EU-LAC high-level political dialogue on digital policy and regulation

The Delegated Cooperation project "Policy Dialogue on Digital Policy and Standards in LAC", is part of one of the components of the EU-LAC Digital Alliance.

The EU has intensified its digital engagement with LAC through a Digital Alliance at the core of which is jointly addressing the digital divide and achieving an inclusive and people-centred digital transformation. In this sense, digital cooperation takes into account the cross-cutting and cross-sectoral nature of the digital transformation, with a strong gender focus.

Aspects such as e-government, e-finance, digitisation of services and interconnection of databases allow for a more inclusive implementation of public policies.

A consortium of four European partners, Expertise France - France, e-Governance Academy - eGA - Estonia, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit - GIZ, Germany and the Fundación Internacional y para Iberoamérica (FIIAPP) from Spain, manage this project funded by the European Commission. The GIZ agency, based in Santiago de Chile, is also leading the European consortium.

The project aims to accelerate the digital transformation in Latin America and the Caribbean through the improvement of sustainable digital policies and regulations and governance mechanisms for digitisation, by strengthening and improving joint work and cooperation between the two regions on digital issues.
The policy dialogues will have as a transversal axis the regulatory framework around four main components, each of them led by a European agency acting as a focal point:

- Data Governance: FIIAPP (through the mobilisation of the Spanish Data Protection Agency).

- Cybersecurity: Expertise France

- eGovernance: eGA

- Connectivity: GIZ

Programme objectives

It will consist of a high-level policy dialogue between the EU and LAC on digital policy and regulation at ministerial and senior official level. The dialogue will help both regions to see the other as a key partner and, by supporting Latin American regional digital integration, build convergence on key policies.

The Digital Agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean (e-LAC 2022 process), led by ECLAC, is an opportunity to connect political commitment with the region's own digitisation plans and around which synergies will be built.