National Library and OPTIC Reach Agreement

The Pedro Henríquez Ureña (BNPHU) National Library and the President’s Office of Information and Communication Technologies (OPTIC) have signed a collaboration agreement in which both institutions have committed to utilize new technology with the goal of making library information services available to all citizens through the Government Contact Center (CCG) *GOB (*462).

The agreement was signed by the BNPHU director, Diómedes Núñez Polanco and OPTIC director Domingo Tavárez Valdez in an act held in the modern and attractive National Library stand at the 11th International Book Fair of Santo Domingo 2008…

The agreement was signed by the BNPHU director, Diómedes Núñez Polanco and OPTIC director Domingo Tavárez Valdez in an act held in the modern and attractive National Library stand at the 11th International Book Fair of Santo Domingo 2008 according to a press release from the President’s Office of Information, Press and Publicity.

The BNPHU director stressed how important it is for the National Library to be able to offer information services to physically handicapped, blind and hearing-impaired people through the Contact Center of OPTIC.

He indicated that it is very significant that the agreement was signed in the Hall of World Digital Libraries of the BNPHU’s exhibition area at the Book Fair because it displays a clear interest the institution has in its technological development.

Mr. Tavárez Valdez noted that with the addition of the BNPHU, the current number of government institutions integrated in the CCG rises to 30.  He said that, according to the results of a survey, these institutions offer high quality services, much appreciated by users.

He added that the government encourages citizens to participate and take advantage of the benefits being offered by this information society and, in the specific case of the BNPHU, citizens will be able to find out more about services offered to the blind, handicapped and hearing impaired through the CCG.  

Through this agreement, OPTIC has pledged to transmit, free of charge, information about the BNPHU to the public via telephone, explaining the process of borrowing audio books and information about hospitals and institutions that offer special services to the blind, the handicapped and hearing impaired. In addition, a call center will be available to walk them through the process of borrowing audio books.

The BNPHU also promises to provide the necessary resources, human as well as economic, within the time established by OPTIC and in keeping with the agreement between the two institutions, to make available information through CCG about public services available to citizens.

The text of the agreement signed indicates that the BNPHU was created with the goal of reuniting all the country’s literary and intellectual production and material related to the Dominican nation in order to preserve, conserve and exhibit information about the nation’s past and development in the form of cultural programs that will support and maintain the interest of the reader as well as to support academic, cultural and recreational programs. 

In addition, OPTIC has the responsibility to plan, direct and carry out the necessary activities to implement the Electronic Government through the diffusion and use of the Information and Communication Technologies (TIC).  It is also responsible for coordinating the strategy and carrying out the National Agenda of the Electronic Government.

The agreement states that among the main initiatives of the Electronic Government is the Government Contact Center for Citizen’s Services and Attention (CCG), whose task is to satisfy the immediate needs of all members of society. To this end, cooperation between government institutions is essential.