Cuba attended Ibero-American higher education conference

HAVANA, Cuba, Oct 23 (ACN) — Walter Baluja Garcia, Cuba’s Minister of Higher Education, led the Cuban delegation attending the 2nd Ibero-American Joint Ministerial Conference on Higher Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation, held in Alicante, Spain.

During the event, Baluja Garcia highlighted the social responsibility of universities, according to a post by the Cuban Ministry of Higher Education on X.

The conference brought together ministers and high-level officials responsible for Science, Technology, and Innovation from Ibero-American nations.

They adopted the Alicante Declaration, which establishes an Action Plan for Open Science, promoting sustainable, inclusive, and cooperative models for the production, dissemination, and accessibility of scientific knowledge.

The document acknowledges the value of international collaboration in sharing best practices and narrowing gaps in access to and the use of scientific knowledge.
Among other initiatives, it proposes the creation of an Ibero-American space for dialogue and coordination regarding science diplomacy, as noted in information published on the website https://www.ciencia.gob.es.

The Declaration defines science diplomacy as a tool to bridge scientific knowledge with foreign policy, thereby strengthening cooperation among Ibero-American countries.

It further states that, in the face of shared challenges—such as environmental issues, inequality, public health, and digital transformation—it is essential to align the region’s scientific capabilities with the priorities of public policy and international cooperation.

Participating nations agreed to update an Action Plan designed to promote the use of Spanish and Portuguese as languages for the production, transfer, dissemination, and communication of scientific knowledge.

They also proposed advancing the five core missions of the Ibero-American Innovation Strategy—covering food, climate change and the environment, digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI), health, and the energy transition—with the IBEROEKA program serving to monitor progress.

Furthermore, they suggested strengthening space cooperation and creating an Ibero-American Supercomputing Network, in coordination and cooperation with regional initiatives regarding AI.