MEDIA RELEASE

The Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) and
The COMNET Foundation for ICT Development (COMNET)

Memorandum of Understanding

The Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) and The COMNET Foundation for ICT Development (COMNET) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to formalise collaboration between the two agencies, with particular emphasis on cyber-security and cybercrime prevention activities.

The MOU was signed today at the 10th Ministerial Seminar in Doral, Florida organized by the CTU. The MOU, which is effective for 3 years includes agreement to explore opportunities in areas of mutual interest.  This includes capacity building programmes for practitioners, identifying funding possibilities for mutually beneficial joint projects and raising awareness on the imperative of harmonization of law through the adoption of global model law standards amongst the various jurisdictions. The agreement also provides for the promotion of each organisation’s programmes of work at various events, conferences, and other venues and public speaking engagements around the world.

The CTU is the Caribbean intergovernmental organisation dedicated to facilitating the development of the regional information and communications (ICT) sector. CTU promotes functional regional integration and social and economic development, through the effective use of ICT and the organization is at the forefront of harmonisation of policies, procedures, processes for the ICT sector in the Caribbean.  Cyber security is one of 5 strategic areas the CTU is addressing under its Caribbean Internet Governance Policy Framework.

COMNET, through an initiative known as Commonwealth Connects, assists its developing member states in building their institutional, legislative and regulatory capacity through technology and knowledge transfer.  This assistance is offered in areas such as e-Government, telecommunication regulation, cyber-security and cybercrime - activities having a bearing on national, social and economic development.

Bernadette Lewis, Secretary General of the CTU believes that this MOU will go a long way in advancing the region’s ability to deal with the issue of cyber security in a more strategic and comprehensive manner.  “We are pleased to partner with COMNET in this critical area and our intention is to move forward as quickly as possible on some very concrete initiatives that will provide real benefits to our 20 member countries”, she said.  Joseph Tabone, Chairman of COMNET also suggested that “CTU can contribute in a major way to the broad partnership of the Commonwealth cybercrime Initiative in building the necessary capacity to better equip the region to combat cybercrime”.

The agreement is effective for a 3 year period.

Port-of-Spain – July 29, 2011 - Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy and regulatory specialists, Government Ministers and Internet gurus will be attending an important Latin America and Caribbean Convention on Internet Governance aimed at strengthening the Region’s involvement in the governance and use of the Internet and its resources.

From 8^th to 11^th August 2011, Internet stakeholders from North, Central and South America and the Caribbean will converge on the Conference Centre at Movie Towne Boulevard in Port of Spain to discuss the state of the ICT infrastructure within the public sector of Caribbean countries; how to establish more internet exchange points (IXPs) as a means of promoting the development of Internet economies, cybersecurity, and the challenges presented by cybercrime.  The Convention also seeks to inform on issues and trends observed in Internet Governance so as to identify regional ICT priorities and broaden the region's participation at the 2011 Global Internet Governance Forum, carded for Kenya in September 2011.

The Convention is jointly hosted by the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Address Registry (LACNIC), the Association for Progressive Communications, the Internet Society and the Center of Research, Studies and Learning and is sponsored in part by Google, The Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT), and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.

The Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), the lead local organiser for the Convention, has developed and is currently implementing a Caribbean Internet Governance Policy Framework. The current status of the regional process will be one of the main topics for discussion at the Convention.

In order to ensure widest possible multi-stakeholder engagement, all of the activities of the Convention are free, but registration is required.  Further details and registration forms are available at www.ctu.int and www.lacnic.org.

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Contact Person: Mrs. Rosann Murray

Company Name: Caribbean Telecommunications Union

Telephone Number: (868) 627-0281, Fax Number:  (868) 623-1523

Email Address: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

By: Jenise Ferlance, SKNVibes.com

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – Much fun, excitement and technology filled the Independence Square today (June 10) as the Caribbean Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Roadshow hosted an ‘ICT Village’.

The ICT Village was an exposition of ICT products, services and educational fora, and businesses in the realm of information and communication technology were able to showcase some of their products and services.

Some of the businesses that were on display included Advanced Vocational Educational Center (AVEC), which demonstrated the use of the Smart Board; Dancebeat Records, which displayed a variety of CDs that can be found on their website www.caribbeandownload.com.

LIME and Digicel both showcased a number of cellular phones up for sale, and persons were able to learn more about the services they provide, while Techsperts displayed some of their products that are available and persons with computers that needed repairing were able to get free assistance.

Presentations were made by ICT’s Business Development and Operations Manager Rodney Taylor and Trinidad’s Mobomess Managing Director Akhenaton LaBorde.

Taylor’s presentation was entitled ‘Cool Tech Tools’. In it he explained the significance and uses of a number of websites including www.googleearth.com, a world map where one can locate any geographical location; www.youtube.com, a website where persons can share or search for a wide array of music videos, movie clips, documentaries and educational videos; www.box.net where documents, media and all contents are stored online, so that they can be accessed, managed and shared from anywhere; www.skype.com, a free place to video chat with friends and loved ones.

LaBorde’s presentation was called ‘Power is in your hands’, and he explained some of the powerful applications that a BlackBerry Smartphone is capable of doing, most of which are unknown to many users.

Musical entertainment and refreshments were provided throughout the day and lots of giveaways were to the public’s avail.

Speaking with Rodney Taylor, he expressed that he was very pleased with the turnout of both the participants and the public, and that the ICT Village was a major success.

Chris Herbert of the National ICT Centre explained that, at first, he was very much concerned about how successful the ICT Village would be as many persons do not appear to have much interest in technology. However, his concern turned into amazement upon seeing the vast amount of people who not only showed up to view the products on display, but they also showed interest in learning about them.

Apart from the ICT Village, the Roadshow, under the theme “Harnessing the power of Innovation: the engine for ICT-enabled development”, provides a week of free technology training and educational activities as well as expert workshops.

Other upcoming events include an Internet Governance Workshop that will be held on June 14-15, where a wide range of schools, private and public sector personnel as well as civil society groups are expected to participate. Community outreach programmes throughout the Federation have also been promised.

The Roadshow will be travelling to Nevis on June 15.

The Roadshow is coordinated by the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), in cooperation with the European Union-funded ICT for Education, Diversification and Competitiveness (ICT4EDC) programme and supported by the government of St. Kitts and Nevis.

The CTU is a regional inter-governmental organisation based in Trinidad and Tobago. It has designed the Caribbean ICT Roadshow specifically to educate, raise public awareness and establish strategic programmes to foster innovative and beneficial use of information and communication technology to Caribbean citizens.

The British Virgin Islands launched its Internet Exchange Point (BVIX) on 2nd June 2011. It is the first British Overseas Caribbean territory to establish an IXP.

• The Government's demonstrated political will

• The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority's shepherding of the process and

• Stakeholders who were committed to the process.

Also on hand for the occasion was Mr. Bevil Wooding, Internet Specialist from Packet Clearing House which provided equipment, technical and policy advice for the IXP.

The Secretary General offered sincere congratulations to the IXP partners for collaborating on a matter of mutual benefit with implications for national development. It demonstrates that competitors in the same space can work together in the national interest.