SIGNALS FOR LATIN AMERICA

By Antonio Garcia Zaballos

Over the past few decades, the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region has had numerous changes in development, most of them beneficial. Notwithstanding considerable variation among countries, most have experienced technological modernisation and economic growth. There has been expansion of the region’s network infrastructure sectors, such as transport, energy, and information and communications technologies (ICTs).
But modernisation and expansion reveal old risks and bring new ones that arise from widespread reliance on infrastructure assets and systems, and from increasing interconnectivity of different structures at national and international levels. If ignored, those risks could turn into large scale disruptions of infrastructure and could cause significant impact on the population and vital functions of society.
Broadband in particular plays a crucial role as a catalyst for further development of this communication and facilitates economic growth and social inclusion.