2020 Visions Forum speaks out for the country’s digital transformation to...

With the title ‘People first’, the 2020 Visions Forum on October 12, 13 and 14, addressed the issue of the gap in transformation digital for development. At the meeting promoted by the Spanish Chamber, the Embassy of Spain in Peru and Spanish NGOs, they reflected on the challenges in economic and social recovery, the impacts of the digital divide, and the commitment of companies to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Verónica Zavala, manager of the BID for Mexico, he highlighted the need to have digital talent, work on cybersecurity and make our society literate.

“We cannot see only connectivity, we have to see it together to close gaps,” he estimated, after indicating that Peru ranks 71 in the digital transformation ranking.

Then, the question arose: Can digital education close the educational gaps in Peru? The former Minister of Education Marilú Martens He commented that education has changed since the pandemic and that it is time to move from the emergency situation to a state of new education with the digital component.

He recognized that today digital education has limited value, with learning differences between those who have access to connectivity and those who do not. He stated that these gaps can be closed by strengthening public-private partnerships.

But, can connectivity be solved in rural areas? José Juan Haro, director of public affairs and wholesale business at Telefónica Hispanoamérica, answered yes.

He said that since May 2019 a new company has been operating in Peru, Internet para todos, of which Telefónica is a partner, which provides the service in a different way. It is a network that does not serve just one brand but is made available, under a wholesale model, to any operator that wants to use it. Haro said that by the end of this year, 2 million of the 6 million people excluded from connectivity will be connected.

And regarding the process of strengthening productivity through digitization, Maite Vizcarra explained that in Peru there are many people who are doing telework successfully because they have access to the internet and can explore digital skills. But, there are also the digital resources that do not have adequate access to the internet and have managed to develop digital capabilities that are allowing them to do so, using themselves digitally.

He indicated that these are not the large electronic commerce who are making delivery, but from people who make tiny deliveries.

“These digital resources are part of the nearly 7 million Peruvians who are currently unemployed and have swelled the group of informality. What needs to be done? Urgently facilitate more instruments in an organic way so that these digital resources improve their productivity ”, recommended Maite Vizcarra.

It’s time to work together

Jessica Rodríguez, president of the Arequipa Chamber of Commerce, pointed out that the crisis caused by a health and an economy that does not work has made the government, the private sector, academia and civil society, be clear that it is necessary to work together.

He said that what the Business It was to bring together all the country’s chambers of commerce, through the network, to develop an agenda and propose it to the government. A plan with development objectives in order to achieve poverty reduction.

From the labor unions, Carmela Sifuentes, vice president of the General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP), stressed that this large sector has been the most affected by the pandemic and therefore demanded an economic reactivation that also favors them. He opted for dialogue to achieve a transformation, but regretted that this mechanism is underestimated in the workplace.

Alberto Andreu, associate professor at the University of Navarra, raised the agenda. He considered that in times of pandemic it is necessary to work together for an economy that seeks sustainability. He emphasized going one step ahead and leading goals focused on sustainable development goals and not waiting for the state.

“The World Health Organization said something relevant: disunity kills. Disunity of political, economic and social actors kills. It is necessary to work together, but with common goals and to be able to focus the efforts of private and public ”, Andreu specified.

This year, the Visions Forum made it clear that state, society and business must go together, beyond the access gap and focus on the digital skills gap.