MEETING ON BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE FOR THE CARIBBEAN TO BE HELD AT HEADQUARTERS, 24 JANUARY

Note to Correspondents 

MEETING ON BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE FOR THE CARIBBEAN

TO BE HELD AT HEADQUARTERS, 24 JANUARY

As part of its effort to mobilize key partners for ICT-for-development, the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force will hold a meeting on “Bridging the Digital Divide for the Caribbean” on Friday,

24 January at United Nations Headquarters.  The event will be held in the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Chamber from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., and in the Delegates’ Dining Room 6 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.  Organized in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP), the meeting is in preparation for the launch of theDigital Diaspora Network for the Caribbean.

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.  Through the Network, Caribbean expatriates working in the high-tech sector in North America will seek to jump-start ICT initiatives in their home region.  Thousands of Internet nodes and digital activities are taking shape in the Caribbean, 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.

The initiative is modeled on the successful Digital Diaspora Network for Africa, launched in July 2002 by the United Nations 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).

Jerrol Thompson, Minister of Telecommunication, Science, Technology and Industry of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, will give the opening remarks and moderate the first segment.  Speakers will include June Yvonne Clarke, Permanent Representative of Barbados to the United Nations; Sarbuland Khan, Director, Division for ECOSOC Support and Coordination DESA/UN ICT Task Force; Amir Dossal, Executive Director, UNFIP; and Christopher Hackett, Chief of Caribbean Division, UNDP.  Senator Philip Goddard, Special Envoy to the Prime Minister of Barbados on ICT, will deliver the keynote speech on “Bridging the Digital Divide in the Caribbean”.

A panel discussion will feature Courtney Betty, CEO, Caribtel; Jennifer Britton, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat; George Goodwin, Secretary-General, Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS); and Roderick Sanatan, University of the West Indies/Cave Hill.  Lolita Applewaite, University of the West Indies, will address “Applied ICT in Education:  the Edutech Programme in Barbados”.

The afternoon round tables will examine an ICT policy framework for the Caribbean; infrastructural framework, connectivity and costs; human capacity development and e-education; health and telemedicine; enabling effective

e-commerce; enabling efficiency and productivity in the tourism sector; strengthening civil society and governance; developing agriculture with information; identifying resources for the Caribbean Digital Diaspora Network; and ICT and outsourcing.

The event is 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.

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

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