Belize is a Caribbean country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It borders Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It is the least populated and least densely populated country in Central America. Its population growth rate of 1.87% per year (2018 estimate) is the second-highest in the region and one of the highest in the Western Hemisphere. Its capital is Belmopan, and its largest city is the namesake city of Belize City.
Countries
Sudan
Sudan is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Egypt to the north, Eritrea to the northeast, Ethiopia to the southeast, Libya to the northwest, South Sudan to the south and the Red Sea. Sudan is Africa’s third-largest country by area and the third-largest by area in the Arab League. It was the largest country by area in Africa and the Arab League until the secession of South Sudan in 2011, since which both titles have been held by Algeria. Its capital is Khartoum, and its most populated city is Omdurman (part of the metropolitan area of Khartoum).
Albania
Albania, officially the Republic of Albania (Albanian: Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares land borders with Montenegro to the northwest, Serbia through its disputed territory Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south. Tirana is its capital and largest city, followed by Durrës, Vlorë, and Shkodër.
Singapore
Singapore is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude (137 kilometres or 85 miles) north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bordering the Strait of Malacca to the west, the Singapore Strait to the south, the South China Sea to the east, and the Straits of Johor to the north. The country’s territory is composed of one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet, the combined area of which has increased by 25% since the country’s independence as a result of extensive land reclamation projects. It has the third highest population density in the world.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, Tajikistan to the northeast, and China to the northeast and east. Occupying 652,864 square kilometers (252,072 sq mi) of land, the country is predominantly mountainous with plains in the north and the southwest, which are separated by the Hindu Kush mountain range. As of 2021, its population is 40.2 million, composed mostly of ethnic Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks. Kabul is the country’s largest city and serves as its capital.
Seychelles
Seychelles is an archipelagic country consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean at the eastern edge of the Somali Sea. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, is 1,500 kilometres (800 nautical miles) east of mainland Africa. Nearby island countries and territories include the Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, and the French overseas regions of Mayotte and Réunion to the south; and the Maldives and the Chagos Archipelago (administered by the United Kingdom as British Indian Ocean Territory) to the east. It is the least populated sovereign African country,
Argentina
The digital economy in Argentina has been steadily growing, driven by a tech-savvy population and a robust entrepreneurial spirit. Argentina boasts a vibrant startup scene, especially in Buenos Aires, which is often considered the Silicon Valley of South America. The country has produced several unicorns—startups valued at over $1 billion—including MercadoLibre, an e-commerce giant, and Globant, an IT and software development company.
Internet governance
In Argentina, the safeguarding of personal data is primarily regulated under the Law on Personal Data Protection, enacted in 2000. This legislation mandates that any entity aiming to collect and process personal data must first gain the informed consent of data subjects. Additionally, data controllers are required to register with the National Registry of Personal Databases. The law emphasizes adherence to key principles such as lawfulness and purpose limitation, ensuring that personal data is handled appropriately and transparently.
Data subjects in Argentina enjoy several rights under this law, including the ability to access, rectify, and update their personal information. Moreover, the law protects individuals from being compelled to provide sensitive personal data, bolstering privacy and personal integrity.
Beyond its borders, Argentina adopts a progressive approach to internet governance, advocating strongly for principles like net neutrality, which aims to keep the internet as an open and accessible platform for all. The country plays an active role in international forums dedicated to internet governance, such as the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), where it contributes to global dialogues on these critical issues.
Supporting a multi-stakeholder model, Argentina’s strategy involves various sectors including government, the private sector, civil society, and academia. Furthermore, Argentina is home to the South School on Internet Governance, an initiative focused on educating future leaders about the complexities of internet governance. This school places a special emphasis on the Latin America and Caribbean region, aiming to enhance regional expertise and leadership in the digital domain.
Digital strategies
Argentina is actively pursuing digital transformation strategies to enhance connectivity, modernize public administration, and improve educational opportunities through technology. These initiatives are part of a broader commitment to ensure that internet access is a basic right for all its citizens, focusing on expanding digital access and literacy.
País Digital Initiative: This program is central to Argentina’s effort to ensure widespread internet connectivity, particularly focusing on rural and underserved areas. The initiative aims to democratize access to digital technologies, enabling citizens nationwide to participate more fully in the digital economy.
Plan Federal de Internet: A key component of the national strategy involves the expansion of fiber-optic networks to enhance the quality and affordability of internet services across Argentina. This plan is especially focused on reaching remote areas, thereby reducing the digital divide and ensuring that more citizens can access fast and reliable internet.
Aprender Conectados: This educational program integrates digital skills training into the curriculum from an early age. It offers programming and robotics classes in kindergartens and schools, aiming to equip the next generation with essential digital competencies.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity in Argentina is undergoing significant advancements and challenges. In response to escalating cyber threats, the Argentine government has implemented the Second National Cybersecurity Strategy. This strategy, updated from the first enacted in 2019, aims to strengthen the security of IT infrastructures and enhance protections for state administration, essential services, and the public.
To support these efforts, Argentina has ratified CoE Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention) and has also become a signatory to the Second Additional Protocol to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, which enhances international cooperation on cybercrime and electronic evidence.
On the ground, Argentina faces a real and growing threat from cyberattacks, with a significant number of these attacks targeting mobile devices due to high mobile internet penetration in the region. Recognizing the critical nature of these threats, Argentina, with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), has launched a $30 million Cybersecurity Program for Critical Information Infrastructures. This initiative aims to reduce the costs of cyberattacks through early detection and enhanced protective measures for public institutions and technological infrastructures.
The CERT.ar serves as the National Computer Emergency Response Team of Argentina. It is the central authority for coordinating cybersecurity efforts across various sectors, providing guidance, support, and incident response services to both public and private entities.
AI strategies and policies
The AI landscape in Argentina is evolving with significant developments in both the legal framework and guidelines for AI development and usage. In June 2023, Argentina introduced a comprehensive legal framework to Congress specifically aimed at regulating AI. This proposed legislation mandates AI developers to register their systems and adhere to fundamental ethical principles such as human dignity, privacy, transparency, responsibility, and fairness. It emphasises implementing robust security measures and establishes a risk-based approach for assessing AI systems. This approach categorises systems based on their potential risk levels: unacceptable, high, limited, or insignificant. The proposal also outlines the creation of an AI Supervisory Authority, which would oversee compliance, issue risk-based requirements, and specify AI systems that should be banned due to their potential to violate human rights, engage in unfair discrimination, or pose serious security threats. This initiative follows a previous unsuccessful attempt to establish a Federal AI Council, which would have promoted AI awareness and research in the country.
Beyond legislative efforts, the Department for Information Technologies adopted non-binding recommendations in June 2023. These recommendations guide AI developers in ensuring the quality and adequacy of the data used in AI systems, as well as enhancing the safety and transparency of these technologies.
Armenia
Armenia is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region; and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, the Lachin corridor (under a Russian peacekeeping force) and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south. Yerevan is the capital, the largest city and the financial centre.
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Kitts and Nevis is an island country consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of the Lesser Antilles. With 261 square kilometers of territory, and roughly 50,000 inhabitants, it is the smallest sovereign state in the Western Hemisphere, in both area and population, as well as the world’s smallest sovereign federation. The country is a Commonwealth realm, with Charles III as King and head of state. It is the only sovereign federation in the Caribbean.
Tajikistan
Tajikistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia. It has an area of 143,100 km2 (55,300 sq mi) and an estimated population of 9,749,625 people. Its capital and largest city is Dushanbe. It is bordered by Afghanistan to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east. It is separated narrowly from Pakistan by Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor. The traditional homelands of the Tajiks include present-day Tajikistan as well as parts of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.