Rodriguez Larreta met with university rectors to work together against the coronavirus

Institutional

The Head of Government held a videoconference with more than 20 rectors of public and private universities of the City, to enhance collaboration in the face of the coronavirus in public health, student life during quarantine and care of the elderly.

(Buenos Aires, April 7, 2020) - The Head of Government, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, held today a videoconference with 22 rectors and authorities of the main public and private universities located in the City of Buenos Aires. During the meeting, they explored different lines of cooperation to work together in the face of the coronavirus. 

"This pandemic presents us with an unprecedented challenge in terms of cooperation, creativity and innovation. The universities are facing this whole process by making all their human capital available to society, sharing their research, their classes and their work," said the head of government. 

First of all, they agreed to cooperate on priority public health issues, such as the articulation with the network of university hospitals, the coordination of collective actions with students of health sciences and the development of medical supplies. In turn, the City and the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) are making progress on a collaboration agreement so that students can collaborate in different additional tasks required by the Buenos Aires government.

In addition, Rodríguez Larreta highlighted the work against the clock of the universities to generate classes and content so that students can continue their academic activities virtually. They also emphasized the great offer of open courses and agreed to combine all the free virtual offerings in a platform of free access for the general public. Along these lines, the UBA continues to offer virtual university extension courses for the general public and specific training courses for its non-essential staff. 

On the other hand, the Buenos Aires government invited universities to join and disseminate among their students the "Mayores Cuidados" program, which calls for volunteers to assist the elderly. 

In addition, Rodríguez Larreta highlighted the contribution that many universities are already making, such as the volunteer program of the UBA, in which more than 4 thousand students have already signed up. He also highlighted the project of the Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires (ITBA), which together with Mirgor and Toyota is designing a model to produce emergency mechanical respiratory supports. Likewise, the Faculty of Information Technology of the Universidad Abierta Interamericana and the Faculty of Design of the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella are producing masks with 3d printers.

"We are facing a global pandemic that forces us to work to always be one step ahead. We believe that no measure we implement will work without the commitment of each and every one of the City's stakeholders, and universities play a central role," said Fernando Straface, Secretary General and International Relations. 

The meeting was attended by 22 rectors and authorities from public and private universities and institutes located in the City of Buenos Aires. The rectors who spoke with the head of Government were: Alberto Edgardo Barbieri (Universidad de Buenos Aires), Julián Esteban Rodríguez (Universidad Austral), Héctor Barceló (Instituto Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud Fundación H.A. Barceló), Andrés Agres (Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires), Rodolfo De Vincenzi (Universidad Abierta Interamericana), Miguel Ángel Schiavone (Universidad Católica Argentina), Edgardo Zablotsky (Universidad del CEMA), Gastón O'Donnell (Universidad de Ciencias Empresariales y Sociales), Ruth Fische (Universidad de Flores), Ricardo Popovsky (Universidad de Palermo), Omar Quiroga (Escuela Argentina de Negocios), Juan José Cruces (Universidad Di Tella), Ricardo Orosco (Universidad Argentina de la Empresa), Sandra Tourloci (Universidad Nacional de las Artes), Jorge Tissera (Universidad Favaloro), Lucas Grosman (Universidad de San Andrés), Héctor Aiassa (Universidad Tecnológica Nacional), Antonio Raúl de los Santos (Instituto Universitario CEMIC), Marcelo Figari (Instituto Universitario Hospital Italiano), Rubén Torres (Universidad ISALUD), Vice Rector Alfredo Vitullo (Universidad Maimónides) and Vice Rector Luciana Tondello (Universidad del Salvador) and Executive Director Marcela Porto (Universidad de Belgrano).

"The University of Buenos Aires put its entire health system into action to contribute to the fight against the COVID19 pandemic. This includes, in addition to our five university hospitals, a large number of teachers, researchers, students and non-teaching staff who are contributing enormously to the process. In this historic task, coordination with the health system, the national and local government is essential to enhance the impact of all these efforts," said Alberto Barbieri, rector of the UBA.