Argentina: With the new Digital Points of Fuerte Esperanza and Quitilipi, Chaco already has 17 digital inclusion spaces

Press release from the Ministry of Public Innovation

This is an automated translation of the original press release issued in Spanish

The Undersecretariat for Services and the Digital Country of the Secretariat for Public Innovation inaugurated two new connectivity spaces in the Chaco towns of Fuerte Esperanza and El Palmar (Quitilipi). In this way, there are already 17 Digital Points implemented in the province and more than 630 distributed in the 24 national jurisdictions, forming the most federal digital inclusion program in the country.

For the implementation of these Digital Points, the national government allocated more than 8 million pesos. Each of these spaces has essential tools to guarantee access to connectivity, training, and recreation with learning rooms equipped with state-of-the-art computers, a micro-cinema with a projector, and an entertainment room with video game consoles.

The town of Fuerte Esperanza is 440 km away. away from the city of Resistencia, in the middle of the Chaco Impenetrable Mountain and has approximately 1500 inhabitants. The Digital Point is located in the Francisco de Borjas Mercado Cultural Center, from where the Director of Project Management of the aforementioned Undersecretariat, Nicolás Fortuño, approached those present with greetings from the Secretary of Public Innovation, Micaela Sánchez Malcolm, and He thanked "all the people who were part of this project, from the Municipality, the Provincial Government and the Nation, which today materializes in this new technological space that the community needed so much."

Meanwhile, Mayor Inés Ortega thanked "for their dedication to service" all the people who made it possible for the Program to disembark "on our beloved Mount Impenetrable." Before the neighbors, he added: “This space is yours, for you. Here they will be able to learn, share and entertain themselves”.

The Digital Point will be extremely useful for citizens, who will be able to access connectivity, equipment and training to access ICTs, in addition to having assistance in procedures and thus connecting to their rights in a more agile way. The coordination of the space will be in charge of Daniel "Fredy" Santillán.

On the other hand, the second connectivity space implemented in the municipality of El Palmar was also launched. It is the Punto Digital Quitilipi II- located in the Civic Center of the town of El Palmar-, which will be coordinated by Diego Insaurralde.

During the launch of the Digital Point, Fortuño said: "We believe in a present State, in this case in its three estates, Nation, Province and local governments, joining forces and generating different articulations to make possible the implementation of this new Digital Point . In any case, the work will now continue to fill this space with content and activities”.

Next, the mayor of Quitilipi, Ariel Lovey, celebrated the opening of the new technological device in El Palmar, "which will really imply a before and after for our town because it is a space where all the neighbors will be able, among other things, carry out procedures right here without having to travel more than 50 km. to other urban areas to make them.”

It should be noted that the Punto Digital Quitilipi I, with a 9-year history, is located in the center of the City and has had an excellent performance for several years, which motivated the recent inauguration in the town of El Palmar.

About the Punto Digital program

Throughout 2022, the Ministry of Public Innovation inaugurated 33 Digital Points: Fuerte Esperanza, Quitilipi II and Fontana (Chaco); Paraná II, Federal, Valle María and Gral. Racedo (Entre Ríos); Barrios and Yavi (Jujuy); Caucete II (San Juan); Villa María, Villa Nueva and Río Ceballos (Córdoba); Chicoana and Campo Santo (Salta); Catriel (Black River); Cerro Azul and San Vicente (Misiones); Esteban Echeverría, Zárate, Merlo, Mercedes and La Costa (Buenos Aires); Naschel (St. Louis); Alderetes and Commune of Tapia (Tucumán); Commune of Tortugas, El Trébol and María Teresa Commune (Santa Fe); Lavalle (Mendoza); Dolavon and Puerto Madryn (Chubut); and San Blas de los Sauces (La Rioja).

Punto Digital has more than twelve years of continuity as a public inclusion policy. The national government continues to work together with provinces and municipalities to continue strengthening this collective construction in order to reduce the digital divide.

The work in each connectivity space is directed by a coordinator who develops and implements actions aimed at promoting digital inclusion adapted to the reality of each community.