Telefónica  and the International Development Bank (IDB) signed today a renewal for their strategic alliance to continue promoting digital transformation and socio-economic development programs in Latin America through 2017-2020. Also pledging participation in the agreement is the Inter-American Investment Corporation  (IIC), the IDB branch responsible for promoting development in Latin America and the Caribbean by means of the private sector. With this addition, the scope of the alliance noticeably broadens, as well as the possibilities for joint action on economic, social and digital development projects in countries where Telefónica, the IDB and the IIC operate, in collaboration with governments, civil agents and the private sector as well. 

Participating at the signing today in Madrid were José María Álvarez-Pallete, Chairman and CEO of Telefónica, and Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the IDB.

With the signing of this new agreement, Telefónica, the IDB and the IIC will increase their collaboration projects along six different courses of action. These lines of action are framed within Smart Cities projects under the IDB’s Emerging and Sustainable Cities Program; Big Data projects focused on data analysis and public interest solutions; digital economy; Internet accessibility and development of appropriate regulatory policies; entrepreneurial support as framed within the Telefónica Open Future program; and development initiatives including the areas of education, health and security.

During the first period of the Strategic Alliance (2012-2015), various development projects in diverse areas were implemented, such as ICTs and microfinance, education, Smart Cities, internationalisation of SMEs and social entrepreneurship, in addition to collaboration on regulatory studies and publications.