Distinguished participants, regulators and policy makers present,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is a pleasure to join you today for this special session on key Pilot Projects within the Regional Regulatory Innovation for Central America project, launched last year at the RDF in Paraguay.
As you remember, this important project, co-financed with the European Union, was launched to strengthen regulatory and institutional frameworks for digital transformation and regional integration of ICTs in Central America.
It was designed as a regional cooperation initiative to strengthen institutional capacities, to foster innovation-friendly regulatory approaches, and to support evidence-based decision-making in an increasingly dynamic digital environment.
In just one year, the project has already generated concrete momentum across the region.
In its first phase, the Telecommunication Development Bureau has supported ten workshops and the training of over 400 professionals across seven beneficiary countries, namely Belize, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama.
These efforts have helped build a stronger regional foundation for understanding and applying regulatory experimentation mechanisms, including sandbox approaches and other innovation-oriented tools.
The strategic importance of this project lies in the princple that, regulatory innovation should not be understood only in terms of technology. It is also about institutions, capabilities and the confidence to test new approaches responsibly.
Our next step is the launching of a regional call for proposals to identify practical initiatives to allow us to move from concept to implementation.
In this regard, we have received 11 pilot projects proposals, reflecting a strong response from institutions across beneficiary countries, for a structured experimentation.
I am pleased to note that the region is ready to move beyond discussing innovation, and to translate it into practical regulatory action.
Today, we are officially launching a portfolio of pilot initiatives that will be implemented over the coming year, as part of a broader effort to modernize regulatory practice and strengthen public-sector innovation in the Americas.
These pilots address highly relevant policy and regulatory challenges, including quality of service, connectivity in rural and underserved areas, emerging network models, digital administrative innovation, and governance approaches for artificial intelligence.
They show how regulatory innovation can respond to real institutional priorities while contributing to broader regional learning. They create space for regulators and public institutions to learn by doing, to engage with stakeholders, and to generate practical evidence that can inform future policy and regulatory decisions.
In this sense, these pilots are an investment in institutional learning, regional cooperation, and more adaptive and forward-looking governance.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Today we have the opportunity to hear directly from the representatives of the participating institutions, the human faces behind these pilot initiatives.
Their interventions will show how each pilot responds to a specific national or sectoral challenges, while also contributing to a shared regional agenda on regulatory innovation.
I encourage all participants to benefit from this exchange that provides regional assets from which we can all learn.
I am also pleased to launch a practical guide for the public sector on designing regulatory experimentation.
This dialogue provides policymakers and regulatory authorities with a conceptual and operational framework to design, select, and guide different types of experimentation spaces in the public sector. Rather than promoting a single model, it proposes a decision-oriented approach that helps identify the most appropriate instruments to be used, the level of risk involved, and assessment of available institutional capacities.
Through this guide, we reaffirm our commitment to supporting Member States in strengthening their institutional capacities and in building digital governance frameworks that foster innovation, protect users, and contribute to sustainable digital development.
We are committed to supporting regulators and governments in this work, as they build enabling frameworks for inclusive and sustainable digital transformation.
Once again, today’s launch is the beginning of a new phase: one of implementation, learning and cooperation at scale.
Last but not least, today is a great day – as I also launch a practical guide for the public sector on designing regulatory experimentation.
This guidance provides policymakers and regulatory authorities with a conceptual and operational framework to design, select, and guide different types of experimentation spaces in the public sector. Rather than promoting a single model, it proposes a decision-oriented approach that helps identify the most appropriate instruments to be used, the level of risk involved, and the available institutional capacities.
Through this guide, we reaffirm our commitment to supporting Member States in strengthening their institutional capacities and in building digital governance frameworks that foster innovation, protect users, and contribute to sustainable digital development.
Under the BDT4Impact we believe in continuous innovation and it is my hope that the work that we are presenting to you brings new tools in your regulatory toolboxes!
Thank you for your attention.
