Caricom Heads of Government agreed at the recent St Vincent summit that developing a digital economy will be key to changing the socio-economic profile of the region and for creating jobs – especially for the community’s youth.
In the communiqué issued at the conclusion of the Twenty-fifth inter-sessional meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of Caricom, the regional leaders reaffirmed ICT as a priority which had a role in developing all sectors and advancing all regional initiatives and imperatives.
They agreed that “ICT efforts should be undertaken in tandem with the Reform Process of the Region and that sustained efforts in the years 2014-2015 should be on building a Single ICT space as part of the digital layer of the CSME. This includes addressing issues related to roaming rates and improved broadband service across the Region.”
The meeting received a presentation by Grenada’s Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell, who has lead responsibility for ICT within the quasi-Caricom cabinet and it was agreed that there should be a sustained effort over the next two years for building a single ICT space in the region.
A road-map for the implementation of the single ICT space will be presented for consideration at the July 2015 meeting. They also agreed to give priority attention to cyber-security.
