Chile Policy Report

Chile's Leadership in ICT Investments
Chile is a regional leader in ICT investments. The Chilean government has strongly emphasized promoting e-government services and the digital economy in 2018 and 2019. The government's major policy targets were the digitalization of public services and the expansion of citizen engagement through digital channels. Investments in ICT infrastructure during this period included 5G network infrastructure, research and development of 5G network connectivity, development of e-government platforms, financing data center constructions, installation of fiber optic cables, smart grids, and general maintenance and installation of ICT network infrastructure.

Chinese Involvement in Chile's Digital Projects
Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo, and the China Development Bank are just a few Chinese companies that executed digital infrastructure projects in Chile during the measurement period. An important driver for adopting and importing Chinese digital technologies is the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between China and Chile established in 2006. In 2019, the FTA was expanded to include additional economic sectors, such as digital services and e-commerce infrastructure.[1] Furthermore, several memorandums of technology transfer and consultancy cooperation were signed in 2018 and 2019 between Chilean state agencies and Chinese state-owned companies, which remained active during the measurement period.

Cybersecurity Initiatives in Chile
Chile released its first National Cyber Security Law in 2017 under former President Bachelet. These laws aim to create a “free, open, safe and resilient cyberspace”.[2] The Chilean approach to cybersecurity focuses on maintaining functional infrastructure, protecting citizens' rights in cyberspace, and developing cooperative relationships with other nations to establish global policies and regulations. Systematic data collection from service providers and the criminal code for cybersecurity-related crimes are comparable to those in European nations. The Chilean cybersecurity framework shows high independence from other countries, with moderate levels of surveillance techniques, systematic data collection, and punishment for cyber-related offenses. Chile employs standardized ISO certificates for security protocols, processing of information, and privacy protection.[3]

China-Chile Cooperation
China and Chile cooperate in numerous economic and governmental areas. In 2018 and 2019, the presence of Chinese companies and organizations expanded. Several major digital infrastructure projects led by Chinese companies, such as Huawei, were realized or in the planning stages. While there is no data on the extent of training of Chilean workforces by Chinese companies, it is assumed that companies like Huawei expanded their workforce in the country. An example is Huawei’s service and product line named Safe City, which provides software and hardware solutions for monitoring and surveillance capabilities to governments and municipalities. These systems are operated through various Huawei-owned solutions, such as the Huawei Cloud and Huawei Video Management System (VMS). Operation, support, and maintenance of these products are managed in China by Chinese developers and system engineers. The city of Vitacura in Chile employs such a system, as mentioned in Huawei’s 2018 annual report.

Dependence on Chinese Companies
The country dataset of Chile shows high levels of moderate to full dependency on Chinese companies. Planning and implementation of digital infrastructure are often realized through close cooperation between Chilean state agencies and Chinese state-owned or partially state-owned enterprises. The positive bilateral and economic environment is further strengthened by the Chile-China FTA. Operation, maintenance, and support of integrated soft- and hardware are partially or fully realized through channels of the Chinese companies that imported and implemented them. This equates to moderate to high levels of dependency on Chinese companies. However, Chile's cybersecurity policies show a different trend. While the threat of cyber-attacks and national security concerns were amplified by policymakers during the measurement period, the general cyber framework and its development show no signs of close cooperation or guidance by Chinese actors or Chinese cybersecurity laws.