Mexico City inaugurates world's largest digital technology event

The fourth edition of Digital Village, the world's largest digital technology event that aims to teach people about new information and communications technologies (ICT), was unveiled Friday in Mexico City's Zocalo square.

Organized by the government of Mexico City, Mexico's telecommunications giant Telmex and the Carlos Slim Foundation, the event will last till Aug. 5, during which over 72 training workshops will be held.

A total of 81 exhibitors showcase technology related to themes such as education, entrepreneurship, health, human development, culture, robotics, 3D animation, films, toys and even a space for a Formula 1 race car.

Visitors will be able to enjoy Internet connection with speeds up to 100 gigabytes. Organizers hope the number of visitors will top 400,000 as registered in 2015.

Event coordinator Octavio Orozco said the Digital Village hopes to reduce the gap between those who can access ICT and those who cannot in Mexico.

"The event is mainly educational but it also presents a range of products related to digital knowledge and entertainment," Orozco said at the opening ceremony of the event.

Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera announced that the city was planning to build a permanent digital village in a 1,000-square-meter space in the neighborhood of Iztapalapa.

Mexican Minister of Communications and Transport Gerardo Ruiz Esparza also said Mexico's ongoing telecommunications reform would pour more resources into training digital professionals, expanding Internet coverage, and improving telephone, Internet and paid television services.

According to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, 57.4 percent of the Mexican population were Internet users in 2014. The number grew 12.5 percent on average between 2006 and 2014. Endi