eGA experts contribute to e-Governance dialogue in Costa Rica

EU-LAC Digital Alliance Dialogue on e-Governance took place in San Jose, Costa Rica 15-17 May. The three-day event gathered 115 participants from 37 countries and 7 international organizations to work towards a common understanding of joint priorities and a roadmap for future actions on cross-border interoperability, electronic identity and digital signatures., while ensuring that the fruits of digitalisation are harvested in an equitable, inclusive, and secure manner, reflecting the joint commitment to a stable, democratic, and open digital environment. 

The Digital Alliance bi-regional dialogue is a platform for policymakers to exchange experiences, highlight LAC and EU good practices and promote convergence on the four aforementioned focus areas.

The first day of the dialogue saw discussions on the future of cross-border cooperation on interoperability, where eGA experts Heiko Vainsalu and Carlos Vargas emphasised the importance of interoperability in enhancing public service delivery across a multi-state environment.

The second day, which focused on indentification and digital signatures in the LAC region, eGA senior expert Mark Erlich emphasised the role of identity authentication and digital signatures in enhancing cybersecurity, protecting privacy, and promoting user trust in digital transactions.

Kristina Reinsalu and Marit Lani led the workstream on digital citizen engagement and ICT governance. They discussed the importance of engaging civil society organizations to be more active partners and actors in the digital agenda and facilitators for the digital engagement of citizens and proposed models to adress these issues.