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IT & T scene

Promoting IT&T

The government has been very active in promoting the use of the Internet by the Chilean people through a variety of projects comprised under the umbrella of the Ventana Unica.

With the aim of maintaining regional leadership in the adoption of new technologies and services the regulator has followed in recent years a policy of technological neutrality. Regulatory constraints and requirements have been reduced to a minimum. This policy approach has led to a considerable pluralism in technology. In the mobile market, for example, D-AMPS, TDMA, GSM, as well as CDMA standards have been adopted.

Initiatives of the Chilean government to promote the use of the Internet in the country. In early June 2000 President Lagos set up the Committee of Ministers for Information and Communication Technologies. The Committee is integrated various Ministers and other high level government officials. On 13 June 2000 the Committee started to work on a number of projects that were clustered in five thematic areas: (1) promotion of access; (2) electronic government; (3) new technologies in businesses; (4) human resources development; (5) Information and citizen participation. Each of these areas are led and coordinated by the institution that has a jurisdictional function in government on the area. The promotion of access project, for example, is led by the Subsecretary of Communications (Subtel). In the short term the Committee has been working in the development of policy and concrete projects in the areas of access, government, human resources, and ICT in businesses. On 21 May 2000 the President of Chile announced a number of projects aimed at modernizing the Chilean government and society. Mr. Lagos proposed to:

• establish Infocenters across the country;
• further expand the Enlaces program (connecting schools to the Internet);
• provide easier access to computers for small businesses and teachers;
• pass the digital signatures law;
• launch public procurement over the Internet;
• establish the Ventanilla Unica. (Single Window) program
• set up the Cultural Links network
• promote the development of a risk capital industry.

As of April 2001 all of these initiatives have been completed or are in the process of being implemented:

• more than 100 Infocenters. have been set up across the country covering all regions;
• the digital signature law is in Congress to be approved;
• the program of electronic public procurement was launched;
• a number of legal reforms were introduced to enhance the development of risk capital;
• the program to ease the purchase of PCs for small business and teachers in being implemented;
• on March 2001 the Chilean government open an office in Silicon Valley in the USA; the Cultural Links network and the Ventanilla Unica program are being implemented.

The government announced on 18 July 2001 that it will be launching in the near future ten projects to provide public services through information and communication technologies.mainly through the Internet.