Cabinet has approved Guyana’s participation in the Caribbean Telecommunications Technology, Information Communications Technology (ICT) Week.
A symposium will be held in Antigua and Barbuda from March 20 to 25, 2017 which will be attended by Minister of Public Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes and ICT Advisor to the Minister Lance Hinds.
The symposium will bring together CARICOM leaders and technical officers to develop mechanisms for establishing ICT projects, and sharing ideas and expertise to promote regional ICT development.
This was reported by Minister of State Joseph Harmon at a post-Cabinet press briefing today, at the Ministry of the Presidency. Minister Harmon said that the symposium will also address the establishment of the Region’s single ICT Space.
The theme for the Symposium is ‘ICT: Driving Twenty- First Century Intelligent Services’.
Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) Secretary General, Bernadette Lewis explained that the purpose of the week’s activities is “to raise awareness of the ICT revolution, the implications for policy, legislation and regulations, and how they can be employed to transform existing operations; to foster social inclusion; provide ICT-based challenges we face in the region and promote national and regional development.”
CTU will host the ICT Week and Symposium at the Sandals Grande Resort and Spa.
The week’s activities include a Smart Caribbean Conference, 15 Caribbean Ministerial Strategic ICT Seminars, third Caribbean Stakeholders’ Meeting: Cyber security and Cyber Crime and culminates with a training programme on Mobile Money for Financial Inclusion.
At the Smart Caribbean Conference, Huawei, the platinum sponsor for ICT Week, will present how new ICTs such as cloud computing, virtualisation, Big Data, Geographic Information System (GIS), the Internet of Things (IoT), and the ecosystem Software Development Kit (eSDK) can be used to create comprehensive, end-to-end Smart Caribbean solutions. Solutions include the safe city, smart city operations centres, one-stop government services, smart transportation and applications for healthcare, education and tourism.
Additionally, the fifteenth Caribbean Ministerial Strategic ICT Seminar will focus on the application of ICT in the financial services sector and will explore new modes of providing secure financial services for all citizens; the use of crypto currencies; cyber security and innovative ways of financing the region’s ICT development.
The Caribbean Stakeholders’ Meeting III: Cyber security and Cybercrime will facilitate discussions for establishing appropriate measures and resources for implementing the Caribbean Cyber Security and Cyber Crime Action Plan.
The training programme on Mobile Money for Financial Inclusion, , seeks to provide an in-depth look at mobile money services- how they work, the stakeholders involved and the regulatory enablers, as well as critical issues such as cross- network inter-operability. (GINA)
