The third edition of the Patria International Colloquium, organized by UPEC, and the twenty-ninth edition of the International Computer Science Convention and Fair – organized by a group led by the Department of Communications – will make March 2024 a crucial stage in the struggles of the nation for the material development of this branch and the conscience in the dispute over its sovereign use.
At the joint presentation press conference held on July 11 at UPEC Headquarters, Communications Minister Mayra Arevich Marín emphasized the proximity of both events in terms of timing and content, stating: “This is extremely motivating.”
Arevich Marín recalled the deep approach of the VIII Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba to communication and support given to the transformation of the sector. “In the last decade,” he said, “computers and communications in Cuba have seen a visible transformation, especially since 2018.”
This can be helped, among other things, by the 7.8 million mobile phone users and the 6.6 million of them who access the Internet via these devices.
The minister argued that the industry, which receives one of the largest investments in the country, is expected to make a greater contribution to the economy and citizens’ quality of life.
Regarding the homeland, Arevich Marín pointed out that this is a mechanism to counter the harassment of Cuba by paid media from abroad and to raise the voice of our peoples in a united and articulated manner. The minister announced that in a few months the policy for digital transformation in Cuba would be presented.
Earlier, Ricardo Ronquillo Bello, National President of UPEC, explained the novelties of the third edition of Patria, which will not be held at the Casa de las Américas, as in the previous two editions, but at the Pabexpo, the exhibition center of the Palacio de Convenciones Havana, from March 14-16, 2024.
From left to right: Ricardo Ronquillo Bello, President of the Union of Cuban Journalists; Mayra Arevich and Wilfredo González Vidal, Minister and First Deputy Minister, respectively, of the Ministry of Communications.
For the first time, the event, which as always is dedicated to promoting a new international communications order and the development of sovereign, shareable technologies, will be held in partnership with the Ministry of Communications and other bodies of this profile.
Ronquillo explained the dilemma that in Latin America, 70 percent of the population is connected to the Internet and 80 percent to social networks, but control over these accesses is in the hands of Western powers, who manipulate them at will.
“In the region,” he added, “there are no articulation projects like Patria.” For this reason, the President of UPEC particularly thanked the ambassadors of the People’s Republic of China, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Cuba for their presence at the press conference; as well as senior officials from the embassies of the Russian Federation, Belarus, Argentina and Vietnam who can help understand the issue.
“For Patria 2024 we are not only looking for experts from Latin America, but also from other parts of the world,” he said. Likewise, the third edition will bring the novelty that citizens of other countries interested in the subject will have a space, in anticipation of which the Cubatur travel agency will soon announce an exclusive package for the event.
Central questions are discussed in Patria, such as the democratic rules for the use of artificial intelligence, the ways to go beyond the mere diagnosis and criticism of transnationals and what needs to be created to channel collective action in these fields.
There will also be workshops on the production of content in different technological carriers, on the challenges of artificial intelligence, on international rights in the digital society, on the political participation of young people and on the global South’s experiences of success in communication issues.
Regarding the 2024 Congress and International Computer Fair, which will be held from March 18 to 22, the event’s Executive President and First Deputy Minister of Communications, Wilfredo González Vidal, pointed out that it is a question of developing policy and deployment of to support and promote information and communication technologies.
This congress and the fair, which also take place at the Pabexpo, have the motto: For a digital society. There will be a scientific congress at the Palacio de Convenciones, with nine events focusing on crucial issues in these sectors, some of the so-called disruptive technologies (which bring about major changes both in the processes and mechanisms they leave behind and in technology entail). the behavior of the users who use them).
The International Informatics Congress and Fair 2024 will aim to forge alliances between national and foreign companies and inaugurate the Kuba Stand, an exhibition run by top companies in the field of new technologies.