VIRGINIA – A Trinidad and Tobago national, and one of the region’s most prominent technology advocates, Bevil Wooding, has been appointed as Caribbean Outreach Liaison at the American Registry for Internet Numbers ( ARIN ), one of five registries that coordinate Internet number resources worldwide.
“We could think of no better man for the job than Bevil Wooding. He is one of the most knowledgeable, well-respected and experienced people in the Internet community in the Caribbean,” said John Curran, CEO of ARIN.
The organisation serves the United States, Canada and more than half of the Caribbean. Its decision to engage Wooding falls into a broader strategy to strengthen support for its member community in the region and to broaden understanding of its policies.
“We recognise that our policy development process can only benefit from the inclusion of more voices and perspectives from our constituents in the Caribbean. With Mr. Wooding’s support, we expect to expand the number and range of participants in ARIN’s policy development from the Caribbean,” Curran said.
Wooding will focus on engaging those Caribbean states and encouraging local communities to help shape Internet policy in a way that is more relevant to their development needs and goals.
“The needs and priorities of the Caribbean can be very different to those of the USA and Canada. Caribbean networks and the technicians that manage them face challenges that their North American counterparts cannot always relate to. Therefore, if major Internet number policy decisions are being made without Caribbean participation, then those decisions may not reflect Caribbean priorities or perspectives.”
For now, Wooding’s most pressing priority may be to direct ARIN’s efforts and resources towards the regional network recovery and resiliency efforts, after recent hurricanes devastated communities across several Caribbean nations.
Among those hardest hit are Anguilla, Barbuda, Dominica, Turks and Caicos, Sint Maarten, Puerto Rico and both the US and British Virgin Islands, all of which are served by ARIN.
“It is to our benefit that we have Bevil Wooding, a virtual Caribbean ambassador, as our Caribbean Outreach Liaison. He will be our focal point for coordinating our activities, engaging our partners, such as the Caribbean Telecommunications Union, and supporting our growing member community in the Caribbean,” said Nate Davis, Chief Operating Officer of ARIN.
