Initiative: Broadband Training Center sustainability (Phase III) (RG-T2271)

Since 2013, the IDB and the Government of Korea have supported the development and operation of the Broadband Training Center, “Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Banda Ancha para el Desarrollo” (CEABAD), located in Managua, Nicaragua. The Center aims at increasing the capacity of government officials of Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panamá, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic to better develop:
(i) strategic regulations that drive competition and fosters investment; and
(ii) policies that focus not only on access but also on demand.

The Broadband Training Center sustainability (Phase III) project builds on previous activities, and is expected to execute specific actions to ensure the Center’s sustainability while continue developing skills and capacities among governmental officials of the region.

Since its creation, the CEABAD has been expanding the catalog of services offered and has strengthened the collaboration with key partners such as ITU, the GSMA or Internet Society, among others. As of today, some highlights of this initiative’s results are:
(i) more than 600 public officials from the region trained in key topics for the region such as spectrum, broadband plans or infrastructure sharing, through regional and local workshops
(ii) 625 students enrolled in 12 virtual courses, with a 96% completion rate and who, according to surveys, are satisfied by 95%.

Activities:
Development of Content and Brand Awareness
(i) Organization of two regional workshops
(ii) Development of seven on demand training Courses
(iii) Development of the first regional Hackathon in CEABAD
(iv) Publish two studies on topics of interest for the region

Development of the Business and Operating Plans for CEABAD
(i) Development of strategic partnerships with different stakeholders
(ii) Definition of an organizational and operating plan for CEABAD

Website: www.ceabad.com
http://www.iadb.org/en/projects/project-description-title,1303.html?id=RG-T2271

Beneficiaries: Central American countries, and the Dominican Republic

Partnerships and Financing: Government of Korea

Initiative: Technical Support Network of Employment Services (RED SEALC, for its initials in Spanish)

The overall goal of this technical cooperation (TC) is to improve the institutional and technical capacity of the Public Employment Services (PES) to expand its potential to support workers to get jobs faster and that are of better quality than those obtained without support of labor intermediation services.

Red SEALC was created in 2009 to support the efforts of governments in the region to build and strengthen their PES. The initiative aims at improving the labor opportunities for workers and increasing the productivity of businesses and countries' economies. Currently, 19 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have PES entities that are members of RED SEALC.

Red SEALC finances programs so that PES can learn from the successful experiences of countries within the region and the rest of the world. The activities financed by Red SEALC include training programs, workshops, technical assistance provided by government officials, and private consultants. Since 2009, Red SEALC have funded 42 expert visits among countries within the region, 20 technical assistances with countries from outside the region, and have trained over 600 government officials.

One important achievement of RED SEALC was the publication of the book, "The World of Public Employment Services," in 2016 in collaboration with WAPES and the LEED initiative from the OECD. In the case of the Americas, the publication offers the first standardized and comparable data set on PES from 23 LAC countries.

Activities:
Technical assistance through technical visits, courses and workshops in the following areas:
(i) Labor Market Information Systems;
(ii) Single window service schemes;
(iii) Engagement with private sector;
(iv) Special attention scheme for vulnerable groups;
(v) Governance;
(vi) Performance management;
(vii) Impact evaluation;
(viii) Quality management systems;
(ix) Human resources management of PES staff ;
(x) Multichannel management;
(xi) Cooperation with Labor Market stakeholders (e.g., private employment agencies, training institutions, education institutions, academia, social security agencies).

Website: http://www.iadb.org/en/topics/labor-and-pensions/redsealc/home,18644.html

Beneficiaries: Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and The Dominican Republic.

Partnerships and Financing: The governments of the member countries co-finance the operation of the Red SEALC providing in-kind support through technical assistance provided by officials of the PES from inside and outside the region.
Through developing partnerships, the initiative has received additional technical and financial resources for activities as described below:

World Association of the Public Employment Services:
(i) Co-publication of the book, "The World of Public Employment Service" (2016);
(ii) Co-organizer of event launching the book, "The World of Public Employment Service";
(iii) Co-organizer of workshop training program on management of labor mobility by PES;

OECD:
(i) Co-publication of the book, "The World of Public Employment Service" (2016);
(ii) Co-organizer of event launching the book, "The World of Public Employment Service";

International Organization for Migration:
(i) Co-organizer of workshop training program on management of labor mobility by PES;

Pacific Alliance Business Council (PABC):
(i) Co-organizer of workshop, “Labor mobility under the Pacific Alliance: the role of the productive and public sectors through Public Employment Services“.

Initiative: Digital Marketplace for Government Solutions - DigiGob (RG-T2802)

With the goal of supporting governments to address their citizens’ needs in a more efficient and transparent manner, this project will focus on accelerating the adoption of technological solutions on the part of public institutions, by way of setting up a digital solutions marketplace (DigiGob). DigiGob is a regional platform where public and private sector actors will interact, creating the right dynamics for increasing choices and facilitating the decision making process of the public sector.

Activities:
(i) Design of the business model, governance structure, and sustainability plan of DigiGob.
(ii) Development and implementation of the DigiGob platform.
(ii) Dissemination and communication activities to attract countries to the platform.
(iii) Development and adoption of three solutions in key areas of public intervention.

Website: http://www.iadb.org/en/projects/project-description-title,1303.html?id=RG-T2802

Beneficiaries: IDB member countries

Initiative: Support for the Definition of Digital Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean (RG-T2784)

The overall objective of this project is to support countries in the region in the formulation and implementation of public policies and regulations to promote their integration into the digital economy. This project will:
(i) identify digital policy best practices in areas such as spectrum management, development of human capital, and use and adoption of digital technologies and infrastructure;
(ii) support the design of Action Matrices for facilitating digital inclusion in the region; and
iii) promote dialogue between the private and public sectors.

Activities:
(i) Identification of best practices for the formulation and implementation of digital policies and regulatory frameworks, and assessment of Latin America and the Caribbean countries policy initiatives;
(ii) Definition of Action Matrices to guide the design and implementation of digital policies in at least three countries;
(iii) Regional workshops;
(iv) Creation of a network for public- private dialogue; and
(v) Dissemination activities.

Website: www.iadb.org/digilac
http://www.iadb.org/en/projects/project-description-title,1303.html?id=RG-T2784

Beneficiaries: IDB member countries.

Access to credit geared toward human development

The IDB supports access to credit geared toward human development on two fronts. First, we promote access to small-scale finance in rural areas through the funding and strengthening of financial entities that serve poorer households. Second, we support the development of digital financial ecosystems that can provide financial entities with information to feed new credit scoring models for those without previous credit history in order to improve access to credit. In both instances, the target population is low-income segments of the population with the intended impact of reducing vulnerability and creating economic opportunities.

Broadband access to overcome the digital gap

Between 2013 and 2015, the IDB’s broadband special program financed 32 Technical Cooperation (TC) projects with a total allocated amount of US $10.4 million, prioritizing projects with a focus on dialogue and applications for development as well as support for institutional strengthening. Examples of projects are the ministerial meeting that took place in Punta Cana in 2015, the second year of operation of the training center for Central America, Panama and the Dominican Republic and the recently approved loan for US $50 million which aims to increase broadband penetration in Nicaragua with the ultimate goal of contributing to the economic and social development of the country.

Initiative: Hackathon digiLAC
The Hackathon digiLAC aimed to stimulate the development of creative and innovative applications, and the exchange of knowledge to help develop technological solutions that benefit the citizens of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Hackathon digiLAC brought together companies, government entities, and entrepreneurs of the Andean region around the exchange of open knowledge, and the development of technology solutions with the aim of responding to social problems in education, health, energy, environment, and social and financial inclusion, and thus help bridge the digital divide in our region.

Activities:
- Content design of workshops
- Review of innovative proposals, and selection of participants
- Entrepreneurship and innovation workshops
- ICT Bootcamp
- Design an space for developers, designers, and entrepreneurs to develop a innovative broadband application
- Innovative presentations where companies such as Google, Cisco, Microsoft, Ruta N, Apps.co, JuntoSalimos, among others, presented their initiatives and products regarding entrepreneurship and ICT

Website: www.hackathondigilac.com

Beneficiaries: Andean countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela)

Initiative: Platform of visualization of the IDBA and the associated reports
Update of the broadband index and of the infrastructure maps. The main objective of this initiative is to undertake the needed improvements on the platform (www.iadb.org/digiLAC), as well as update the information present in the IDBA, the infrastructure maps and their corresponding reports.

Activities:
Update of the platform and maintenance:
- Platform visualization web parts
Update of the Broadband Development Index (IDBA) and its reports:
- IDBA updated Excel model
- IDBA Quarterly Reports
- IDBA Annual Reports
Update of the infrastructure maps and its reports:
- Updated infrastructure map tables
- Infrastructure map reports
Dissemination and edition of the results of the IDBA and the infrastructure maps:
- Dissemination workshop in regional dialogues
- Edition and printing of copies of both the IDBA and infrastructure maps reports

Website: www.iadb.org/digilac

Beneficiaries: Latin America and the Caribbean countries

Initiative: Technical Support Network of Employment Services
The overall of this technical cooperation (TC) is to improve the institutional and technical capacity of the Public Employment Services (PES) to expand its potential to support workers to get jobs faster and that are of better quality than those obtained without support of labor intermediation services. The specific objectives include the support of institutional and technical strengthening of the PES in the management of labor intermediation services; the improvement of their services´ monitoring and evaluation systems; and the fostering of partnerships between private sector organizations, vocational training institutions (VTI) and government agencies.

Activities: Technical assistance through technical visits, courses and workshops in the following areas: i) Organizational development, partnerships with the private sector and VTIs; ii) coordination and integration of service delivery through a single window schemes; iii) training of job and businesses counselors; iv) unemployment insurance; v) information and monitoring systems for employment management, employment portals and labor observatories; vi) quality systems based on ISO, competencies, and other international systems; vii) results-based management and impact evaluation studies; and viii) documenting good practices on institutional and operational areas in the PES inside and outside the region in collaboration with the World Association of Public Employment Services and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development through: a. Design of an indicators system of institutional and operational characteristics of PES; b. Database containing PES institutional and operational information compiled through the data collection; c. Set of country profiles obtained based on the data collection; D. Publication of a report on the state of art of Public Employment Services at the global level.

Website: http://www.iadb.org/en/topics/labor-and-pensions/redsealc/home,18644.html

Beneficiaries: Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, and Dominican Republic.

Partnership and financing: The governments of the member countries co-finance the operation of the Red SEALC providing in-kind support through technical assistance provided by officials of the PES from inside and outside the region. The World Association of Public Employment Services and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development co-financed the development of the indicators system of institutional and operational characteristics of PES and the publication of the report The World of Public Employment Services.

Initiative: 2nd Ministerial Forum for Broadband Development in Latin America and the Caribbean
The objective of the initiative is to transfer knowledge, and develop strategic partnerships and cooperation in the field of broadband development to Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) countries under the framework of the broadband special program of the IDB. To do so, this project supports the 2nd Ministerial Forum jointly held by the IDB and the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning of Korea in Dominican Republic on September 10 - 11, 2015. By learning from the best practices of developed countries and international organizations, the highest-level officials in ICT related Ministries from the LAC Region would get to utilize specific approaches to address their countries’ broadband priorities.

Activities:
Broadband priority assessment and partnership building:
- Evaluate broadband priorities for each LAC participant
- Establish preliminary strategic partnerships to effectively address priorities and develop support mechanisms
Knowledge sharing, training and partnership building during the 2nd Ministerial Forum for Broadband Development:
- Experiences in broadband development - Case Study
- Broadband priority matchmaking and strengthening of partnerships
Technical notes on broadband priorities:
- Dissemination of the results from the Forum

Beneficiaries: Latin America and the Caribbean countries

Initiative: Development of the comprehensive Broadband Policy Toolkit
This initiative responds to the need to develop an enabling public policy environment as part of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) strategy to accelerate broadband deployment, adoption and use by governments, businesses and individuals. It also addresses the Bank’s priority to strengthen the institutional capacity of governments to perform fundamental functions, such as the design and implementation of public policies.
The objective of this initiative is to improve the variety, quality and effectiveness of broadband public policies (both on supply and demand sides) in the LAC Region. To that objective, this project is building a broadband toolkit specific and customized to the LAC Region

Activities:
Data Analysis
- Collect input information and validate assumptions and conclusions
- Summary of best practices
Detailed structure and design of the broadband policy toolkit
Development of the modules of the toolkit and training materials

Beneficiaries: Latin America and the Caribbean countries

Partnerships and Financing: OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)