Connectivity & Artificial Intelligence at the centre of Digital Week in Latin America and the Caribbean

The Digital Week in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) took place from 5 to 8 November 2024 in Santiago de Chile, bringing together representatives from 35 countries from the region, as well as the EU and its Member States.

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Co-hosted by the Government of Chile, the European Commission and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the event held discussions about the opportunities and challenges of digital transformation.

As part of the Digital Week, the EU met with counterparts from the 23 LAC countries signatories of the EU-LAC Digital Alliance on 5 and 6 November in two Policy Dialogues on Connectivity & Inclusion and Artificial Intelligence, followed by a stocktaking session to assess progress and discuss the way forward ahead of the EU-CELAC Summit in 2025.

This Policy Dialogue explored key areas, such as secure connectivity, emphasising the need for networks and cables to be cyber-secure in order to protect national security and bring sustainable economic added value.

Under the Global Gateway Investment Agenda with LAC, the EU is deploying large-scale digital projects - some with regional scope - to ensure that the digital transformation matches the EU's and its LAC partners' values and interests.

The AI dialogue also covered AI governance, Large Language Models (LLMs), and regulatory sandboxes.

EU and LAC partners believe in a human-centric AI that protects human rights and fundamental freedoms. Those shared principles can facilitate convergence to effectively address these common challenges and boost innovation.

A specific session was also devoted to "Transparency and accountability frameworks for online platforms to address societal risks online, including risks for minors and electoral integrity".

The EU-LAC Digital Alliance

Launched in Bogotá (Colombia) in March 2023 and supported by the EU's Global Gateway, the EU-LAC Digital Alliance is a model of cross-regional digital cooperation. It has already begun to deliver on an inclusive digital transformation.

Find out more information:

• The EU's participation in the Digital Week in Latin America
• The EU's digital cooperation with Latin America

Related topics

Connectivity International relations Artificial intelligence