PRESS RELEASE
FIRST FRIDA meeting was held in Montevideo, April 22-23/2009
More than 70 participants from almost 10 countries from the region of Latin America and the Caribbean gathered the 22 and 23 of April in
Montevideo (Uruguay) at the first event of the Regional Fund for Digital Innovation in the Latin America and Caribbean (FRIDA program).
During the opening ceremony there where present the Executive Director
of LACNIC Mr. Raul Echeberría, the Program Manager for ICT4D Programs in the Americas (IDRC) Mr. Ben Petrazzini and the Regional Manager of the Internet Society (ISOC) Mr. Sebastián Bellagamba. All three were representing the organizations supporting FRIDA since its beginning in 2004.
Among the objectives of this meeting, the following were highlighted:
- to strengthen regional capacities in the ICT area and its impact in the elaboration of public policies to solve important regional issues that limit the development of the Information Society;
- to give training possibilities with its four workshops on different stages of an ICT project for the participants and those following the event by webcast;
- to present successful experiences of researches founded by FRIDA since 2004 to display good practices and to facilitate the creation of a new regional research network.
The high assistance and diverse participation made it a very successful, interesting and dynamic meeting.
This meeting gave the participants present in the event and following it online, the opportunity to learn a lot more about FRIDA, its organization and functioning and the participation modalities for its annual calls.
During the closing remarks, Ms. Alexandra Dans (FRIDA’s coordinator) was thankful for the support of all the sponsors of the program: IDRC, LACNIC and ISOC as well as for the participation of all the foreign speakers and the local and foreign participants. She was hopeful regarding future activities in other countries to make a greater diffusion of FRIDA, to invite new sponsors to support the program and to implicate even more countries in FRIDA’s calls.
FRIDA launches a Facebook group
Since the last day of April, FRIDA has a group in facebook which will present the same announcements that those of the distribution list and will bring together researchers of the region. The group already displays a link with short interviews and pictures of the FRIDA meeting held on April 22 and 23, 2009.
Name of the group: Programa FRIDA Program
Link: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=163236095566
