This event is being organised by the Portuguese Government and by the European Commission, with the support of AHCIET (as member of the International Stakeholder Network of the @LIS Programme). This Forum will pursue the exchanges that took place at the previous fora, held in April 2002 in Seville (Spain), in July 2003 in Lima (Peru), and in November 2004 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).

This IV Forum will debate a declaration focusing on the social impact of ICT to be submitted to the EU-LAC Summit of Heads of State and Government, which will be held in Vienna on 11-12 May 2006, in reply to the mandate of the LAC-EU Summit of Guadalajara (Mexico) of May 2004, paragraph 94.

This Forum will also discuss the implementation of the bi-regional work programme for digital inclusion adopted at the last Forum held in November 2004 in Rio de Janeiro.

In this context, the IV Forum will:

• pursue the exchange of experiences on the impact of ICT on social inclusion, identified as an important axis of the strategic partnerships between the two regions, particularly in the fields of education, health, public administration and digital inclusion;
• exchange views on the status of the i2010 and eLAC2007 initiatives on the development of the Information Society in each one of the regions;
• discuss bi-regional cooperation in the field of research;
• present the results obtained in the context of the @LIS cooperation programme of the European Commission (EuropeAid),http://europa.eu.int/alis, including a demonstration space for the results and best practices of the projects within this programme;
• exchange views on the outcome and follow-up of the UN World Summit on the Information Society, held in Tunis in November 2005.

This Forum will be attended by Ministers, coordinators of national programmes for Information Society and/or Digital Inclusion and Presidents of regulatory agencies of the sector of both regions, as well as high-level representatives of civil society, the private sector and of international organisations.

For logistical reasons, participation at this Forum will be subject to invitation from the Portuguese Government and the European Commission.