# ECOM-LAC

The Latin America and Caribbean Federation for Internet and Electronic Commerce (Spanish: Federación de Latinoamérica y el Caribe para Internet y el Comercio Electrónico, eCOM-LAC) was founded in March 1999 at a meeting held in Rio de Janeiro.
At the end of 2022, eCOM-LAC adopted a new name and new objectives. The new name is the Latin American and Caribbean Federation of Internet and Digital Technologies.

## Mission and Vision

Mission: Evangelize, promote and facilitate the deployment of digital technology solutions in the Latin American and Caribbean region.
Vision: Build and articulate contact networks between people and entities interested in and linked to Digital Technologies that provide both learning and business opportunities in the region.

## History

The Latin American and Caribbean Federation for Internet and Electronic Commerce (eCOM-LAC) was born in March 1999 at a meeting held in Rio de Janeiro. The objective of the Federation is to promote the development of ICTs in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean, also providing support to initiatives to reduce the digital divide carried out in this geographical area, and representing the private sector. of the region in the corresponding international forums, for example:
* WSIS – World Summit on the Information Society • IGF – Internet Governance Forum • ICANN – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers • LACNIC – Internet Address Registry for Latin America and the Caribbean
eCOM-LAC held two regional electronic commerce summits, the first in Sao Paulo (March 2000), the second in Buenos Aires (April 2001). Among the prominent personalities who participated as speakers, we can highlight the presence of Mr. Donald Evans, US Secretary of Commerce, at the event in Buenos Aires. The entity was the founder of LACNIC, the Internet Address Registry for Latin America and the Caribbean, established at the end of 2003, after four years of negotiation with ICANN to obtain approval for this undertaking. This was a true MSP including the participation of the private sector, the academic sector, NGOs and civil society in the region. The 'deliverable' was a non-profit entity, with policies that define the Internet community in the region, and that manages the IP address blocks for Latin America and the Caribbean from its headquarters in Montevideo, ROdel Uruguay.
Between 2004/2005, eCOM-LAC participated in an International Consortium led by the Fundació Aplicació of Barcelona, which was awarded a subsidy of approximately 3,000,000 Euros from the European Commission, within the framework of the @lis program. The project that was carried out was called: ATLAS of Diversity – My Place, and some four hundred schools in Latin America learned how to use tools for developing and publishing websites, forming a network of schools that shared their customs, culture, music, history, etc. Our entity was in charge of contracting broadband connectivity for the poorest schools, which lacked resources. The consortium paid these costs for the duration of the project (24 months).
In 2006, eCOM-LAC joined the Global Knowledge Partnership as a member, a global network of NGOs, international organizations and companies, brought together in a global network with the purpose of meeting the goals of the World Summit on the Information Society, for the formation of multi-sector alliances, aimed at collaborating in social inclusion projects through the application of ICTs. In 2008, in an electoral process involving the 140 members of GKP, eCOM-LAC was elected Regional Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2009, following a GKP general election, eCOM-LAC became a member of the GKP Board of Directors (Executive Committee).
In 2014, eCOM-LAC was elected President of the Board of Directors of GKP Foundation, with new headquarters in Brussels.
In 2010/2011 eCOM-LAC, together with ICANN, organized three events entitled “Internet of the Future”, in Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile.
Since 2010, eCOM-LAC participates in the organization of an annual event in Miami that brings together legislators and government officials from Latin American and Caribbean countries, with the purpose of discussing the implications of legislation and regulation in the field. of ICTs, and make update presentations on the cutting-edge services and products that appear in the information technology and telecommunications space. The main global companies in the ICT world provide support and content to this annual event, which has had a great impact due to its rich thematic content.
On October 16, 2014, eCOM-LAC became an accredited Registry with ICANN, and obtained the delegation to operate a top-level domain on the Internet, the '.lat' extension. In conjunction with the Network Information Center of Mexico (NIC MX), which is the technical operator of the domain, eCOM-LAC began offering the ' .lat domain to the market starting in February 2015.
At the end of 2022, eCOM-LAC transferred the operation from .lat to XYZ and set new horizons, adopting a new name and new objectives. The new name is the Latin American and Caribbean Federation of Internet and Digital Technologies. Our new objective is to evangelize, promote and facilitate the deployment of digital technology solutions in the Latin American and Caribbean region.
We will work to promote knowledge and the consistent deployment of IoT solutions, Industry 4.0, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Twins, Drones, and the cybersecurity associated with these technologies.

## Executive Board

* President: Oscar Messano (CABASE)
* Vice President: Eduardo Parajo (ABRANET)
* Secretary: Diego Belotti (ANTEL)
* Treasurer: José Pedro Derrégibus (CNCS)
* Executive Director: Anthony Harris

## Members

Argentina: CABASE - www.cabase.org.ar// CCATLAT - www.ccatlat.org// CAIOT - www.iot.org.ar// ESSS - www.esss.co// INTELLIGENTIA - www.intelligentia.ai// TELESPAZIO - www.telespazio.com// CAEDYA - www.caedya.com.ar
Brasil: ABRANET - www.abranet.org.br// ABINC - www.abinc.org.br
México: ASOCIACION IOT MEXICO - www.asociacioniot.org
Uruguay: ANTEL - www.antel.com.uy// CNSC - www.cncs.com.uy// INTERSYS - www.intersys.uy// IOTCS - www.iotcs.lat