Microsoft and the Organization of American States (OAS) recently announced a US$9 million agreement to cooperate on ways for governments and educational systems in Latin America and the Caribbean to accelerate the use of e-government technologies. The agreement was signed May 19 during the Microsoft Government Leaders Conference in Redmond, Wash. The joint effort, which combines the OAS's Inter-American Agency for Cooperation and Development (IACD) and Microsoft Latin America, aims to increase both citizen participation in government and the efficiency of service offered by governments and school systems, especially in economically disadvantaged parts of the region. Some 94 pilot projects will be supported under the agreement.

Of the estimated $9 million total value of the agreement, Microsoft Latin America will provide $6 million worth of Microsoft product licenses, training and consulting services. The IACD and other participating agencies, businesses and governments will provide the remaining $3 million. To learn more about this ambitious program, PressPass spoke with Eugenio Beaufrand, vice president of Microsoft Latin America, and L. Ronald Scheman, director general of the IACD/OAS.