The computerization of society is a process that contributes to economic development and the population’s quality of life. The Cuban government has taken important steps in this regard, such as the approval in 2017 of a comprehensive policy for the improvement of computerization in Cuba.
This process has reached a new level of organization with the publication in the Official Gazette of a set of regulations to support the application of this policy.
For the first time, legal dispositions are issued at the highest level to regulate the process of computerization of society: a Law Decree, two decrees, an agreement from the Council of Ministers and six resolutions, which promote the development and use of information and communication technologies (ICT) by legal persons and individuals.
In the case of Law Decree No. 370, on the computerization of Cuban society, the purpose is to increase technological sovereignty to benefit society, economy, national security and defense, counter cybernetic aggression, and safeguard the principle of security in our networks and services.
Wilfredo López Rodríguez, policy director at the Ministry of Communications (MINCOM) explains that Decree 359 establishes for the first time the concept of industry, which is an essential aspect for the economy of the country.
This document establishes the general rules applicable to the scope of the Cuban software and applications industry, to promote, overhaul, and increase national production and import substitution.
Ernesto Vallín Martínez, director of the Computer Sciences Industry, explains that the socialist state enterprise is being promoted as the main agent with the complementary participation of non-state actors. Likewise, these agents must include computer solutions in their products, which contribute to national sovereignty.
The new regulation also seeks to boost the development of Technological and Scientific Parks as an integral part of the industry. These facilities will make better use of infrastructure and human capital, and further deepen links between universities and local governments, the producers of computer applications, and research centers.
Another highlight of this regulation is that it stipulates the prioritized use of open code applications for incorporated entities, and the migration to these open code platforms in all the Central State Administration bodies.
Decree No. 359 also provides legal backup to the incorporation of domestic informatics applications to devices sold in the country.
Decree No. 360 regulates the safe employment of ICT in the computerization of society and defense of the nation’s cyberspace; while establishing the security of ICT, as well as support services and applications.
In this sense, the Policy Director at MINCOM said that there can be no computerization of society without cybersecurity, since these two concepts work together.
With the entry into effect of Decree No. 360, questions related to the computerization of society will be updated and enriched, since the decree lays the foundations for secure computerization, focusing work on critical infrastructures, with objective measures that impact applications and computerized processes.
Critical infrastructure is the combination of informatics applications, electronic devices, and procedures to guarantee the safety of operations such as the delivery of transfers, messages, or any other type of communication in the digital environment, explains Miguel Gutiérrez Rodríguez, general director of Informatics at the Ministry.
This decree sets the legal framework for the protection of the ICT and domestic cyberspace from possible threats. Moreover, it aims to preserve national sovereignty in cyberspace; create a strategy for sustainability; and to build capacity to prevent and manage cybersecurity incidents, including the recovery of the damages in case of occurrence.
It also provides, for the first time, the authentication of digital signatures for legal persons, with the use of digital certificates from the Public Key National Infrastructure, which guarantees greater transparency for government procedures and e-commerce, greater security and speed in transfers, as well as the authenticity of information.
Likewise, it establishes the compulsory use by entities of a national antivirus and the possibility to use a foreign one authorized by MINCOM.
Council of Ministers Agreement 8611 on the implementation of a strategy for broadband development in Cuba mainly targets optic fiber and wireless networks, Wilfredo López Rodríguez stresses.
It organizes, regulates, and establishes, in general terms, the lines of development for integral broadband development at a national level. It will also serve as a guide for the development, exploitation and use of communication services, and designates MINCOM as the organization in charge of overseeing implementation.
Furthermore, six ministerial resolutions are coming into effect. Resolution 124 contains the rules for production and assessment of national informatics applications, which include assessments requested by developers or marketers of national or imported products, or by any person interested in purchasing them.
Resolution 125 provides for the registration of commercial informatics applications, enables administrative supervision by MINCOM, to be implemented through an existing procedure, through the budgeted technical unit of spectrum control.
This new system for the registration of products and software, intends to organize processes of production and commercialization in the software and informatics applications industry. It also seeks to monitor, store, and update information about products existing in the country.
Resolution 126 provides rules for monitoring of informatics networks and safety tools for private data networks, registered under the administrative control of MINCOM.
In the case of Resolution 127, dated June 24, 2019, it provides rules for suppliers of public internet hosting services. It regulates the organization, function, and issuance of operation licenses for the use of Internet within Cuban territory.
Wilfredo López Rodríguez stressed that this resolution is mainly aimed at legal persons or any individual interested in providing this service, as long as Ministry requirements are met.
Resolution 128, which lays out the rules for ICT security, complements Decree 360, and establishes the functions of individuals responsible for this matter. It also provides legal support to conditions and needs of the process of society computerization.
Last but not least, Resolution 129 sets the methodology for management of cybersecurity nationwide, the design of a cybersecurity system, and the creation of a plan for each organization.
