The first Cuban Internet search engine for sites within the .cu domain was presented Thursday at the 12th International Informatics Convention and Fair 2007, which concludes Friday in Havana.
By Gabriel Dávalos
The first Cuban Internet search engine for sites within the .cu domain was presented Thursday at the 12th International Informatics Convention and Fair 2007, which concludes Friday in Havana.
The search engine, presented by Roberto del Puerto, director of the Office for the Informatization of Society, has been named 2X3 (paraphrasing a Cuban saying used for something that can be done very fast). The new search engine permits searches for images, multimedia contents and information from sites of the Cuban news media. A special option also allows for searches within Fidel Castro’s speeches, said Leandro Silva, a computer programmer from the Informatization Office.
Currently, work is underway to register a domain and the search engine to make it a stand alone, with an IP address. In the meantime it may be reached at the following URL www.infosoc.cu/buscador/.
Each week all the Cuban Internet sites are explored with the purpose of widening the scope of the search engine, Silva explained.
When a user detects that a Cuban site is not yet registered, he/she has the option of registering the site after a manual revision of its existence and contents, making it possible to add it to the data base.
Yesterday, it was also announced that a new version of the Cuban Citizen WEB Portal is now available, developed by the Cuban software firm DESOFT S.A.
Currently at the site’s URL www.ciudadano.cu, those who connect can obtain information about 200 administrative procedures that include those required by 20 entities and state organizations, among them the Housing Institute and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. This website offers citizens a total of 71 different services.
The new version of the Citizens Web Portal includes a section for making complaints and suggestions, whereby users can communicate directly with the ministries and state enterprises, as well as receive replies from them.
The two above mentioned sites can be accessed from the 602 Community Computer Club facilities distributed throughout the island.
Source: Granma
