WASHINGTON, United States (CMC) — The Organisation of American States (OAS) says it will collaborate with Amazon Web Services, a subsidiary of the US company Amazon, to support the countries of the Americas, including the Caribbean, strengthen their cyber response capacity and improve their regulatory frameworks on issues related to digital security.

During the signing ceremony at OAS headquarters in Washington on Wednesday, OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro said that the agreement will allow the two organisations to work on crucial topics as securing the cloud and how to protect public data.

“We have every confidence that our joint findings will serve as important tools to help OAS member states strengthen their respective national cyber security frameworks and, as a result, contribute to greater cyber security and resilience throughout our hemisphere,” Almagro said.

Jeffrey Kratz, general manager for Amazon Web Services in Latin America, Canada and the Caribbean, said: “Never before has a region needed so much assistance in the pursuit of technology on behalf of their citizens to not only protect but to foster innovation. “We are very excited with this engagement for how collectively we can go ahead and bring the best of cloud services with global experience together,” he said.

The OAS said the initiative will be implemented through the Cyber Security Program of the OAS Inter-American Committee against Terrorism.