research was done by CETIS. We are always waiting for it to be published. But, well, a lot of what you found on your side are the same findings that we have, and the truth is that sometimes these spaces serve to know what the other does and, let’s say, to join forces. So, I will surely be writing to you at some point. Well, having said all this, now we are going to, in this other segment, we are going to get to know a little more in detail one of the investigations that I mentioned earlier that we had carried out from CETIS, which has to do with the research of creators and content platforms in Argentina, analysis of the value chain and the production and monetization modalities. For this, Pilar Iupi-Losprete is going to be presenting. Pilar is a Communication Licensing Professor at the University of San Andrés. She is finishing her Master’s Degree in Economics also at the University of San Andrés and is a teacher of political and international analysis techniques. Pilar? Can you hear me?

Pilar Iupi-Losprete:
Thank you very much. I’m going to share the screen so that you can see some of the infographics that we put together. I think you can see it there. Yes, I can see it. Great. Well, these are two infographics that emerged from this investigation. What we wanted was to see what the ecosystem of content creators in Argentina is like. Particularly, these are the different intermediaries. In Argentina, there are 36 million people who spend an average of 3 hours and 22 minutes a day on social media, so there is a large market for content creators. A very important actor are brands, because brands spend a large part of the money they spend on traditional advertising. In recent years, they have begun to spend a part via digital platforms and social media. And brands interact with two actors. They interact, on the one hand, with content creators through direct agreements with them so that they can make different interactions. It can be on a social network or on different platforms. But at the same time, they make interactions with the platforms via the possibilities of direct advertising of the platforms. So, content creators have two great ways of monetizing. On the one hand, through agreements with third parties, where they have a greater possibility of establishing the agreements and the relationship is more one-to-one. And then, through the direct monetization of the platforms, where the relationship is more interactive and the content creators have to accept the rules of the game proposed by the platforms. Within the possibilities of monetization of the platforms, in Argentina, there are far fewer possibilities of monetization than in other parts of the world. So, different services emerge, provided by third parties, as is the case of Cafecito, which is one of the digital services. another type of actor in this ecosystem, that provide the possibility of monetizing, for example, via micro-donations, when their main platform does not give the possibility of monetizing directly. Creators, when they start, the majority are focused on their personal image, and once they start to grow, they have to, in general, choose to start producing things that can, for example, classes or different content that they can monetize outside of the platforms, or become multi-channel networks where their personality ceases to be so important, and they begin to be able to generate content where other different people can generate under the same name and generate the same point. Then the creators generate value directly and at the same time indirectly, and once they grow, they end up hiring more people and generating employment, and they can go from SMEs to much larger companies once they grow in the platforms. At the same time, there are also other types of actors, which are the representatives, aggregators, and accelerators, who specialize, for example, some specialize in contacting content creators with different monetization possibilities, with brands, with companies, others are specialists in the algorithm of a platform, so they are content creators in how they can do to improve or to start publishing content on platforms that they do not know, because something that is important is that the rules of the game of platforms change constantly, so the creators devote an important part of their time to understanding the algorithms of the platforms, what are the conditions they have, what are the monetization and demonetization features that they have to learn, they have to understand well what are the things that are allowed on the platforms and what are not, and at the same time, there are platforms that allow to publish certain content that is not monetizable, although it can be on the platform, so it takes them a lot of time and they end up focusing on a single platform and they use the other platforms to advertise and to take their followers to their main platform, and what they learn on one of the platforms is not necessarily transferable to the others, so the rules of the game, when they change, influence their daily lives to a large extent. Something that is important is that in Argentina, the value of the click is much lower than in other places in the world, so the creators of content have a limitation in terms of their monetization possibilities here, and some, in interviews, tell us that, for example, although a very small part of their followers are found in other parts of the world, it ends up being a super important part of the income that they could generate directly, and at the same time, for the algorithm, where they publish the content limits where it will be shown, and in turn, the accent ends up being a limitation for other Spanish-speaking places, so some resort to strategies such as trying to reduce and to have an accent so that their content can reach other places. In relation to the possibilities that each of the platforms offers, the monetization platforms are determined by each one of them. Here, in this bibliography, the different strategies that the content creators will follow are summarized. Some platforms, the ones on the far right, are the ones that offer more direct monetization possibilities. The ones on the left are the ones that offer less. In the platforms that offer less monetization possibilities, such as Instagram in Argentina, which can only be monetized indirectly, whether it is via Marketplace, is where the content creators will focus on their personality and will run more campaigns with third parties. On the other hand, in the places where monetization works directly, the content creators usually focus less on the product, because the product itself will generate more healthy content. At the same time, it is related to the different temporalities of the content they generate. The content can be synchronous, recent, seasonal, or evergreen. Synchronous content is that which is consumed at the same time as it is generated, such as streams on Twitch, which can last up to 10 or 12 hours, depending on the content creator in front of the camera. Or it can be recent content, which is that which is consumed after it was produced, but in the short term. And this is usually optimized via serialization, that is, the content creators make a lot of recent content that is related to the previous content, so that the followers have the intention of sharing their content. Then there is the seasonal content, which is that which is related to the calendar year. It is published at a certain time of the year and returns to generate income at the same time, such as, for example, a content creator who publishes recipes. Christmas recipes return to function and generate income every year at Christmas time. And then there is evergreen content, which is rather long, and it is the content that the creator generates only once and continues to passively generate income for a long time. Then, in relation to the market, to the general conclusions of the work, for the creators it is super important the consistency, the volume, and the professionalism, but that is not enough, and especially in the case of Argentina, where they need to expand and, in order to be able to live from the creation of content, they need to internationalize. Something that is also important is that the money for advertising that goes to the content creators has a form of a long tail, where a small part of the creators are the ones who take almost all the money for advertising or campaigns, and most of the creators only take a small portion of that cake. Then, beyond the networks that establish the platforms, the content creators manage to find a way to monetize, for example, in the case of Instagram, where there is no direct monetization, they can receive micro-donations through other means, and in the case of Argentina, there are not so many possibilities of direct monetization, and this is related, it is like a whole circle, because it is related to the fact that the market is not big enough, people do not have the same ability to subscribe, and they have the same money that subscriptions can have in other parts of the world, and then there are fewer forms of monetization, but in any case, the high level of cultural innovation and regional leadership invites to cross the borders, and there are many creators who manage to do it, especially those who are related to the music side. And these are mainly the conclusions. Thank you very much.

Fernanda Martínez:
Well, Pilar, thank you very much. Yes, indeed, this work is very important because it constitutes a first approach to a sector of growing importance for Argentina, but also for the region. Although it generates jobs, employs people, it is promoting a whole new associated band chain. Well, now I’m going to introduce the last of the speakers, who, as I had anticipated, is Daniel Triviño. Daniel, now I’m looking for his… I have his… Daniel is a doctoral candidate in technological management at the Politécnica Nacional School in Quito, Ecuador. He currently works as a teacher and researcher in the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Telecommunications at the University of the Armed Forces. He is an electronic engineer in telecommunications with a master’s degree in engineering in telecommunications at the National University of Colombia, and his field of interest in research is centered on telecommunications, Internet, TICs, technology policies, and innovation and impact on people and the effects of their applications. As I had mentioned, Daniel’s work will be published in the Latin American magazine of digital economy and society, which CETIS, let’s say, coordinates, but also together with CEDLA and the CLD. In other words, we are three organizations in the publication of that magazine, although this number is coordinated with CETIS. Daniel, can you hear us?

Daniel Triviño:
Yes, yes, thank you very much, Fernanda. Good evening, good morning to everyone who is listening to us today. Thank you very much for the invitation to present this advance of a work that is part of the doctoral theme that I was doing. In this case, what I am preparing for the magazine is the evaluation of the zero rate, a comparative analysis in Brazil and Colombia. Fundamentally, we are, or this issue was being reviewed based on the fact that the policies are being analyzed in a network reality. And one of the points within the network reality policies that is being discussed a lot lately is the issue of zero rate, an aspect of commercial policy that many operators are using, especially mobile phone operators that provide data and the Internet to be able to gather a little resources and also offer services. In fact, it is mentioned a lot that the relevance of the zero rate is based on the adoption of broadband for socioeconomic growth and trying to reduce the digital gap and with that increase regional development. However, there are always two characteristics in which they are in favor and which are against. Among those who are in favor, they say that ZR will promote the adoption of broadband a lot, it will lower the cost of access to mobile Internet plans, as well as that it will allow for a better adoption of applications, services, and with this improve the part of the TICs for people. However, the opposite speak that it will mainly favor certain contents that are in applications or specific services and could also affect social benefits or even the capacities and rights of people, especially in the lower segments, in the socioeconomic aspects. So, this theoretical discussion occurs a lot in the scientific articles and normally there is more discussion in articles of the Global North and very little is mentioned about the Global South, mainly if you take many examples, maybe a little in Chile or in India. However, I also decided to work on this aspect taking into account South America and taking into account two countries, such as Brazil and Colombia, which both have a fairly high population, a fairly large area and concentrated the greatest Internet connection in the big cities, taking into account that they have immense spaces in the part of the Amazon that are not covered and there is a population there that does not reach these services. So, based on this, the idea was to verify a little if the theoretical slogan of what is not in the articles is being fulfilled, is causing some problems with the content, right? So, a comparison was made from a qualitative point of view to verify this, and some variables were taken, or rather, aspects that could help me measure this a little better, to have a better idea, some indicators. We worked on indicators of infrastructure, market, access, content, accessibility, and also use, to have a better idea of what is happening here. So, when we talk about the aspect of infrastructure, we see that in both countries, 4G networks are quite widespread. They continue to increase their coverage, even though in Brazil we have 5G working, but we are only looking at it from the point of view of 4G. So, we also talk about the number of operators. In Colombia, we have a certain number of operators, three, among the most important, due to their market share, and more than 15%. In Brazil, we also talk about four, which are important due to their market share. And the goal is to see if the competition, because one of the positive points that ZR tells us is that the competition is going to be more dynamic. However, we find that in this case, the zero rate is favoring a greater concentration of operators that have more market power, or more market in itself. So, this aspect of ZR is not favoring so that there is greater competition. Mainly, Colombia does not have so much competition in this aspect where we have an operator that in this case is clear, that in 2021 it seems to me that the regulatory body there declared it as a dominant operator, with almost 49% of the market, which is a lot. And rather, there is a disconcentrated market in Brazil where the percentages are a little more even and a greater competition is noticed. So, there we are seeing differences between how we could analyze the effect of ZR in each of the countries. So, we also see that, it tells us that this will allow us to have cheaper prices for access to users. And we are seeing that the highest number of users of applications with zero rating are in the lowest segments, so to speak. That is, in the CDIE segments in Brazil and in the 1, 2 and 3 strata in Colombia. They are the ones that use this the most. And with that, we are seeing that there are also some effects where, for example, Brazil is on average, we have an effect, something positive because there is more use of post-payment plans instead of pre-payment plans. But on the other hand, in Colombia, the percentage of pre-payment plans is much higher and that has a lot to do with the price it has. So, here we use one of the metrics that the A4AI gave us to see what is the price of 1 GB of data per mobile internet as a percentage of the monthly income that a person has. That the ratio should be 2 by 1, although currently it is talking about 5 by 1, but for the study it was seen as 2 by 1, where it should not impact more than 2% of a person’s monthly income. So, we are seeing that the ZR plans are not reducing the price, as was said in the theoretical part, or are not helping to reduce this price. In the case of Colombia, where we see that practically Colombia is close to the limit of 2 by 1, of 2%. Yes, it has gone down a bit. The pandemic has also influenced this. During the pandemic, mobile services have increased their cost, but it is still below 2 by 1. In the case of Brazil, it is much more noticeable that there is a decrease in the price. This may be due not only to the ZR ratings, but also to the coverage of 4G networks due to the internal competition of the disconcentrated market that this country has. So, we see that perhaps the ZR effect in Brazil is not so positive, but rather something normal. While in the case of Colombia, it could be beneficial, especially for the lowest rates. So, we see that this could be a beneficial aspect. However, when we analyze other aspects, such as the content part, we see that it affects the content, because these ZR plans have applications and services that generally have a zero cost and are from the big companies worldwide. We are talking about Meta, Facebook, Instagram, Messenger. We have YouTube. These platforms are proposing to give an advantage over other competitors. This can affect innovation as well, and it would especially affect local content. I was listening to the previous presentation and yes, almost all content providers that are doing it right now are going to the big platforms, because that’s where the money is. However, this makes them become quite large monopolies. Another thing we have to see is how people are working with the use of technology. We see that in the case of general data of the Digital Rating Index or the Global Competitiveness Index, we see that Brazil is improving a little bit in the rankings, in the case of digital skills or in the areas of entrepreneurship and innovation, while Colombia has stayed. And a worrying aspect in the Colombian case is that digital skills have decreased from 2018 to 2020, for example. So, this means that ZR is affecting… ZR, having a reduced internet, where it only takes applications from large groups of applications and content, is reducing people’s digital skills. Although it is true that they can be useful in many aspects, and that is a problem. For some, they tell us that having access to limited internet is better than having nothing. However, this can affect their skills, access to information, the execution of their rights, and above all, they are also producing massive disinformation in some of the lowest strata, since the content they find there is sometimes managed. So, we see that there are many aspects and among the things we should see is that for each country, the aspects of ZR should be analyzed a little better, to see what plans are giving this, what policies are supporting the zero rate, how we can evaluate and not say in a sharp way, I have to eliminate ZR, taking into account that network policies in the Colombian case allow ZR for the part of commercial practices, while in the Brazilian case it is not allowed, however, for the CADE in 2016, it seems to me that these plans are allowed because they do not consider a technical aspect, but a commercial one. So, we have to see and evaluate this type a little better and also make a comparative environment between the different countries and see if it is necessary to open more the group of zero rate applications that must be included so that local content or local applications can enter or give a greater advantage to social content based on education and health. So, we see that the ZR application mainly has negative effects in what is market concentration for mobile applications, for the big mobile telephony companies, however, it can be an advantage for the lower strata, especially in Colombia, but we have to take care of what happens with the digital aspects and what content is being accessed. So, this is a part of a larger investigation that is still being developed, but they are good or first things that are identified where we can evaluate aspects of our Latin American or South American context, where we see that there are some effects and that it should be analyzed case by case, many times the countries and the types of ZR plans that are offered. That’s what I wanted to tell you. Thank you very much for the space.

Fernanda Martínez:
Thank you very much, Daniel. The truth is that it is super interesting what you comment, I already left the link and we will be attentive to when the publication is, the truth is that we celebrate this research located. So, well, we close this segment of the space and I’m going to give the floor to Federica from LAC TLED. Hello, greetings to everyone. Before ending this session, I want to thank all the organizations, participants and researchers who made an appointment today in this seventh edition of the IGF LAC Space. It is very nice to see how the community, the region, continues to work, strengthening and making way to what is a continuous improvement of the Internet ecosystem. I also want to thank our interpreters Vero and Florencia for the incredible work they always do supporting us. Without further ado, I think we can end this session. I wish you a happy rest of the day. A hug to everyone and enjoy the IGF. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.