On 27-29 May, the Council of Europe - represented by Mr Patrick Penninckx, Head of Digital Development and Governance Department – took part in the Annual Plenary Meeting of the Ibero-american network. This meeting brought together 41 data protection authorities and human rights institutions (RIPD 2024) and took place in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia under the chairmanship of the National Institute of Transparency for Access to Information and Personal Data Protection (Instituto Nacional de Transparencia, Acceso a la Información y Protección de Datos Personales) of Mexico. Based on the Council of Europe’s previous engagements, similar topics of interests (ex: generative AI, fight against digital violence, data protection considerations regarding world coin and neurodata) and the active ongoing cooperation with several of its members (Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, etc) in the work of CoE committees (CAI, TC-Y, TP-D), the event was particularly timely to present new emerging CoE standards in the region and invite other countries, organisation to engage actively with the Council of Europe and with the work of its conventional committees.

Awareness was first raised on the recently adopted Council of Europe Framework Convention on AI, and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law including through an invitation for countries in the region to accede to the Framework Convention upon its opening to signature in September 2024. The event was an excellent occasion to discuss the future of Convention 108+ and its relevance for Latin-America as well. Further engagements as observers in the work of the Convention 108’s Committee were discussed as well as the necessary steps towards accession to the modernised instrument by several countries from the region. Concrete interests in the Budapest Convention, and its additional protocols, notably the recently adopted second additional protocol have also been voiced which were followed up by in-depth exchanges on its standards and accession procedures.