[act-ma] 5/16 Report back from Community Technology Delegation- April Trip to Cuba

[Charlie Welch]

*Report back from *

*Community Technology Delegation- April Trip to Cuba*

**

Peter Miller and Charlie Welch will be giving a report back at Mel 
King’s South End Technology Center.

*Monday, May 16,7 PM359 Columbus Ave. Boston*

(one block out of town from Dartmouth St. and two blocks from Back Bay T 
Station.)

We are sorry for the short notice on this event and we will have other 
presentations soon with more advanced notice.This event is being done to 
accommodate a special guest who will be leaving town shortly after it’s 
over.

The site of this talk bares special significance.Mel King has had a long 
history with Cuba.One of the goals of this trip was to start to forge 
relationships between technology centers here and in Cuba. The embargo 
and many other restrictions are still in place.That said it is getting 
much easier for people to travel and make the contacts that will lead to 
solid ongoing relationships once we fully normalize relations. This trip 
was a start on this process as well as an extensive review of Cuba’s 
accomplishments and problems going forward.

Peter has a report about the trip on his blog at

https://peterbmiller.wordpress.com/cuba-project/april-2016-delegation-report/

*Some of the details of the trip*

AltruVistas.com and the Community Technology Network of the Bay Area 
(ctnbayarea.org) have announced a collaborative Community Technology 
journey to Cuba for April 9-17.  Designed as both a general introduction 
to the country as well as focused on technology policies and practices 
especially pertinent to community development, there’s basic info at 
http://altruvistas.com/ctn along with a link to a detailed itinerary.

The program here included meetings and briefings with:

·the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Economy and Planning, 
and the Ministry of Technology and the Environment;

·Raúl Rodríguez, one of the organizers with the Joven Clubs/Youth 
Technology Centers;

·INFOMED, the open source national health information network of Cuba 
and an international consultant in information projects and social 
initiatives;

·Dr. Yudivian Almeida Cruz, Professor in the School of Mathematics and 
Computation at the University of Havana who researches web-based 
information distribution systems;

·ICAP, the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples that 
coordinates Cuba’s NGO-nonprofit programs and relations
with solidarity groups in other countries.

*The enjoyable and informative trip looks to be a ground-floor 
opportunity for those of us interested in community technology. *