ADVANCING PERU'S DIGITAL FREEDOM INITIATIVE

UNCLAS LIMA 002217

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA/AND, WHA/EPSC, EB/CIP - TCARNEGIE/WAYALA
COMMERCE FOR 4331/MAC/WH/MCAMERON
COMMERCE FOR OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY/KFERGUESON
USTR FOR KSCHAGRIN/JMCHALE
FCC INTERNATIONAL BUREAU FOR ETALAGA
AID FOR BRENDA FISHER/NOREEN JANUS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECPS ETRD EINV ECON PE
SUBJECT: ADVANCING PERU'S DIGITAL FREEDOM INITIATIVE

REF: A) LIMA 1587 B) LIMA 1158


1. (SBU) Summary. Post continues to promote the Digital
Freedom Initiative in Peru, coordinating closely with the
GOP and the private sector. The five DFI subgroups on
software, hardware, e-commerce, business models and
telecommunications have met in the past two months to review
development priorities and regulation issues with the GOP.
The DFI Working Group, which consists of nine members of the
GOP, Embassy and private sector, is working to establish a
bilingual DFI Peru webpage, which should be completed by
August. The DFI Working Group will meet with the Garcia
Administration transition team in the next month to
determine how the DFI will fit into the new government's
plans for rural development. End Summary.

Working with Subgroups on DFI Issues
--------------


2. (SBU) The DFI Working Group, which includes nine
officials from the Embassy, GOP, and the General Managers of
Voxiva Peru, Motorola, Hewlett Packard, Cisco and Intel,
continues to work with the five subgroups (software,
hardware, e-government, business models and
telecommunications) to promote development and regulatory
change. Three of these subgroups - software, hardware and
telecommunications - have met and are working on
establishing projects that can be completed by December

2006. The groups, focusing on creating projects that help
small businesses, improve connectivity and general access to
information technology, are attempting to devise projects
that can be implemented at a low cost. Each group will
present proposals to the DFI Working Group in July; from
there, the Working Group will seek to find U.S. and Peruvian
businesses that can assist, either through technical or
financial assistance, with implementing the programs.


3. (SBU) The E-Commerce/E-Government group is planning to
work with officials at the municipal level to promote the
use of the Internet. In conversations with the Mayor of
Miraflores (a municipality in Lima that uses the Internet
for government transactions),the E-Government group
discussed the possibility of arranging digital video-
conferences (DVCs) with municipal leaders in rural areas to
promote E-Government opportunities. Speakers, including the
Mayor of Miraflores, would explain the importance of
interconnection via the Internet and how local governments
can improve services by offering them online. The E-
Government group will work with the Embassy to help
coordinate this event.

DFI Webpage
--------------


4. (SBU) The DFI Working Group is currently working to
establish its own DFI website, which will provide details on
DFI projects in both English and Spanish. We decided to use
www.dfiperu.com.pe as our domain. Cisco will purchase the
domain name and will help establish the website, which may
be ready by August. Once the website is established, we
will request that key Washington agencies set a link to the
website on their DFI pages.

Working with the Next Government
--------------


5. (SBU) During our last DFI Working Group meeting,
representatives from the Ministry of Production noted that
we need to coordinate with the new Administration to ensure
that we do not lose momentum. The Peruvian Presidential
elections were on June 4; once the APRA Party transition
team is established, members of the DFI Working Group will
meet with the team to discuss future DFI plans. GOP
officials are confident that the incoming Garcia
Administration will support the DFI, as it seeks to improve

connections throughout Peru and provides small and micro-
businesses with opportunities for economic growth.

Comment
--------------


6. (SBU) The Embassy, along with many U.S. and Peruvian
companies, agree that the expansion and use of
telecommunications services will foster economic and social
development in the rural areas of Peru. We expect that the
incoming Garcia Administration will support our DFI
programs, although we are unsure what role the Ministry of
Production and Ministry of Communications will play in our
DFI Working Group. In the meantime, the DFI Working Group
will continue to work on smaller programs, such as bringing
in 70 donated computers and holding DVCs with local
governments, until the new government decides how the DFI
fits into its rural development plans.

STRUBLE