Digital Infrastructure for Resilience in the Caribbean

Three-Day Summit to Address Caribbean Digital Resilience, Cyber Security, and Internet Infrastructure 

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Caribbean Network Operators Group (CaribNOG) will return to Kingston, Jamaica for its 31st meeting on April 14–16 at The Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston. This event will bring together the region’s network engineers, internet service providers, cybersecurity professionals, and policymakers for three days of technical collaboration and strategic discussion. The event takes place under the theme “Resilient Archipelago: Strengthening the Caribbean’s Digital Core.” 

The meeting arrives at a moment of unusual convergence for Caribbean digital infrastructure.

“CaribNOG began as a conversation among a handful of engineers who believed the Caribbean deserved better internet. Thirty-one meetings later, that conversation has never been more relevant. The questions we are working on now are no longer just technical. They are the questions that affect the whole region in terms of resilience, sovereignty and cooperation,” said Stephen Lee, CaribNOG Co-founder and Director.

Distinct Pressures

Three distinct pressures are pulling the region’s technical community toward the same set of questions, and CaribNOG 31 is where those questions get worked on.

1. Climate

The Caribbean’s hyper-coastal geography has always made it vulnerable to extreme weather. However, the increasing frequency and intensity of climate events is sharpening the focus on network resilience. What happens to connectivity when a storm makes landfall? How quickly can systems recover? CaribNOG is where much of the region’s operational thinking on those questions takes place.

2. Sovereignty

Caribbean political leaders are paying closer attention to the strategic dimensions of internet infrastructure, particularly the question of whether domestic traffic stays within national borders. Sometimes, this traffic routes through foreign jurisdictions. Internet exchange points sit at the centre of that debate. In fact,  CaribNOG has long championed their role as instruments of regional self-determination.

3. Cooperation

Amid shifting dynamics in the wider Caribbean basin, there is renewed momentum around regional collaboration. Moreover,  CaribNOG exemplifies the kind of practical, apolitical technical partnership that makes that collaboration real. Shared infrastructure problems require shared solutions. The CaribNOG community has spent fifteen years building the trust and technical relationships that make those solutions possible.

The meeting is hosted with the support of Jamaica’s Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR). This reflects the increasingly close relationship between technical operators and the regulatory bodies shaping Caribbean digital policy.

“The OUR has long championed the Jamaica Internet Exchange Point as a critical component of our national communications infrastructure and an essential facility for Jamaica’s digital resilience,” said Ansord Hewitt, Director General of Jamaica’s Office of Utilities Regulation.

Media Launch

Speaking at the event’s media launch, Retired Lieutenant Colonel Godfrey Sterling, Director of the Jamaica Cyber Incident Response Team (JaCIRT), called on governments and operators alike to treat internet exchange points—the infrastructure that keeps domestic traffic within national borders—as critical national assets. Notably, his remarks set the tone for an agenda that spans both the deeply technical and the strategically urgent.

The three-day programme will deliver hands-on workshops and expert-led sessions on cybersecurity, routing, peering, cloud infrastructure, and network resilience. In addition, there will be regional policy discussions connecting operational realities to governance priorities.

Participants at every stage of their career will find sessions pitched to their level. There will also be networking opportunities with peers and industry leaders from across the region.

Registration Now Open

Registration for CaribNOG 31 is now open to network operators, engineers, cybersecurity professionals, policymakers, regulators, and all those with a stake in Caribbean internet infrastructure. Details and registration are available at www.caribnog.org