This event falls under the cooperation initiatives being pursued by the Summits of the Americas Secretariat, in the framework of implementation of the Mechanism for Follow-up and Implementation of the Lima Commitment, which resulted from the VIII Summit of the Americas, with the participating states, Joint Summit Working Group (JSWG) entities, and civil society and social actors. The event was organized by the Summits of the Americas Secretariat in cooperation with the Department for Effective Public Management of the Organization of American States (OAS).

 In such context, the objective of this event was to intensify the sharing of experiences and knowledge from the perspective of governments, multilateral organization, and civil society regarding the use of open data to prevent and fight corruption, as both a cause and effect of the democratization of information, particularly in terms of the need to incorporate open data into actions to respond to emergencies, such as the current global health crisis brought about by COVID-19.

The webinar was aimed at the different actors of the Summits of the Americas Process, especially the public servants, civil society organizations and social actors. The event was attended by the Chair of the Summit Process, a panel of experts and government representatives from Colombia and Mexico, as well as two entities of the JSWG, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), and Ojo Público, a civil organization of investigative journalism.

Democratization of information is an expression of the desire to allow free access to data and information to everyone. Democratization of information brings with it benefits that enhance governance, including raising levels of transparency.

• Alejandra Naser, Chief of the Public Management and Open Government Area, ECLAC
• Luisa Medina, Open Data Leader, Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies (MinTIC), Colombia
• Nelly Luna, Founder and Editor, Ojo Público, Perú
• Camilo Cetina, Executive Principal for the Digital Transformation of the State Directorate, CAF
• Ricardo A. Valencia Lara, Director of Transparency, National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information, and Personal Data Protection (INAI), Mexico