After the successful sixth edition, in Buenos Aires, the Conference of the ICT Directors of the Latin American universities returns to Central America, where it was held for the first time in 2011.
TICAL2017 will be held in the city of San José, capital of Costa Rica, possibly in the first half of July 2017, during the Costa Rican "veranillo" season, where the rain stops for a few weeks. "The exact date and place for TICAL2017 will be defined in the upcoming weeks", says Alonso Castro Mattei, director of the University of Costa Rica's Information Center and chair of the Program Committee of the seventh edition of the event.
According to Castro Mattei, Costa Rica nearly received TICAL a few years ago. "Soon after the 2014 Conference in Mexico, we received a proposal to organize the 2015 edition in our country. We worked on this for some time, but for a number of factors it was not possible to materialize this desire. However, we kept this idea in mind, that it would be very good to hold the Conference in Central America again and more specifically here in Costa Rica, which is a country that has bet heavily on technology as one of its main economic engines and has great natural attractions, another reason why we expect a large number of participants next year", he says.
The time has come and an organizing team is already working to make sure that the event will be memorable. The first meeting of the Program Committee were held last October, proposing some changes in the theme of the calls, integrating new topics. In addition, new sessions and activities will be added, looking forward to make the event even more attractive.
Another novelty of the 2017 version of TICAL is that, along with ICT leaders from other universities, there will also be a group of researchers who will be sharing their experiences in ICT areas and their present and future needs.
"We hope that 'ticos' (as are popularly known the Costa Ricans) and that many other people in our region participate and learn from the experiences of others, as well as initiate joint projects with colleagues from other countries. We count on the support of the rectors of public universities that form CONARE, which is also essential for us", concludes Mattei.
