How is the Informatization Process of the Cuban Society going?

What novelties are there in the Informatization process of Cuban society? How much was accomplished in 2017? What are the short-term plans of the different sectors of Cuba? These are some of the questions that were answered during the round table that took place on Monday afternoon, during the opening session of the 17th International Convention and Fair Informática 2018 at the International Conference Center in Havana.

The panel was conformed by officials from the Communications Ministry, ETECSA, The University of Computer Science, The National Bank of Cuba, XETID, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Culture.

When speaking during this meeting, Wilfredo Gonzalez VIdal, Deputy Minister of Communications, recalled that the Cuban informatization process is portrayed in several guidelines of the economic and social policies, as well as in the bases of the economic development plan.

''The integral policy for the improvement of the informatization process in Cuba was approved on February 28, 2017 by the Ministers Council, and it is a guiding document for this process. It has 21 projects or basic systems mainly focused on the creation of a technological infrastructure, and on the production of digital services and contents''

Among the most ambitious programs there is one related to e-government and civic services that will allow organizations, entities, and local governments to be present on the internet, making civic interaction and participation possible.

He also highlighted the Digital TV deployment level reached in Cuba, that currently is potentially received by seven million people in standard definition.

“Since the sale of decoding boxes started in 2013, more than 1 966 000 have been sold. This process will continue in a slow way.”

It was also informed that another of the prioritized programs is the computation equipment assembly, where the production of laptops, tablets, and computers outstand. The operating system NOVA is later installed on these devices.

Mayra Arevich, executive president of ETECSA during Informatica 2018 Picture by: Ismael Francisco/ Cubadebate.

ETECSA is preparing for 2018

On their behalf, Mayra Arevich, executive president of ETECSA highlighted that her enterprise focuses on the essence of the development of the axis of the infrastructure, allowing it to support the rest of the programs.

When commenting on the increase of the internet access services for the population, she said that currently there are 1 651 public places throughout the country, including every single municipality. She also emphasized that 125 400 simultaneous connections have been achieved in these spaces.

• 673 WIFI locations
• 207 navigation rooms
• 771 navigation rooms in locations other than ETECSA (Hotels, Joven Clubs, and Correos de Cuba)

Arevich recalled that with the goal of “reaching more Cubans” they are still working to reduce the prices of international and national navigation, and in order to do that new fees have been stablished so that “more people can have access to Cuban content”

“At the end of 2017, there were more than 1 536 000 permanent accounts, and there have been sold more than 27 million temporary accounts. In addition, the commercialization of Nauta Hogar (Home) began, which was used by 14 634 people. In the ongoing year, 12 682 new Nauta Hogar have been installed, for a total of 27316”, she specified.

Regarding that service, she explained that 95% of the contracted packages are in the category of 1 MB/second. “This service has been happily accepted by the public, and we will continue to extend it”.

About the arrival of Internet through mobile cellphones she said that one of the goals of this process is the service quality and security. In order to achieve that an intense work has been done on 2G and 3G radio bases. Today, the city of Havana has total 3G coverage, and we are working in the provincial and municipal capitals, as well as in other regions of the country for an estimated coverage of 47%. This year, the implementation of Internet through mobile phones should be starting”, explained Mayra Arevich.

Another task that is being carried out by the Cuban Telecommunications Enterprise (ETECSA) is the enhancement of the connectivity of entities and organizations, in order to allow them to have a better economic management, and to provide public services.

“In 2017 more than 3 992 institutional data links were installed at 23 national organizations and entities. Today, we have contacted educational institutions and hospitals, and we are boosting the digitalization of public registries”, emphasized ETECSA’s president.

Goals for 2018:

• To deploy 150 new wireless and wired navigation areas in order to cover the 44% of Popular Councils.
• To implement 52 500 nauta hogar (home) services
• To increase the amount of data services by 5000 in national entities
• To launch a new service for mobile phones

The University of Computer Science (UCI) in a permanent association with the Cuban industry

During her intervention, Miriam Nicado Garcia, Dean of the University of Computer Science (UCI) said that important progresses have been made regarding the strategical alliance with the Ministry of Industry, which has allowed the informatization of the organization and the enterprise system.

At this meeting she also highlighted the fact that the University of Computer Science has associeted with the Electronics Industry, facilitating the production of informatics equipment for the entire country.

“We have worked on the assembly of computers, servers, and laptops with the Cuban operating sytem NOVA. Likewise, we have commercialized technological classrooms that are already working in different educational institutions of our country”, she added.

Nicado García indicated that several industry-oriented applications have been developed, like the Scada systems implemented by the company BDC-TEC established in the ZEDM; they also developed a system for oil wells drilling altogether with CUPET.

e-Government and e-Commerce

Medardo Morales, director of XETID described some of the platforms that have been developed in the country in order to implement e-commerce and e-government.

In that sense, he explained that these platforms aim to unite and facilitate the interaction between governmental entities, productive and services entities, and the population.

“There three main guidelines: procedures and turns, commerce and payments, and smart devices infrastructures.

Further on, Alberto Quiñones who is the General Director of Informatics Services of the Central Bank of Cuba, indicated that there are 936 ATMs, 4 of them are enabled to exchange currency, and another 7 have the capacity of recycling.

Regarding magnetic cards, he specified that the expected plan was exceeded by 17% in 2017, currently having more than 4 million active cards.

“For 2018 a similar growth is expected. It is important to point out that 90% of the operations that are made are aimed to extract money, that is why we are working to make the magnetic card a payment tool with a more efficient acceptation”, he concluded.

Informática 2018 opens its doors to sustainable development

 

Inaugurated at the International Conference Center – Informatica-2018. Picture by: Ismael Francisco/Cubadebate.

The 17th edition of the International Convention and Fair Informatica 2018 started this Monday in Havana, with an encouraging call to increase the impact of ICTs on the Cuban society; this event is being attended by more than 1 700 delegates from 27 countries.

Reportedly, until March 23 the event will focus its attention on the use of the new technologies in pursuit of satisfying the necessities of the Cuban society and the progress of the nation.

Likewise, it will feature a total of 13 scientific and academic events, 28 courses and several international meetings destined to debating diverse topics like Geomatics, the development of technologies and multimedia content, free software, open source systems or IT security.

According to Wilfredo Gonzalez Vidal, executive vice-president of Informatica 2018, the event has 654 papers approved by the academic committee, and it gathers representatives from companies, research centers, non-governmental organizations, higher education institutions, and other scientific, educational, and researching entities.

Gonzalez Vidal also confirmed the presence of 51 stands at the International Fair and he praised the participation of 13 companies from 8 different countries. Moreover, he highlighted the exhibition in the Fair of 24 Cuban projects and encouraged the attendants to take advantage of the business rounds and the business forums in order to strengthen the collaboration bonds and to explore areas of common interest.

Inaugurated at the International Conventions Center Informatica-2018. Picture by: Ismael Franciso / Cubadebate.

At another moment of the opening session, Dr. Miriam Nicado García, who is a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, and Dean of the University of Computer Science, appealed to keep up the quality work and to contribute to the development of the country from the area of the ICTs. Likewise, she talked about caring for human resources and respecting the human being in order to truly progress.

The Director of the Standardization Bureau of the International Telecommunications Union thanked Cuba for the invitation to participate in this event. Also, he talked about the advantages of the new ICTs for the accomplishment of the sustainable development goals.

''These goals emphasize the unity amongst the associations. Here, I hope to learn more about how my organization can help Cuba develop in terms of technology''.

Finally, Maimir Mesa Ramos, Minister of Communications of Cuba, highlighted the country's political willingness to increase the access to ICTs, as well as to boost the programs of the joven clubs related to computer science, electronics, and the implementation of land-based digital television technology. These endeavors, he said, represent essential areas for the development of our country.

''Along with it a group of projects that focus on the production of contents related to the Cuban educational system is consolidated. Reaching these goals is only possible thanks to the support given by the country, that's why it is ironic the fact that the United States of America intend to create an internet task force in order to deal with these matters. Cuba will continue to progress according to its necessities and priorities, and always focusing on the social justice objectives that characterize its Revolution'', he concluded.