December 24, 2016
Cuba has inaugurated its first factory to produce tablets and laptops in a bid to promote technology and digital literacy on the island.
The factory, owned by the state-run Industrial Company of Informatics, Communications and Electronics, has a production capacity of 120,000 units per year.
According to a report by Cuba’s national television, the new factory produces sixth-generation laptops with i3, Celeron and i5 Cores, as well as 8- and 10-inch tablets.
Experts from the University of Computer Science also are part of the project, building the operating systems and computer applications of the new equipment along with the production process. The Chinese company Haier will provide the technology, equipment, and staff training.
With this initiative, Cuba makes a major advance in its technological capacities, which have been severely hampered by the U.S. economic blockade.
Despite a normalizing of relations between the two countries since President Obama’s March 2016 visit to Cuba, the economic blockade still remains.
Cuba reported earlier this year that the blockade has cost US$753.7 billion over the last six decades, and US$4.7 billion over the last year.
This year, the U.N. General Assembly voted against the U.S. blockade on Cuba for the 25th year in a row.
During the historic 191 to 0 vote, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power announced that, for the first time, the United States would abstain rather than cast a “no” vote.
Source: teleSur