On August 11, the Undersecretary of Electronic Government and Civil Registry, Marco Sancho, announced that the Executive branch is close to completing its first draft of a cybersecurity policy. The document aims to “build capacities allowing for the guarantee of citizens’ rightsin cyberspace.” Sancho anticipated that the objective is to present the draft by “late August.” 

It should be noted that the Executive branch has been working on this issue since early 2019 with the expectation of presenting the draft text at the end of last year. However, the presentation was delayed and following the COVID-19 health crisis in Ecuador, the study of the proposal was postponed. 

As anticipated by the official from the Ministry of Telecommunications and the Information Society, the document aims to drive digital transformation and “create capabilities to guarantee citizens’ rights in cyberspace.”

Sancho referred to improvements in cybersecurity governance, computer systems and incident management and the need to improve the protection of essential services and infrastructure, among other aspects. 

He added that the pandemic had highlighted the importance of telecommunications and accelerated the digital transformation, as more people were using technology to access services such as education, health and the workplace.