NASSAU, Bahamas – Antigua and Barbuda has won a top regional ICT award for its cutting edge national information technology project, the Connect Antigua & Barbuda Initiative.
The Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organisations (CANTO) on Monday evening (July 14) awarded Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister, Dr. the Hon. Edmond A. Mansoor with the first ever CANTO Connect the Caribbean (CTC) prize at the CANTO 24th Annual Conference and Trade Exhibition being held in Nassau, Bahamas.
Speaking from Paradise Island in the Bahamas, where he is heading Antigua and Barbuda’s delegation at the CANTO Annual Conference, Minister Mansoor says that the presentation by his team on the Mobile IT Classroom component of the Connect Antigua and Barbuda Initiative not only received very highly favourable reviews from the eminent panel of judges but stunned the adjudicators by its technical scope and the extent of its community outreach.
Hon. Dr. Edmond Mansoor being presented with the 2008 CANTO Top Connect the Caribbean Award award by CANTO Executives Mr. I. Blanchard and Mr. Davidson Charles. Looking on are Beverly Laviscount, the Acting Director of the Community Technology Programme and Terry Ephraim, e-Commerce Development Coordinator.
“The Connect Antigua and Barbuda Initiative has several distinct components which are integral to the IT revolution that is currently underway in Antigua. It is an integral component of the Government’s overall development agenda and is a hallmark and superior response to the International Telecommunications Union”s Connect the World Programme, Minister Mansoor declared.
“The Connect Antigua and Barbuda Initiative is a comprehensive blueprint for the rapid deployment and utilization of ICTs throughout the state. The Mobile IT Classroom component was overwhelmingly endorsed by the panel of judges and is indicative of the depth of work provided to this project by my support team in the Ministry. We could not have done this without the unswerving support of the Antigua Computer Technology (ACT) Limited, and I want to thank ACT and the dozens of support people who have been involved in this project” Minister Mansoor added.
Also attending the CANTO meeting in the Bahamas are the Acting Director of the Community Technology Programme, Beverly Laviscount, and e-Commerce Development Coordinator in the Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and Telecommunications, Terry Ephraim.
Government has opened over a dozen Community Computer Access Centres island wide and has deployed a fleet of five mobile IT classrooms to serve all public primary schools as well as select private primary schools as well as non-governmental organizations, community based organizations and faith-based organizations.
