The Permanent Secretariat of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA), as part of its training programme for diplomats and senior officials in areas related to diplomacy, technology and cyberspace governance, is offering this year the Course “European Union – Latin America and the Caribbean relations in the digital era: EU-LAC Digital Alliance and Global Gateway”, with the objective of promoting the development of negotiating skills for a better understanding of the application of diplomacy to political and geopolitical problems arising in the digital era.

In today’s world of the digital era, cyberspace has become one of the main fields of action for governments, public institutions, businesses, civil society and citizens. So far, the digital era is led and governed by the so-called Big Tech Companies, which use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to produce their goods and services; their economic power and external action have geopolitical implications. Both factors (economic and geopolitical) make Big Tech Companies the new de facto global players. AI is impacting sectors such as transportation, banking and finance, education, and health. It is therefore changing traditional economic, financial, and commercial systems. But the use of AI also causes alterations in the political systems of countries, through actions by companies or groups of power and influence that conduct information and disinformation campaigns, altering electoral processes, or even changing or overthrowing governments.

SELA and the European Institute of International Studies (IEEI), in collaboration with the Pontifical University of Salamanca, are contributing to Latin American and Caribbean countries in understanding the new forms of diplomacy and its challenges and opportunities, by providing training courses to develop and deepen the professional skills of their officials.

Cyberspace has been created and is managed by Big Tech companies, mainly American and Chinese. In this sense, both the Member States of the European Union and the Latin American and Caribbean countries share the common challenge of seeking to lead a fair and balanced digital transition. At the last EU-CELAC 2023 summit, a renewal of the bi-regional strategic partnership between Europeans, Latin Americans and Caribbeans was sought in order to strengthen the multilateral system and promote more effective and inclusive global governance that respects international law, as well as to improve bi-regional cooperation in areas such as digitalisation.

The EU-LAC digital partnership and the Global Gateway create the necessary conditions to enhance and deepen relations among Latin American and Caribbean countries. The use of AI encourages countries to rethink their international relations, foreign policy priorities and diplomacy.

In view of the above, knowing and understanding what is happening in the world is a diplomat’s responsibility; developing policies appropriate to the current and future world, as well as implementing foreign policy with third countries, at bilateral, regional, inter-regional and multilateral levels, is the responsibility of a country’s foreign services.

Date:  3 and 4 July 

Duration: 10 hours

Modality: Virtual