Entre Ríos advances digital transformation bill

The Entre Ríos Chamber of Deputies gave preliminary approval to the provincial executive branch's Digital Transformation and Innovation bill, and the measure now moves to the Senate. The text adds changes for procedures, case files, signatures and digital domiciles, along with rules on data governance, emerging technologies, and principles for security, confidentiality, traceability and personal data protection.

What does the approved bill establish?

The approved text says public databases are assets owned, safeguarded and managed by the state, and it adds criteria for security, confidentiality, traceability and personal data protection. It also introduces guidelines for transparency, auditing, human oversight and bias prevention in artificial intelligence systems used by public agencies, according to Mirador Provincial.

The bill, promoted by the provincial executive branch, aims to modernize public administration through a common digital framework for the province. According to UNO Entre Ríos and Análisis Digital, the preliminary approval marked a key step in the legislative process and left the debate open for the next stage in the Senate.

Who does the measure cover?

According to Informedigital, the bill applies to the three provincial branches of government, autonomous and self-governing agencies, state-owned companies and other public-sector entities. The same source said municipalities and communes may also adopt it, so the scope of the law would not be limited to the central administration.

In parallel, Informedigital reported that the proposal creates a Public Procurement Innovation Regime for technology goods and services. That framework would include specific procedures for software, subscriptions, licenses and cloud-hosted SaaS services.

What changes are proposed for technology management?

Análisis Digital said the bill gives the Secretariat of Modernization, Science, Technology and Innovation significant authority to define how state agencies should move forward with digitalization and under what conditions. That institutional role was presented as one of the bill's key points.

The same outlet attributed to AIM a regime that would allow direct contracting for software and technology services, including cloud services, with later controls partly subject to executive-branch regulation. That reference remained tied to the legislative review that preceded preliminary approval.

What did the government say about Senate timing?

Entre Ríos modernization secretary Emanuel Gainza told Análisis Digital that Senate review could take place within the next three weeks and said he expected the bill to pass without substantial changes. After the preliminary approval, he also said the state is modernizing in a way that had not happened in 20 years.