IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The Government of St. Maarten in association with the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) launched the St Maarten ICT Week on Sunday 15th August with a grand Opening Ceremony where speakers emphasized how fundamentally the world has changed as a result of the rapid evolution of information and communication technologies (ICT).

The first activity of St Maarten’s ICT week, the 6th Caribbean Internet Governance Forum has as its theme: Designing a Caribbean information society. The theme was chosen in response to the recognition by Caribbean governments that competitive advantage must be built on the basis of knowledge and the effective use of information and communication technologies as enablers for social and economic development.

Heads of Government and their representatives attending the 21st Century Government Summit endorsed and expressed their commitment to establishing 21st Century Government in their respective countries.

The Government of Antigua and Barbuda and the Caribbean Telecommunications Union, in collaboration with the Caribbean Centre for Development Administration (CARICAD), hosted a Summit to present to regional Heads of Government the principles of 21st Century Government, the goal of which is to accelerate government and public service transformation and thereby strengthen economic competitiveness and promote sustainable development.

The multi-national system is active in Caricom countries, a collection of nations that began sharing border control responsibilities in 1972.

“We want to have full data and video capabilities on all our devices wherever we are.” In Japan, she said, 50 per cent of the average revenue per user (ARPU) is derived from mobile data, as compared to a low five per cent for the Caribbean region. This disparity presents both an opportunity and a challenge for regulators and governments in the region to make efforts to grow that demand.

In addition to its routine review of the work of the institution, the Board of Directors will pay particular attention to progress in a range of areas. Foremost among them is the harmonization of administrative arrangements for the implementation of the CSME, the development of a regional strategy for e-Governance and the introduction of a regional public service awards scheme. The Award Scheme will be closely tied to a programme of celebration to mark CARICAD’s thirtieth anniversary.

"There is certainly a need if not to reinvent the economies of the Caribbean, to at least think differently on how to proceed," Manning said on Tuesday night while delivering the feature address at the 20th Anniversary Gala of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann's.

The warning has come from Jonas Rabinovitch, Senior Adviser, UNDESA, as he delivered remarks at the start of the second strategic planning meeting for the 2009-2012 Caribbean e-Government Strategy in the conference room of the Caribbean Development Bank yesterday morning.

“The public service must be made aware of their integral role in advancing the objectives and implementing the decisions of the Caribbean Community,” Carrington told the 29th CARICAD Board meeting held at the Caricom Secretariat. In a press release Caricom said CARICAD focuses through various interventions, on upgrading and strengthening the managerial capability of the public sector for the more effective implementation of public policy across the Region.

He was at the time addressing the Board of Directors of the Caribbean Centre for Development Administration (CARICAD). They met at the headquarters of the CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana, on Wednesday July 8, 2009 on the occasion of their twenty-ninth meeting.

"This is particularly important at this time when governments throughout the Caribbean are increasingly recognising the significant benefits of broadband to our business communities, and economies," Stern said.

They will also review progress reports on ICT development as CARICOM pushes to meet this aspect of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a press release from the CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, said.

Among the goals for the gathering are to discuss and approve the draft Regional Digital Development Strategy (RDDS) and the strategic objectives of the Implementation Plan.

The CARICOM Secretariat has spearheaded the formation of the plan in order to guide the ICT activities and initiatives in the region, and to utilize ICT as a critical development tool.

The meetings start the day following World Telecommunications and Information Society Day (WTISD) which is marked on 17 May. This year the Prime Minister of Grenada, Tillman Thomas will deliver a message to be broadcasted across the Region on this year’s theme `Protecting Children in Cyberspace’. The Prime Minister has responsibility for Science and Technology including ICT in the CARICOM Quasi Cabinet.

The Caribbean Information Society (CARIB-IS) Portal was implemented by the Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) Programme of the CARICOM Secretariat. The project was supported by the European Union under the Ninth European Development Fund to benefit all the CARIFORUM Member States.

A release from the Caribbean Community Secretariat (Caricom) explained that a strategy is required to develop the framework for a Regional Broadband Policy, which is viewed as critical for advancing the Caricom Single Market and Economy and facilitating regional development.

The third Caribbean ICT Collaboration Forum, held on March 21, was convened to consider the reports of the collaboration working groups on connectivity, convergence and consumer issues. These areas are important elements for the CARICOM Single ICT Space, the enabling digital layer for the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, which would provide opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship.

The Caribbean Telecommunications Union’s (CTU) telecommunications strategist, Selby Wilson, provided an overview of the objective of the forum, noting that the Port of Spain Declaration on Collaboration for Caribbean ICT Development came out of the second collaboration forum held in Port of Spain in December 2016.

That is according to senior project officer for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Development at CARICOM, Jennifer Britton, as she delivered the welcome at the 2009-2012 Caribbean e-Government Strategy Planning meeting yesterday morning held at the Caribbean Development Bank Wildey, St. Michael.