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Video: Digital Life in the Americas – Prospects for Growth and Sustainability

Speakers:

  • Catherine Novelli, Undersecretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, U.S. Department of State
  • Jorge Familiar, Vice President, Latin America and Caribbean, World Bank
  • Carlos López Blanco, Global Head, Public and Regulatory Affairs, Telefónica
  • Eric Farnsworth, Vice President, Americas Society/Council of the Americas
  • Raul Katz, Adjunct Senior Research Scholar, Institute for Tele-Information, Columbia University
  • David Gross, Partner, Wiley Rein LLP (moderator)

"For every 10 percent increase in connectivity, there's a 1 to 2 percent increase in a country's GDP," said the U.S. State Department's Catherine Novelli at a Council of the Americas panel in Washington, DC. The panel examined the results of Telefónica's Digital Life Index, which gave Chile, Colombia, and Mexico the highest scores among Latin American countries when it comes to internet freedom, openness, and confidence. Important challenges remain for the region to expand its digital economy, the panelists noted, such as lowering connection costs, graduating more engineers, and investing in infrastructure. Multilateral development banks, too, need to step in with more investment, Novelli said.

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