Georgetown, Guyana – With just a week away, preparations for the Connect the Americas Summit are in high gear, as the Caribbean Community seeks to show-case its potential for maximizing the use of Information and Communication Technologies for development at this Summit and to attract investments for more than 45 projects submitted.
The CARICOM Secretariat will hold its fourth and final prep meeting on Tuesday via video conferencing, anchored at its Georgetown, Guyana headquarters, before going off to Panama to woo International Development Partners, the Private Sector and other critical stakeholders to invest in a slew of what it calls “viable, creative, cross-cutting regional and national development projects.”
Dubbed as a one-of-a-kind summit on ICT in the Americas, the Connect the Americas Summit, organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), forms part of ITU’s Connect the World series – an ambitious initiative launched in 2005 by the Secretary-General of ITU to connect the world by 2015.
The Summit aims to mobilize the human, financial and technical resources required to close Information and Communication Technology gaps in the region. It offers a venue for leaders from the public and private sectors as well as international and regional financing and development agencies to network face-to-face and forges new partnerships.
The ten regional projects being show-cased by CARICOM are (1) Market Intelligence System; (2) Developing Apps for National and Economic Development; (3) Regional G2B/B2B e-Market; (4) Development of a Regional ICT Space for CARICOM countries; (5) CARICOM Human Capacity- Building and Digital Literacy Project; (6) Development of a Regional Information System; (7) Caribbean Spectrum Management; (8) Single Virtual University Space; (9) CKLN III /C@ribNET II; and (10) Connecting the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).
The regional projects resonate with the objectives of the Regional Digital Development Strategy – which speak to realizing fast and accessible broadband infrastructure across the whole of CARICOM; facilitating the development of new services and applications; development and commitment to a clear, robust legal and regulatory framework; increased investment in research and innovation in ICT; and responding to users/citizens increasing concern on the security of transactions and communications.
Ms Jennifer Britton, Deputy Programme Manager for the ICT4D programme in the CARICOM Secretariat, emphasized that CARICOM Heads of Government had singled out Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) as a priority for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
This Summit, she stated “presents a viable opportunity for CARICOM to boost its ICT capacity for sustainable and socio–economic development. It is probably the first Summit to treat with linking potential investors and partners for implementation of ICT4D project.”
The Connect the Americas Summit will feature high-level interactive panels focused on the challenges posed for developing economies in harnessing the full potential of ICTs. Bold decisions and commitments are expected to be announced on multi-stakeholder partnerships to meet these challenges.
To date, nine CARICOM speakers have been confirmed for the interactive panels. The Hon. Philip Paulwell, Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Jamaica, will address the topic, Digital Inclusion: giving voice to the voiceless; the Hon Edmond Mansoor Minister of State, Antigua and Barbuda will treat with the topic: Bankrolling Broadband: Is government back? Hon. Darcy Boyce, Minister in the Prime Minister office with responsibility for the division of Energy and Telecoms, Barbados will lead the presentation on Saving lives: ICT for disaster risk reduction and management and Dr Jerrol Thompson, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister on ICTs, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, will make his presentation on Preserving our planet, combating climate change.
