Via a press release on the http://www.caricomict4d.org/ website :
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Three of the Sub-Committees of the Regional Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Steering Committee will begin next week to formulate a Draft Implementation Plan for the recently developed Draft Regional ICT Strategy.
The week-long meetings of the sub-committees will be convened in Trinidad and Tobago from Monday 25 October and will discuss issues pertaining to Access, Connectivity and Internet Governance; Business, Trade, Culture and Disaster Management; and Capacity Building.
The Draft Implementation Plan will outline the activities to be undertaken and the specific milestones and targets to achieve the objectives as set out in the Draft Strategy. It will also give guidance to the governance model that should be adopted for the execution of these activities.
The Regional ICT Strategy (Regional Digital Development Strategy – RDDS) outlines the level of ICT development in the Region and identifies existing gaps. It also points out critical Regional issues to be addressed and the approaches that should be taken to deal with these issues. Its mission is to “use ICT and other appropriate technologies to leverage and deepen the Region’s cultural resources, through high-speed ICT networks and trained human resources, and within good governance and sound operating partnership frameworks; in order to add social and economic value for the benefit of the Region.”
At their Meeting in July 2010, CARICOM Heads of Government mandated that the Implementation Plan for the Draft Strategy be developed and forwarded to the ICT Ministers Meeting and the next Inter-Sessional meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in 2011. The Implementation Plan for the Draft Strategy will also be presented at the Fifth meeting of the Regional ICT Steering Committee next month.
The Regional ICT Steering Committee – which comprises sub-committees – was established in 2004 and serves as an advisory body to the CARICOM Secretariat on issues related to ICTs. It comprises delegates from CARICOM Member States, Regional Organisations and Institutions, the Private Sector, Civil Society, and the CARICOM Secretariat.
The work that is conducted under the Steering Committee is geared towards advancing development of the Caribbean Information Society. The Committee is part of the Caribbean Information Society (Carib-IS) project which is funded under the 9th European Development Fund.
