2024: A Year of Cooperation with Authorities and Policy Makers in the Region

17/12/2024

By Miguel Ignacio Estrada, Chief Strategic Relations Officer

Throughout 2024, LACNIC strengthened its commitment to the region by working closely with governments, regulators, judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement agencies across Latin America and the Caribbean. These collaborations have been essential for enhancing Internet governance, improving cybersecurity, and fostering a more inclusive and resilient digital ecosystem.

In collaboration with governments and regulators, we carried out activities with representatives from various countries in the region. These included roundtable discussions during our events in Panama and Asunción, workshops held at the Latin America (São Paulo) and Caribbean (Port of Spain) Schools of Digital Transformation and Innovation, as well as meetings with eLAC (ECLAC) Working Groups and REGULATEL. These engagements focused on issues such as the risks posed by Internet site blockages, IPv6 adoption, cybersecurity, and access to quality Internet. These interactions allowed us to build trust with key stakeholders in these areas, gaining deeper insights into their challenges and opportunities to better support their specific needs.

Our work with judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement agencies this year primarily revolved around training workshops. These included in-person events such as the Workshop for an Open, Secure, and Reliable Internet (https://tiasc.org) and virtual sessions, including specialized training and courses on our Campus platform (https://campus.lacnic.net). The training covered topics such as the functioning of the Internet and the role of organizations within the ecosystem, access to and use of publicly available information from organizations managing Internet resource allocation, and the unintended consequences of blocking Internet sites. Additionally, we developed virtual courses tailored to the training needs of law enforcement agencies in specific countries in the region.

Many of these activities were carried out in collaboration with the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Technical Community: ICANN, Internet Society, LACTLD, LAC-IX, LACNOG, and Red Clara. This partnership enabled us to delve deeply into various aspects of the Internet and its resources. Such coordination, which is not as common in other parts of the world, significantly contributes to enhancing the understanding of our community by authorities and policymakers.

In 2025, we will continue on this path of cooperation to further support the development of an open, secure, and reliable Internet for Latin America and the Caribbean, a critical driver of economic and social development in our region.