Interview: Digital fair in Mexico to promote digital literacy

Combining workshops, lectures and other interactive activities, Digital Village aims to promote social inclusion and digital literacy as well as improving employment, said an organizer of the digital fair to be opened Friday.

"The event is mainly educational. We are going to present a range of different topics related to digital knowledge and all this is done every year for free," Octavio Orozco Martin del Campo, the digital coordinator of the fair, told Xinhua.

Currently being set up in Mexico City's main square, the three-week event will have workshops of robotics, 3-D animation, logical reasoning, health, culture, entrepreneurship and cybersecurity.

The workshops will be led by experts which include representatives from the U.S. space agency NASA and the National Autonomous University of Mexico, he said.

There are also five basic courses oriented to start-up entrepreneurs.

"We will give them tips so that they can turn an idea into a good innovative business," explained the executive, adding that authorities from the National Entrepreneur Institute will also attend to explain all the support and services that the federal government will offer.

Additionally, various courses on digital application for everyday life, work and study will be given as well.

Prominent names like Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, the world's first "cyborg" artist Neil Harbisson and former Mexican NASA astronaut Jose Hernandez are among the confirmed lecturers, according to the event program.

This year's event will be available online and will be possible to participate in video chats with all the speakers at its website.

Digital Village has recorded around 400,000 visitors on average for the past three years, and it has won three Guinness world records.

Similar attendance is expected this year, said the official. Endi