IIC Updates Agenda, New Speakers, Countries For Its Annual Latin America & Caribbean Digital Communications And Media Forum Panama 7-8 May

By Clifford Agugoesi, Editor-in-Chief

New speakers have confirmed and delegates are continuing to register for the International Institute of Communications(IIC’s) annual Latin America & Caribbean Digital Communications and Media Forum taking place in Panama next month, Cyber Era NG learns, through a heads-up from Director-General at the International Institute of Communications, Ms. Lynn Robinson.

We gather that Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Trinidad & Tobago are the latest countries to confirm participation from regulatory authorities and ministries across the region.

New speakers confirmed for the forum include:

• Manager Policy and Research, Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago, Ryan Biran
• Director of Concessions and Telecommunications Standards, Ministry of Science, Innovation, Technology, and Telecommunications (MICITT), Costa Rica, Freddy Artavia Estrada
• Technical Coordinator of the Executive Directorate, Instituto Dominicano de las Telecomunicaciones (INDOTEL) Álvaro Nadal Florentino

In continuation of last week’s taster of the agenda, here is a snapshot of the highly topical discussions planned for the Forum.

Regulatory evolution to enable digital economies and societies: Debating the applicability of international ex ante / ex post models for Latin America and Caribbean countries. Speakers to address this include:

• Senior Analyst Americas, Cullen International, Catalina Diaz-Granados
• Head of Public Policy Canada, Latin America, Emerging Markets, Verizon Communications, Ivana Kriznic
• Executive Director, Communications Regulatory Commission (CRC) Claudia Ximena Bustamante
• Executive Director, Asociacion Latinoamericana de Internet (ALAI) Raúl Echeberría

Creating an enabling but safe environment for the use of Artificial Intelligence for social and economic good. How is regulatory oversight developing? To handle this topic are:

*Presidential Advisor for the Digital Transformation of Colombia, Saúl Kattan

*Assistant General Counsel, Microsoft, Marlon Fetzner

*Head of Government and Policy Advocacy, Ericsson, Elizabeth Peña Jáuregui

*Cybersecurity Policy Officer, Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (CICTE), Organization of American States (OAS) Orlando Garcés

Internet governance masterclass: architecture advancements, security, interconnection, network fee evolution. Speakers to look into this include:

-Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean, ICANN, Rodrigo De La Parra

-Head of Telecommunications Affairs, Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC), César Díaz

-Regional Vice President – Latin America and The Caribbean, Internet Society, Christian O’Flaherty

-Executive Director, Alianza por una Internet Abierta, Mercedes Aramendía