The Inter-American Deve-lopment Bank (IDB), in partnership with CANTO, the leading trade association of the ICT sector in the Caribbean, is seeking to promote the usage of broadband as a critical technology for innovation and to increase productivity, growth and social inclusion in the region.
Against that background, 75 ICT experts and decision-makers, including Caribbean government ministers, regulators, representatives of regional organizations, operators, suppliers and civil society had open discussions regarding “Accelerating Broadband Development in the Caribbean” during the CANTO-IDB Broadband Forum held at the Hyatt Regency, Miami, on Monday, a CANTO-IDB press release said.
Placing broadband acceleration at the heart of economic development, featured speaker Amir Dossal of the Broadband Commission ITU, urged CANTO to continue its pioneering work of fostering collaboration between both the private and public sector to promote growth and economic development in the region.
“Facilitating ICT solutions in the Caribbean through innovative partnerships with leading international organizations & private sector (is) the only way to go,” Dossal is quoted as saying.
The organizers of the forum, CANTO and the IDB, saw a key outcome of the dialogue being the identification of key initiatives to drive the acceleration of broadband in the region for the public good, the release said.
Some projects identified included developing broadband specific policies and goals, driving greater usage of the technology by small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) and the public in general, creating harmonized solutions for cyber security, creating a baseline map of the present broadband infrastructure, and awareness and training for various groups.
According to the release, participants recognized the urgent need to accelerate broadband deployment and adoption in the region to create knowledge-based, smart, digital economies where all citizens have an equal opportunity to participate in the global economy and ultimately improve their quality of life.
Flora Painter, Chief of the Science and Technology Division of the IDB, said that the IDB has a strong mandate to provide Latin America and the Caribbean with technical and other assistance to support accelerating the penetration and usage of broadband as a critical technology for innovation and as a means to increase productivity, growth and social inclusion, in four main categories: policy, strategic regulation, infrastructure development and capacity building.
Dirk Currie, the Chairman of CANTO, said collaboration with IDB is a key element of CANTO’s mission to connect the Caribbean through ICT, which started in 2008.
“CANTO has developed valuable public private partnerships along that journey and we are satisfied that operators, regulators, suppliers, international and regional agencies and governments with whom we dialogue are all committed to contributing to the positive transformation of the region through broadband,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ministers mandated CANTO and IDB to initially focus on conducting an audit of the broadband infrastructure and regulatory frameworks in the region and developing a proposal for heightening awareness and training of various groups.
The meeting also served as a preliminary caucus for regional stakeholders in preparation for the ITU Summit of the Americas to be held in Panama from July 17 to 19, 2012.
ITU, CANTO, CTU and CARICOM have committed to collaborate to identify key projects to highlight at the Summit while CANTO and IDB have committed to make the Broadband Forum an annual event.
