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WSIS+10 HIGH-LEVEL EVENT
OPENING POLICY STATEMENT BY
ALEJANDRA LAGUNES
COORDINATOR FOR THE NATIONAL DIGITAL STRATEGY
(Geneva, June 10, 2014)
Dr. Hamadoun I. Touré, Secretary General of the International
Telecommunications Union,
Excellency Atef Helmy, Ministry of Communications & Information
Technology of Egypt,
Distinguished representatives,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Internet and technology have transformed all social structures.
10 years ago, we could not image the dimension of the changes
that have taken place over this decade, changes that have altered
the very foundations of our society.
The challenges for the government have been enormous, but also the
opportunities, and as we reunite today, we can look back and feel
proud at the work and outstanding progress that we have made to build
an Information Society and to achieve the development goals of the
Millennium Declaration. But we cannot sit and rest.
Mexico has made a bold decision: to build a complete ecosystem
to foster development and achieve growth through structural
reforms, policies and technology.
Over one year, Mexico promoted eleven deep, transformative reforms
in the following areas: Education, Labor, Energy, Taxes, Financial
sector, Economic Competition, Transparency and Access to
Information, Criminal Code, Social Security, “Amparo Law”, and
Telecommunications.
From all the reforms boosted last year by President Peña Nieto,
the telecommunications reform is the cornerstone that will allow
Mexico's transformation through technology, by a complete
change of this sector.
With this reform, Mexico became the eighth country to recognize
access to Internet as a fundamental right, as it has been
established in our Constitution.
Also, the reform increases competition, promotes the deployment of
telecommunications infrastructure and establishes the Universal Digital
Inclusion Policy as an obligation of the State.
Regarding policy and technology, the fundamental document that
traces our goals is the National Development Plan. Its objective is
to drive Mexico to its maximum potential.
Within this program, the National Digital Strategy was established. It is
fully in line with the objectives of WSIS, and by doing so, we will
provide success stories that will contribute to the global
discussion about what is the best way to promote development
through the use of Internet and Technology.
This is the bet we are doing: to build an ecosystem where technology
can help us to achieve the millennium declaration and the post
twenty fifteen development goals.
We, as governments, have no other option: we owe it to our
societies.
As a global community, we also face new challenges in important
matters such as internet governance, internet neutrality, privacy
and data protection.
On Internet Governance, Mexico strongly believes that what
works today has to be strengthened and improved. Internet has
been governed by a multi stakeholder model, that includes all of us:
governments, academy, civil society, technical organizations who
have, from the bottom up, in a collaborative way, defined the
principles of internet governance.
We cannot reduce the healthy debate that happens in a multi
stakeholder environment to an intergovernmental debate. Internet is
own by all the people.
Mexico is happy to host the 2016 Internet Governance Forum, where
we will continue the discussion in a multi stakeholder model.
The challenges are there and we have to continue working to promote:
that access, use and incorporation of new technologies into the daily
lives of the people, improve the quality of their lives, close the
inequality gaps and have a positive impact on economic wellbeing,
which is the fundamental premise for building a more inclusive
and prosperous Mexico and a more inclusive and prosperous
world.
This is something that society must do together because none of us
alone is as effective as all of us together. We have to remember that
technology is not going to change the world, people behind technology
are.
Thank you.