‘DIGITAL DIASPORA NETWORK’ TO PROMOTE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN CARIBBEAN LAUNCHED AT HEADQUARTERS

‘DIGITAL DIASPORA NETWORK’ TO PROMOTE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN CARIBBEAN LAUNCHED AT HEADQUARTERS

NEW YORK, 7 February (ICT Task Force) -- The Digital Diaspora Network for the Caribbean, through which Caribbean expatriates working in the high-tech sector in North America will seek to jump-start information and communication technologies initiatives in their home region, was launched on 24 January at United Nations Headquarters.

The launch took place at the meeting on “Bridging the Digital Divide for  the Caribbean”, attended by political leaders, entrepreneurs, academics and representatives of international and regional organizations.  More than

150 participants attended -- nearly 70 per cent of them Caribbean nationals living in North America who offered their technical, entrepreneurial and other skills to assist in closing the digital divide.

The Network will seek to bring together qualified members of the Caribbean diaspora –- high-tech professionals, entrepreneurs and business leaders -- into a network with their counterparts in the Caribbean.

Thousands of Internet nodes and digital activities are taking shape in the region, but usually lack the capital, expertise and networking ability to stabilize and grow.  The Network will mobilize expatriate leaders and entrepreneurs to underwrite and mentor these developments, tapping the extensive talent and financial potential of the Caribbean diaspora in the United States and Canada.  It will also support and build synergies with a number of successful information and communication technologies (ICT) activities already being implemented in the Caribbean.

The Network will initially consist of the participants at the meeting, as well as non-participants who have expressed support for the concept.  It will be assisted by a steering committee made up of representatives from the Caribbean diaspora, corporate institutions in North America with a proven track record of investing and undertaking work in the Caribbean, donor agencies, regional institutions, and the sponsoring United Nations agencies.  The steering committee is to convene in mid-2003 to determine the work plan and priorities.

The work plan will be developed around 12 themes:  ICT policy framework for the Caribbean; infrastructural framework; connectivity and costs; human capacity development; e-education; health and telemedicine; enabling effective e-commerce; enabling efficiency and productivity in the tourism sector; strengthening civil

society and governance; developing agriculture through information; identifying resources for the Caribbean Digital Diaspora Network; and ICT and outsourcing.

Participants recognized the need for a Caribbean institutional grounding, and felt that the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) secretariat and the University of the West Indies would be appropriate institutions.  Their role should quickly be defined.  They also agreed on the need for a stable financial resource base for the Network, and for developing appropriate funding sources.  New York Healthcare Plus made an immediate initial pledge of $20,000 for the Network.

The meeting was organized by the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP).  It was supported by the CARICOM Permanent Missions to the United Nations and the CARICOM secretariat, and facilitated by the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The initiative is modelled on the successful Digital Diaspora Network for Africa, launched in July 2002 by the ICT Task Force, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), UNFIP, the Digital Partners Institute (Seattle, United States) and Gruppo CERFE (Italy).  More than

200 African entrepreneurs and professionals are now part of the Network for Africa.

For information, please contact Daniela Giacomelli of the United Nations  ICT Task Force Secretariat; tel. 1-917-367-2432; e-mail:  giacomellid@un.org.

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