Ministers Responsible for Information and Communica-tion Technology in CARICOM are slated to focus on measures to accelerate the development of ICT in the Caribbean Community, including a draft five-year regional ICT strategy, when they meet at the Thirty-Fourth Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on May 28 in St. George’s, Grenada.
They will also review progress reports on ICT development as CARICOM pushes to meet this aspect of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a press release from the CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, said.
This special meeting of the COTED will be chaired by the Prime Minister of Grenada, Tillman Thomas, who is the Lead Head of Government responsible for Science and Technology (including ICT) in the Quasi Cabinet of CARICOM.
ICT is considered critically important to the region’s flagship programme, the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).
In this context, the meeting in Grenada will consider a Draft Five-Year Regional ICT Strategy, the release stated.
CARICOM Heads of Government at their Thirtieth Regular Meeting, July 2009, had mandated the development of a regional ICT strategy to guide activities and initiatives towards the formation of an information society by 2015.
Following this mandate, the CARICOM Secretariat had commissioned a consultancy to develop the Regional ICT Strategy Framework, which the ministers will consider.
They will also discuss a Draft ICT Action Plan developed by the Regional ICT Steering Committee on five priority areas, including capacity building; access and connectivity; legal and regulatory framework, to fast-track the development of the CARICOM Information Society.
With e-government as a critical component of the region’s ICT agenda, the ministers will review a Regional E-Government Strategy 2010-2014 report, developed by the Caribbean Centre for Development Administration (CARICAD).
This special COTED will be updated on the Caribbean Regional Research and Education Network (C@RIBNET) which CARICOM Heads of Government had agreed to establish at their Twenty-Seventh Regular Meeting in July 2006.
It is anticipated that C@RIBNET, projected to commence operation at the end of 2010, will provide high bandwidth telecommunications network among participating member states.
A review of ICT development initiatives within CARICOM institutions and other international organisations, among other things, will be examined by the COTED ministers.
They will also review a status report on a project implemented by the International Telecommunications Union to enhance competitive and socio-economic development in the Caribbean through the harmonisation of ICT policies, legislation and regulatory procedures.
