ctu nexus march 2012

CTU NexusTowards a Seamless Caribbean

Issue 1 March 2012

1.

The Caribbean is undergoing significant transforma!on as na!on states con!nue on the journey towards de"veloping ‘knowledge"based socie!es’. The newsle#er’s theme, Towards a Seamless Caribbean, is appropriate,as the power of ICTs is being leveraged to minimise barriers between states and promote holis!c growth in theCaribbean. Informa!on and Communica!ons Technologies (ICTs) are transforming the very fabric of our soci"e!es and have the poten!al to promote sustainable and comprehensive development in the region. The CTU,in partnership with our stakeholders, is commi#ed to suppor!ng our Caribbean member states as they harnessICTs and use these tools appropriately for the benefit of the people of the region.

As the global discourse on the role of ICTs in na!onal growth con!nues, it is impera!ve that the region con"tributes to the discussion and express its concerns on the issues, such as those associated with the use of ICTs,that will have significant impact on our socie!es that are rapidly transforming and evolving. It is fi$ng, there"fore, that the CTU publish such a newsle#er, as it is a vehicle through which stakeholders can be kept aware ofthe work that is being done at the regional and interna!onal levels in an e%ort to foster a harmonised approachto common challenges and opportuni!es that face our Caribbean na!ons.

Individual member states have been making significant progress in various areas of ICT– enabled development.However, success depends on our willingness to collaborate and build on our indigenous strengths so that thepower of ICTs can be leveraged to promote sustainable growth in the region. The region’s ability to remain com"pe!!ve in this era of increasing globalisa!on will be determined by our physical and legisla!ve infrastructure,therefore it is cri!cal that as a region we take appropriate ac!on to make informed decisions that will benefitthe people of the region and future genera!ons.

One of the objec!ves of the newsle#er is to s!mulate discussion and awareness among all stakeholders of cur"rent developments in the regional ICT sector, thereby encouraging collabora!on and a harmonised regional ap"proach to addressing the challenges faced by Caribbean states.

It is with great pleasure that I launch this first issue of the revised CTU Nexus and I take this opportunity to urgereaders to con!nue playing an ac!ve role in ensuring that the Caribbean takes its righ&ul place in the GlobalInforma!on Society.

The Honourable Minister Carolyn Seeepersad BachanPresident of the Caribbean Telecomunica!ons Union

Message from the

CTU President

Issue No.1 March 2012 CTU Nexus


From the desk of the

Secretary General

The use of Information and Communications Technologies in the process of Caribbean development is invalu"able, but ICTs alone will not do it. Success will flow from the determination and concerted efforts of all stake"holders in this region. All tools at our disposal need to be employed. Information and Communication Technologyis one key tool. Each cycle of technological innovation brings with it an inherent the need to change the waythings are done when embracing the technology. It is in adapting our processes we derive the benefit of the tech"nology. The advent of the ICT demands that we innovate –that we adopt revolutionary new approaches for howwe incorporate ICT in our interactions and operations if we are going to develop socially and economically.Caribbean leaders, having noted the global shift to knowledge"based economies are determined to acceleratethe use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) for advancing the economic and social devel"opment of their countries and the Caribbean.But as a region whose citizens are consumers of technology, it isimperative that we maximize the return on the investments we make in ICT and that we exploit its potential tothe fullest. The CTU strives to support its members through the promotion of a harmonised, regional approachto addressing their common challenges.

Over the last twelve months, the CTU has been involved in several initiatives. These include the Caribbean ICTRoadshow, hosted in partnership with several of its member states; the Caribbean ICT Rapid Response Initiative,which seeks to provide quick, expert advice to regional policy makers and regulators in the area of issues affectingICTs in the Caribbean; and the Caribbean Centre of Excellence (CCoE), through which the CTU provides training,technical assistance, expert advice and information on all aspects of the development of information and com"munications technologies (ICTs) in the Caribbean. The CTU has also actively facilitated discussion in the area ofInternet Governance through its 7th Caribbean Internet Governance Forum held in August of this year. The CTUhosted a meeting of its Spectrum Management Steering Committee and prepared a proposal for partnership withthe International Telecommunications Union that was presented at the 14th General Conference of Ministers.In December the Secretariat hosted a successful Ministerial Strategic Seminar on issues of Cyber Security as wellas an Investment Partners’ Forum.

The CTU is determined to take a proactive approach in providing support for our members as they leverage ICTfor global competitive advantage.

I trust that you will find this publication to be of value and encourage your greater participation in the regionalICT"enabled development process.

Bernadette LewisSecretary General

2.

INNOVATION


Caribbean Innovator :Akhenaton LaBordeInnovation as Applications

Story cont’d on next page

Innovation may be described asthe application of knowledge tosolve a problem or enhance

the manner in which things aredone. Attention is often focussedsolely on ‘technology innovators’of foreign origin, while scant no-tice is taken of innovators who de-velop ingenious solutions in theCaribbean. One such innovatoris Akhenaton LaBorde,founder of several compa-nies including ToppersEntertainment, MyStatic TV and‘MAPPS’ (Mobile Ap-plications and Pro-gramming ProtocolSolutions).

Mr. LaBorde de-scribes himself as a“doer”. During aninterview at theCTU’s o!ce inPort of Spain, theyoung innovatorrepeated “ I am justa doer, I think of some-thing and then I go outthere and get it done”. Having had no prior formaltraining in InformationTechnology or program-ming, LaBorde currently de-velops applications thatenable companies to achieve

higher e!ciency in their opera-tions and provide enhanced cus-

tomer experience. One of his most

popular applications,Mobomess, is anOpen Platform

‘Apps’ that

enables users to instantly send textmessages to a projected screen.

This ‘App’ had its debut at night clubevents, where patrons would send

greetings from their Blackberriesto the clubs’ multimedia screens.The app, which has gained theinterest of European investors,

is being used at conferencesto facilitate audience re-sponse and participation.LaBorde, also know as ‘Top-per’, stresses the importanceof conducting thorough re-

search when developing ap-plications and he invests in

testing his product in the mar-ket.

LaBorde laments that program-mers often site the lack of venturecapital companies as a deterrent totheir progress. However, LaBorde ob-served that many developers simply“talk about their ‘App’, but they don’t

“put your productout there and

investors will seeit; let the ‘Apps’

market

3.

Photo Courtesy MAPPS

Story cont’d from pg.2

make e"orts to simply display their‘App’. He advises programmers to puttheir Application into the environmentin which they want it to be used and inso doing, end-users and future in-vestors will see the ‘App’ at work.LaBorde said that henever waited for cor-porate entities to havea meeting with him. Hedid not go to see in-vestors they came tosee him! LaBorde tooka proactive approach tothe promotion of hisapps - by directly takinghis products to enter-tainment venues andshowcasing them. Itwas at these events thatLaBorde gained expo-sure and investorsstarted to take noticeand approach him withbusiness opportunities.

Topper pointed outthat his mission is tocreate customised datacentric ‘Apps’, designedto allow businesses tooperate more e!-ciently and elevate theirlevels of customer serv-ice. This he says, en-sures the sustainability ofhis products.LaBorde revealed that there are several‘Apps’ currently in the developmentalstage that he will unveil soon. Akhen-aton’s ‘MAPPS’team consists of a small,yet creative group of programmers, de-signers and support sta". LaBorde un-derstands the importance of payingattention to detail, including every de-

tail in the working environment. Theyoung entrepreneur argues that it is im-portant for his “programmers to feelcomfortable” and has made the con-scious e"ort to house his operations inan area removed from the noisy city.

When asked about the wider innova-tion ‘scene’ in Trinidad and Tobago,LaBorde articulated that the approachwhich technology and ICT companiesespouse is regressive. He points to thefact that large sums of the budgets ofthese corporations are allocated tosponsorship of entertainment events.LaBorde argues that Telecommunica-

tions companies should take a strate-gic approach to their marketing andoperations. Rather than investing inisolated entertainment events, morecapital should be funneled into re-search and development of ICTs. He

explains that this willbring sustainablereturns as it ensuresthat Telecoms andICT companies willreap the benefits ofdeveloping theirown ‘ICT relatedproducts and serv-ices’ and willthereby attract cus-tomers with a di-verse array ofinnovative, relevantproducts in the fu-ture.This ambitious en-trepreneur hasproven that hardwork and determi-nation are the keyto success as hecontinues to em-ploy and apply ICTto solve problemsand enhance pro-ductivity.Akenatoncontinues to sharehis experiences and

advice with youthwho may be interested in the field ofapplication and software develop-ment.He strongly believes in investingin youth and has given many motiva-tional talks at various youth fora at theCaribbean ICT Roadshow.Look out forhim at this year’s Caribbean ICT Roadshows !

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4.

Antigua ICT�FestOn the road to becoming ICT Capital of the Caribbean

EVENTS

Under 14 Winner of Computer Assembly Race Jamiel Joseph,Princess Margret Secondary School (CTU Archives)

Issue 1 March 2012 CTU Nexus

Hon. Baldwin Spencer, Prime Minister of Antigua andBarbuda. (CTU Archives)

5.

The 7th Antigua ICTFEST 2011 was o!ciallyopened by the Honourable Prime MinisterSpencer Baldwin on Tuesday 11th Octo-ber, 2011 with great fanfare at the Multi-purpose Cultural and Exhibition Centre at Perry Bay,St John’s. In attendance were Her Excellency DameLouise Lake-Tack, the Honourable Edmond Man-soor, Minister of State in the O!ce of the Prime Min-ister, Ambassador Ash, and Ambassador Lorenzo,President of the South-South News at the United Na-tions. Dr. Hamadoun Touré, Secretary-General of In-ternational Telecommunications Union (ITU)participated via videoconference.Dr. Touré emphasized in his address that “ICTs arethe powerhouses of the global economy and offerreal solutions for sustainable growth and economicprosperity” and congratulated Antigua on itsprogress developing an environment in which ICTscould contribute to National development.Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer in addressing theaudience said that the government of Antigua andBarbuda was committed to building a digitally com-petitive society. “Today, the government is continu-ing to deliver on its promise of building an

intelligent nation. Today, Antigua and Barbudasends another clear signal that we are indeed build-ing an information-enabled, globally connectedKnowledge Based society.” The Prime Ministershared with the audience the various initiatives un-dertaken by the government as they continue theirjourney towards becoming the “ICT Capital of theCaribbean.”The hallmark characteristic of Antigua and Bar-buda’s ICT adoption initiatives is the obvious strong

political will and leadership displayed by the gov-ernment and in particular the Hon. Dr. Edmond Man-soor, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s O!ce. The government has been able to muster significantsupport from the private sector, in particular fromLIME, DIGICEL, IMobile and Antigua Computer Tech-nology Company Limited, in the execution of theirvarious ICT initiatives over the years. HonourableMinister Mansoor called for existing mobile opera-tors to commit to introducing 4G services.Moreover,the Minister also stated that if existing operatorsmade no such commitments, the Government wouldtake steps to invite proposals from additional exter-nal operators.The central features of ICTFEST 2011 were: an In-teractive Exhibition by Antiguan enterprises,Tech-nology Competitions in Computer Assemblytargeting mainly youth participants, DMS Speed Typ-ing and Graphic Design for young people, seven In-teractive Seminars and a two-day Mobile ApplicationWorkshop which was facilitated by Bevil Wooding,Knowledge O!ce of Congress WBN.The government of Antigua and Barbuda, despite di!cult economic times and strained finances re-mains committed and focused on methodically adopting ICT tools to accelerate the development of Antigua and the elevation of its citizens as mean-ingful participants in Knowledge Economy. The Prime Minister’s boast of making Antigua “The ICT Capital of the Caribbean” is not an unrealistic ob-jective and is well within their grasp.Read morehttp://www.ictfestantigua.com/

Photo Courtesy An!gua ICT Fest

Photo Courtesy An!gua ICT Fest

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

YoungCaribbean Entrepreneur


Warren Cassel Jr. at w e l v e - y e a r - o l dMontserratian may be

the Caribbean’s youngest en-trepreneur. As the CEO of hisbrain child company, ‘CaribCreations’, Warren servesclients ranging from law firms toonline shopping sites. At theage of eight, Cassell starteddesigning greeting cards andselling them to friends andfamily; however, he has nowdiversified his products to in-clude web and graphic de-sign. The form two studenttraces his interest in web de-sign and development to hisearly childhood. Havingsought legal counsel from hisfather, Warren registered hisbusiness in 2008 and hassince designed websites forseveral organisations includ-ing his latest client theMontserrat Chamber of Com-merce and Industry Incorpo-rated. Warren explains thathis motivation stems from hisdesire to promote theCaribbean region. He be-lieves that his work can havea positive effect on the devel-opment of the region in that hiswebsites and other productscan showcase the creativityand potential of the Caribbeanin developing solutions to ad-vance productivity.

This year Warren presented atthe CTU’s Caribbean ICTRoadshow in St. Vincent andthe Grenadines.He explains

that this experience gave him agreat sense of fulfilment as hereceived positive feedback andwas able to use the opportunityto build a network of Pan-Caribbean peers.

Carib Creations offers a widerange of products and servicesincluding personalised emails,

logos, print and graphic prod-ucts, greeting cards and main-tenance of social media.

Warren explains that throughmanaging his own business, hehas learnt several transferableskills including time manage-ment and financial manage-ment. Warren’s attention todetail and high level of profes-sionalism can be seen in the

quality of his websites.This young entrepreneur alsoshared his ambitions of devel-oping a Caribbean OperatingSystem in the future. Thus farhis clients have been mainly ofMontserratian origin, however,he plans to harness the poten-tial of ICT to break those geo-graphical barriers and offer his

services to a wider mar-ket.

This young man’s ac-complishments testify tothe great potential of ourCaribbean youth.

For further information pleasesee the following:

www.warrencasselljr.com/

www.caribcreations.com/

www.facebook.com/pages/Carib-Crations/280545571959277

6.

Warren Cassell Jr. at ICT Roadshow

CTU Archives

Caribbean Open DataConference and

Code Sprint: Developing the Caribbean

The first ever combined Caribbean Open

Data Conference and Code Sprint was

conducted simultaneously and

collaboratively in the Dominican Republic,

Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago, on January

26th and 27th 2012. The event, aimed at

sensitizing various publics to the growing

global open data movement as well as to

related issues, opportunities and potential

regional gains, combined local conferences

on Open Data (non"personal data made

available in a form that is physically or

electronically accessible to the general

public without legal, regulatory or other

restrictions governing its reuse) with the

thrill of local and distributed software

competitions under the unifying theme of

“Developing the Caribbean.”

Distinguished speakers included the

Minister of Mining, Energy and ICT of

Jamaica; the Director of Open Data at

Fundación CTIC (Sapin) in the Domican

Republic, and the Secretary General of the

Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU)

at the Trinidad and Tobago leg of the event.

The Secretary General of the CTU, Ms

Bernadette Lewis, delivered the opening

keynote address at the UWI St. Augustine

Campus. Ms Lewis asserted that the

democratization of information is made

possible by the open data movement and

that governments are accountable to their

citizens in democratic nations: “they are7.Con’t on next page


Photos courtesy: Ravi Deonarien, Sean McNaughton, Baker mcNaughton (c)DevCa2012

responsible to us for who decides and how our national resources are employed.

Therefore all of the data they acquire, collate, generate from the work that they

do in governing on the citizen’s behalf should be readily available.”

Ms. Lewis confirmed to the national audience that our region contains a wealth of

intellectual capacity to create socially and commercially beneficial applications

that can capitalize on the availability of government information to solve problems

and serve the real needs of its citizens – a reality that was made even clearer by

the Code Sprint Competition and its outputs.

The Caribbean Open Data Code Sprint sought to demonstrate development"

focused open data applications to the conference audience while presenting

students, innovators and entrepreneurs with the proposition that data"centric,

development"focused applications are viable products for their attention.

Simultaneous code sprints were conducted in Jamaica, the Dominican Republic

and Trinidad and Tobago. Coders were given 24 hours to build a solution to a

problem relating to various themes. Team submissions were judged locally and

the top 3 teams from the 3 countries evaluated in a regional competition. The

competition was fierce and the solutions superb. A team comprising young staff

at UWI St. Augustine’s Campus IT Services (CITS) in Trinidad won the local as well

as the regional competition with “Fish Network”, a Web and mobile application

which combines a fishing gear analyzer and a fish analyzer to provide key inputs

into national marine resource management . The second place regioanl award

went to the Dominican Republic’s Team Beceritos with “Crecerd”, a web

application which provides updated information and historical statistics on high

growth areas to guide entrepreneurial investment. The third palce regional ward

went to the Dominican Republic’s Team Uapianos with “Monitor ODM”, a Web

application which provides information about the objectives of the Millennium

Development Goals and the achievement gap.

The event facilitated interviews between some coding teams and the World Bank

during the Bank’s first Caribbean mission to assess the scope for a mobile

Issue No.1 December 2011 CTU Nexus

The Case for Caribbean Open Data

The confluence of a number of

Caribbean challenges makes a strong

case for the broad adoption of open

data policies and practices in the re"

gion. Most particularly, open data can

address the paucity of accessible data

that has limited the construction of ev"

idence"based policy and programming

interventions; and it can provide criti"

cal inputs to national strategies which

have enshrined information and com"

munication technologies, ICTs, as key

strategic enablers of many dimensions

of national and regional development.

Open data brings context"appropriate

data straight to developmental strate"

gist who may invest more time into

strategy than in searching for relevant

data; it brings data to software devel"

opers, who may more cycles by focus"

ing on implementation rather than on

gathering thematic inputs for their ap"

plications; it promotes the generation

and dissemination of data by the gen"

eral public; and it brings data"centric

applications to consumers and devel"

opment agencies. This significantly re"

duces the overhead in bringing

products to market and vastly in"

creases the reach and scope of soft"

ware applications that can be

developed and consumed locally and

regionally.

8.

Con’t from previous page

Con’t on next page

“ All the data they acquire, collate,

generate from the work thatthey do in governing on the

citzen’s behalf should bemade readily available”

innovation and entrepreneurship component of a multi"year Entrepreneurship Program for Innovation in the Caribbean.

Other notable outcomes include the formation of a loose community of open data developers; a pledge by the .tt ccTLD

administrator to make the data.tt domain and storage available for hosting Trinidad and Tobago open data locally;

explorations by representatives of various local and international agencies regarding release of their data in open format;

keen expression of interest on behalf of the Central Statistical Office to make 2011 Census data programmatically open to

the public; and enthusiastic requests from very many unrepresented teams to participate in future code sprints.

The Caribbean Open Data Conference and Code Sprint event was predominantly made possible through the support of the

International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Other key sponsors include Lime, Blackberry, Junar, ITLA, Spatial

Innovision, Ciudadano Inteligente and Blink Broadband. Local coordinators were Dr. Kim Mallalieu, Principal Investigator

of the Caribbean ICT Research Programme (TT) at The University of the West Indies (UWI) in Trinidad and Tobago;

Dr. Maurice Mc Naughton, Director of the Centre of Excellence at Mona School of Business in UWI Jamaica; and Mr. Yacine

Khelladi, in the Dominican Republic.

Various outputs of the event, including problem spaces, open data, source code, presentations, videos and reports, are

available through http://developingcaribbean.org/.

9.



Winners from the Dominica Republic

Winners from Trinidad and Tobago

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Photos courtesy: Ravi D

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a2012

ITU’s New Caribbean Representative

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the United Nations specialized agency for information and commu"nication technologies — ICTs. Today, ICTs underpin every aspect of modern society. They help manage and control emer"gency services, water supplies, power networks and food distribution chains. The ITU is committed to connecting all theworld’s people, wherever they live and whatever their means.

True to its official mandate, the ITU is at the very heart of the ICT sector, supporting developing countries on ICT matters,producing universally recognized technical standards, and brokering agreements on technologies, services and the allo"cation of global resources such as radio"frequency spectrum and satellite orbital positions. These activities help create aseamless global communications system that is robust, reliable, and constantly evolving. With more than 15 Sector Mem"bers of ITU, Caribbean nations, individually and collectively, have long partnered with the Union in developing ICTs in theregion. At the international level, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has a very important role. In the context of theCARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), it is working to achieve the objectives of the World Summit on the Infor"mation Society and the Millennium Development Goals.

New Caribbean Representative

After some 26 years of service to ITU, on 1 September 2011 Philip Cross passed the baton to Cleveland Thomas as the newITU Area Office Representative for the Caribbean. Mr Thomas reconfirmed that ITU’s aim is “to provide support to Mem"ber States for all the Union’s activities, helping implement its strategic and policy objectives, through direct, sustainedcontact with national authorities, regional telecommunication organizations and other relevant bodies in the region.”

Mr Thomas also emphasized the following priorities:

1) The importance of the nations having greater participation in international fora. They should contribute to discussionsand recommendations in order to help shape international policies and regulations, especially those that affect small is"land states, disaster management, and spectrum and maritime services.

2) The Caribbean’s request for assistance in technical cooperation, such as in the HIPCAR Project, funded by ITU and theEuropean Union. HIPCAR stands for Harmonization of ICT Policies, Legislation and Regulation Procedures. The aim of thisflagship project is to create an enabling environment that promotes competition and fosters investment and socio"eco"nomic development. HIPCAR was launched in Grenada in December 2008, where regional stakeholders agreed on nine pri"ority work areas dealing with, Information society issues: electronic transactions, electronic evidence, privacy and dataprotection, interception of communications, cybercrime, access to public information (freedom of information), andtelecommunication matters: universal service and access, interconnection and access, and licensing.

At various multi"stakeholder workshops in the region, model policy guidelines and legislative texts were developed, basedon international and regional best practices. These model texts are being transposed into national legislation.

3) Capacity building for regional development. Established to help develop human resources in ICTs, the ITU Centres ofExcellence in the region will continue to share expertise, resources and know"how. They are designed to offer continu"ous education to ICT managers in the public and private spheres, through face"to"face or distance learning programmes.The centres at Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), Caribbean Association of National Telecommunications Or"ganisations (CANTO), and the University of the West Indies (UWI), serve as regional focal points for professional develop"ment, research, and knowledge"sharing, as well as providing specialist training services to external clients.

Con’t on next page10.

Left tpo right :ITU Secretary-General, Dr Hamadoun Touré, ITU Caribbean Representative,Mr. Cleveland Thomas, ITU Deputy Secretary-General, Houlin Zhao.Photo courtesy FAST FORWARD TT

Connect the AmericasMembers of the Caribbean region are reminded of one of ITU’s major events this year — the Connect Americas summit,which takes place in on 17"19 July 2012, hosted by the Government of the Republic of Panama .

The summit is part of ITU’s Connect the World series, an ambitious initiative aimed at connecting the unconnected by 2015.The overall objective of the Connect Americas event is to mobilize the human, financial and technical resources requiredto close the gaps in access to ICTs in the region. It is a venue where leaders from the public and private sectors can net"work to find solutions, and it includes discussion panels focusing on the challenges posed to emerging and transitioneconomies in harnessing the full potential of ICTs. Click for more info! http://www.itu.int/ITU!D/connect/americas/


11.

The Caribbean ICT Pol!icy Rapid ResponseInitiative (RRI) is a

policy research project thatwas conceived by the Inter!national Development Re!

search Centre (IDRC) and refined and executed by theCaribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU). Fundedby the IDRC and designed to provide quick, expert ad!vice to regional policy makers, regulators and othergroups in relation to specific areas of interest, the Ini!tiative forms part of the IDRC’s wider Caribbean ICTResearch Programme.

In particular, the Initiative sought to address specificsubject areas in which the absence or lack of properlyformulated policies, was resulting in significant chal!lenges to the implementation, adoption and/or oper!ation of ICTs and ICT!related development. Inundertaking the Initiative therefore, the CTU’s intentwas to develop a body of research for regional deci!sion!makers that would support policy developmentprocesses. Critical to this undertaking would be thesolicitation of input from the CTU’s members for thedevelopment of the subject areas to be researched,reporting of progress at regular intervals and ulti!mately making available the results of the researchupon completion of the Initiative. The CTU was in!vited to participate in the Programme in the latter halfof 2009 but the Initiative effectively commenced inApril 2010 with the recruitment of a Research Coor!dinator. A Review Committee was established tooversee the work to ensure that it would be of thehighest standard. The Review Committee consisted ofkey ICT personnel from across the Caribbean region,the Research Coordinator, and members of the CTUSecretariat. The Committee was officially convenedand commissioned in September 2010.

The RRI was conducted in four main phases. In thefirst phase, the Research Coordinator solicited infor!mation from stakeholders including CTU members,operators and regulators across the region to identifysome of the more critical areas that are currently chal!lenging ICT development. This was principally donethrough a survey and telephone interviews. The sec!ond phase involved crafting the subject areas to beaddressed and issuing a questionnaire to further re!fine the stakeholder’s opinions and to prioritise thesubject areas.

During the third phase, researchers were identified and recruited, who executed and completed researchin the five subject areas identified, namely:! Implica!tions of Technology and Service Convergence on theOperational and Organisational Aspects of Regula!tion;Globally Comparable Caribbean ICT Survey In!struments and Baseline Status of National ICT DataAcquisition; Analysis of the Policies Designed to En!courage Development of Business in the ICT!ServicesSector; Collaboration Policy for Functional Coopera!tion through ICT, in the Area of Crime and Security;and The Examination of Prevailing Models for theEvaluation of the Impact of ICT on Developmentwithin the Caribbean.

Each research topic was addressed independently bya dedicated researcher and the findings and outcomeswere compiled in comprehensive reports, with sup!porting documents. The fourth and final phase of theInitiative comprised a thorough review and assess!ment of the researchers’ work by the Review Com!mittee. The dissemination of the research findingsand outcomes to the regional CTU stakeholders alsoforms an integral part of the fourth phase. In keepingwith this, the CTU has developed an Executive Sum!mary Publication as one of the mechanisms for dis!seminating the outcomes of this Initiative.

The Executive Summary of each of the five projects issupported by more detailed reports for each researchproject, as follows: A Policy Briefs publication, whichprovides the results of each project in a concise man!ner; A Research Summary, which provides a greaterlevel of detail by expanding on the information con!tained in the Policy Briefs publication; and The de!tailed reports arising from each project, providing theresults of each project in its entirety.

The Policy Briefs publication will be disseminated toCTU members and other stakeholders in print and viaour website. However, the Research Summary andeach Project Report are only available in soft copy andwill be made available to interested parties by theCTU, upon request.

Caribbean ICT Rapid Response Ini"a"ve


Read More: RRI Executive Summary

http://www.ctu.int/attachments/084_RRI%20Exec-utive%20Summary.pdf

12.

Collabora!on between governments, service providers, operators and ci!zens is a key element in the developmentof a sustainable and comprehensive knowledge"based society. Columbus Communica!ons Trinidad Limited (FLOW) hasdemonstrated leadership in such partnerships through several ini!a!ves which seek to make ICTs accessible to theci!zens of the region. This was demonstrated in Columbus Communica!ons’ involvement as a regional, anchor sponsor ofthe Caribbean Telecommunica!ons Union’s Caribbean ICT Roadshow. Mr. Brian Collins, Managing Director atColumbus Communica!ons Trinidad Limited, highlighted that FLOW shares the CTU’s vision of “ensuring that tangiblebenefits from the development of the Caribbean Informa!on Technology and Communica!on sectors accrue to the ci!zens of the region”. Such rela!onships foster a truly mul!"stakeholder environment in which true growth can takeplace.

PARTNERSHIP


Columbus Communications Trinidad Ltd.Working to build our Nation

Opening Ceremony of Caribbean ICT Roadshow Port of Spain,Trinidad.Left to Right: Hon. Minister Ambrose George ( Dominica);Mr. Reginald Bourne, Advisor to the Minister (Barbados), Mr.John Reid, President and ChiefOperating Officer Columbus Communications, Southern Caribbean Region;Mr. Sylvester Cadette, Advisor to the Minister (Dominica), Ms. Gillian Macintyre,Permanent Secretary Ministry of Public Administration, Trinidad and Tobago;Mr. Brian Collins, Managing Director, Columbus Communica-tions,Trinidad Ltd.; Ms. Bernadette Lewis, Secretary General, Caribbean Telecommunications Union. CTU Archives

Continued on following page 13.

Addi!onally, FLOW supports the use of ICT as a tool for development through several programs including the ‘Aim. Aspire. Achieve’ (Triple A), as well as other educa!onal program pioneers.The ‘Triple A’ program o%ers free cable andbroadband services to all government and government"assisted schools including pre"schools and ter!ary educa!on ins!tu!ons throughout Trinidad and Tobago. Provision of access to the Internet in schools has far reaching e%ects and isa cri!cal element in enhancing the standard and level of educa!on that will be the basis of the future development of theregion.

Moreover, FLOW has ac!vely partnered with other private sector organisa!ons, which included a Low Cost Computer Ini!a!ve in 2009. This program facilitats access to computers at reduced rates along with the Company’s broadband service. FLOW believes in the transforma!ve power of ICT and supports the Hop Along Learning Program as well as other educa!onal pioneers. These ini!a!ves target a wide demographic of both teachers and students, with the aim of using ICTas a pla&orm for ini!a!ng posi!ve social change.

FLOW recognises the value in e%ec!ve use of ICTs as demonstrated in its leadership and involvement in promo!ng ICTsas a tool for development. Corporate Communica!ons Coordinator at FLOW, Kristle Lewis,explains that the company’s involvement in social development ini!a!ves is a reflec!on of their “drive for enabling learning through technology” andthe firm belief that such tools when applied appropriately will benefit end"users.

Continued from previous page

Issue No.1 December 2011 CTU Nexus

14.

Ms. Bernadette LewisSecretary General

Ms. Lewis was appointed to the position of Secretary General in August 2003. Previously, Ms. Lewis servedas the Technical Manager at the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organisations(CANTO). She brings to the CTU her technical and managerial expertise, developed over twenty years ofworking with the national service provider, Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd.Under her guidance, the CTU has been addressing the issues of harmonisation of policies in SpectrumManagement and Internet Governance on behalf of the Caribbean, producing harmonised Caribbean pol"icy frameworks in both areas of study. Her mission for the organization is to ensure that the citizens of theregion have affordable access to, and are able to derive tangible benefit from the effective use of information and communications technologies.

Mr. Selby WilsonTelecommunications Strategist

Mr. Wilson is the Secretariat’s primary advisor on issues of ICT regulations and policy and provides thestrategic planning support for directing the activities of the Union. He was recently appointed Chairmanof the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago and served as Minister of Finance of Trinidadand Tobago. For the period 1989"1991. Mr. Wilson is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Master of Sci"ence Degree in Telecommunications Regulation and Policy. Mr. Wilson believes that it is important forcountries to pursue their economic and social development goals and in that context; all citizens shouldhave access to ICTs.

Mr. Rodney Taylor Business Development and Operations ManagerMr. Rodney Taylor’s objective is to support the socio"economic development of the Caribbean regionthrough the innovative use of ICTs. Mr. Taylor’s professional experience includes management of infor"mation systems in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Barbados; development of ICT strategy for the Ministry,its Missions, Embassies and Consulates; establishment of information networks for the Joint ACP"EU Par"liamentary assembly and international meetings hosted by the Government of Barbados. Mr. Taylor is anexpert advisor on Internet Governance and has published research on e"Commerce diffusion in the Jour"nal of Information Systems for Developing Countries.

He has pioneered the Caribbean Centre of Excellence initiative and actively promotes a multi"stakeholderapproach to Caribbean ICT" enabled development.

Mr. Nigel CassimireConsulting Telecommunications SpecialistMr. Cassimire has been the Consulting Telecommunications Specialist at the Caribbean Telecommunica"tions Union (CTU) Secretariat since July 2005. He has an intimate understanding of a broad range oftelecommunications technologies and services as a telecommunications engineer with over twenty"fiveyears of experience in the industry, most of which were gained at the functional, management and exec"utive levels of the incumbent telecommunications carrier of Trinidad and Tobago, TelecommunicationsServices of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (TSTT). Mr. Cassimire has also successfully consulted with theGovernment of Trinidad and Tobago for the Fifth Summit of the Americas, the Commonwealth Heads ofGovernment Meeting 2009 and at iGovTT. He currently coordinates the CTU’s Spectrum Managementactivities and is also involved with several consultancy projects across the region.

15.

CTU Sta! and Leadership

March 2012

April 2012Issue No.1 March 2012 CTU Nexus

16.

Upcoming Events

Connect the CaribbeanPrep (T’dad)

CTU MediaDay

TEDX UWI

Spectrum Mgt Meeting(T’dad)

Caribbean Telecommunications Union3rd Floor, Victoria Park Suites,

14-17 Victoria Square,Port of Spain,

Trinidad and TobagoPhone: (868) 627-0281/ (868) 627-0347

Fax:(868) 623-1523

ctu nexus march 2012

Documents

caribbean states

caribbean na

caribbean member states

caribbean telecomunica

use of icts

ons technologies icts

role of icts

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