Driving development through innovation: CTU brings regional technology entrepreneurship seminar to Grenada

GRANDE ANSE, Grenada - A regional workshop recently held in Grenada encouraged local entrepreneurs to leverage cutting-edge technology to develop world-class products and services which address challenges facing Caribbean society.

The workshop, held at the Grenada Grand Beach Resort, Grande Anse on March 24th and 25th, was part of a broader World Bank-funded initiative called CARCIP, the Caribbean Regional Communications Infrastructure Program, coordinated by the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU).

“The underlying philosophy of the CTU’s ongoing regional workshop series is that the very same conditions that present severe challenges for Grenada and other Caribbean islands, are also creating unique opportunities for the region,” said Junior Mc Intyre, CARCIP Project Coordinator for the CTU, delivering welcome remarks at the opening ceremony.

The job of Caribbean innovators, Mc Intyre said, is to look past the challenges and discern the opportunities. Lead facilitator for the CTU CARCIP workshop, Bevil Wooding, underscored that reality.

“The survival of the region’s economies depends on our ability leverage modern technology to produce, compete and excel in the global environment,” said Wooding, who is an Internet Strategist with U.S.-based non-profit, Packet Clearing House.

Gregory Bowen, Minister for Communications, Works, Physical Development, Public Utilities, ICT and Community Development, described the workshop as an opportunity to deepen the Government’s ongoing thrust to develop the country’s ICT sector, in order to improve quality of life and create jobs in the local economy.

“Ultimately, the investment being made by the Government of Grenada is not just in the upgrade of the physical equipment but in the improvement of the quality of the lives of our citizens. Our goal is to ensure that all of our people in Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique benefit from the development of ICT infrastructure,” Bowen said.

In March, a historic ICT Bridge connecting Grenada’s sister isles Carriacou and Petite Martinique to the global Internet, was formally launched at the Resource Centre in Hillsborough.

Jacinta Joseph, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, echoed Bowen’s emphasis on the dynamic link between infrastructure development to human development.

“Through CARCIP, we are aiming to advance the development of an ICT-enabled services industry in the Caribbean region by increasing access to regional broadband networks,” Joseph said.

Grenada is not alone in recognising the significance of ICT to national and regional development. At the 25th intersessional meeting of the conference of heads of government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on March 10-11, Caribbean governments reaffirmed that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) plays a crucial role in advancing all regional development initiatives. CARICOM plans to focus over the next two years on developing a Single ICT Space as the digital layer of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).

“The creation of a Single ICT Space within our community should be pursued vigorously in our efforts to bring technology to the people,” said CARICOM Secretary General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque.

Addressing the inter-sessional meeting, Grenadian Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell, who holds responsibility for ICT in CARICOM, issued a call for the region to work together to develop appropriate regional ICT development strategies and programmes.

The work of implementing ICT development policy objectives falls largely on CTU, which plays a significant role in coordinating the region’s response to technology-related challenges through various public education activities, targeting ministers with responsibility for telecommunications, Internet Service Providers, regulators and policy-makers in the ICT sector, as well as end-users and consumers of technology.

Through extensive regional public education activities, such as its Caribbean ICT Roadshow, Caribbean Internet Governance Forum, and Strategic Ministerial Seminar series, the CTU has established a track record of creating awareness across various sectors of Caribbean society of the importance of ICT and Internet Governance to the region.

Against that backdrop, the World Bank approached the CTU to regionally coordinate CARCIP, working closely with the governments of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia and Grenada, and alongside regional organisations such as the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) and the Caribbean Knowledge and Learning Network (CKLN).

Launched in June 2013 at the Crown Ballroom of the Grenada Grand Beach Resort, CARCIP aims to improve the efficiency of regional telecommunications infrastructure development in the Eastern Caribbean and ultimately, throughout the wider Caribbean. Through the World Bank’s International Development Association, the project was allocated a total disbursement of US$25 million, including loans to the three countries and a grant to the CTU.

The Grenada workshop is the third in the CTU’s ongoing series. The two-day event brings together local professionals in the field of telecommunications and regional experts in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), entrepreneurship, leadership development and innovation.

Among the workshop presenters are Dr Farid Youssef, an expert in neuroscience based in the Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, St Augustine; Norman Gibson, an expert in rural development and environmental management in the Caribbean region; Eric Nurse, ICT Director for the Government of Grenada; Glenda Joseph-Dennis, an independent Business Development Consultant specialising in leadership and organisational development; and Joseph I. Gill, the software developer and entrepreneur behind mobile technology startup TopItUp.TV.

The first CTU CARCIP Innovation Workshop was held at the Bay Gardens Resort, Gros Islet, Saint Lucia on February 10 and 11, while the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines event was held at the Buccament Bay resort on February 26 and 27.

U.S. to relinquish key internet stewardship function

The U.S. government has announced its intention to divest itself of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions. On March 14, the U.S. Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) declared its intent to transitionthe stewardship of key Internet domain name functions to the global, multistakeholder community.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was asked by the U.S. government to lead a process for a global multistakeholder community dialogue about what this transition will entail and how it will proceed. ICANN has since launched a process to transition the role of the United States Government relating to the Internet's unique identifiers system, a release on the organisation's website said.

The Internet's unique identifier functions are not apparent to most Internet users, but they play a critical role in maintaining a single, global, unified and interoperable Internet. IANA functions involve the coordination of those unique Internet identifiers. These include allocating Internet Numbers in cooperation with the Regional Internet Registries, administration of the DNS root zone, and coordination of root zone management. The IANA functions are administered by ICANN.

"We are inviting governments, the private sector, civil society, and other Internet organisations from the whole world to join us in developing this transition process," said Fadi Chehadé, ICANN's President and CEO. "All stakeholders deserve a voice in the management and governance of this global resource as equal partners."

The change is significant to the Caribbean community of Internet users.

"It is particularly important that users from the Caribbean take an interest in these developments, understand the mechanisms by which their voices can be heard in the global debate and then step forward as Caribbean nations and as a Caribbean region to make an input to the processes of dialogue and policy development," said Albert H. Daniels, ICANN's Global Stakeholder Engagement Manager for the Caribbean, in a Q&A on regional technology blog ICT Pulse.

ICANN's role as administrator of the Internet's unique identifier system, remains unchanged, the release said.

"Even though ICANN will continue to perform these vital technical functions, the U.S. has long envisioned the day when stewardship over them would be transitioned to the global community," said Dr. Stephen D. Crocker,ICANN's Board Chair. "In other words, we have all long known the destination. Now it is up to our global stakeholder community to determine the best route to get us there."

Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union, Dr Hamadoun I. Touré issued a statement welcoming the announcement: "I would like to reiterate what I have said many times: the Internet is a global public good and therefore all nations and peoples should have an equal say in its running and development. I commend the US government's announcement about changing oversight arrangements of the management of critical internet resources and I believe this development will lead to improved and productive cooperation between the telecommunications and internet communities."

While the announcement does not affect Internet users and their use of the Internet, all Internet users have a stake in how the Internet is run, and it is therefore important to get involved, an ICANN statement said.

The first community-wide dialogue about the development of the transitional process will begin March 23-27 during ICANN's 49th Public Meeting, in Singapore. ICANN described the process as "consensus-driven, participatory, open, and transparent".

All global stakeholders are welcome to participate in person or remotely. More information on how to participate in the process is available from ICANN here.

U.S. government plans to relinquish key internet stewardship

The U.S. government has announced its intention to divest itself of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions. On March 14, the U.S. Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) declared its intent to transitionthe stewardship of key Internet domain name functions to the global, multistakeholder community.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was asked by the U.S. government to lead a process for a global multistakeholder community dialogue about what this transition will entail and how it will proceed. ICANN has since launched a process to transition the role of the United States Government relating to the Internet's unique identifiers system, a release on the organisation's website said.

The Internet's unique identifier functions are not apparent to most Internet users, but they play a critical role in maintaining a single, global, unified and interoperable Internet. IANA functions involve the coordination of those unique Internet identifiers. These include allocating Internet Numbers in cooperation with the Regional Internet Registries, administration of the DNS root zone, and coordination of root zone management. The IANA functions are administered by ICANN.

"We are inviting governments, the private sector, civil society, and other Internet organisations from the whole world to join us in developing this transition process," said Fadi Chehadé, ICANN's President and CEO. "All stakeholders deserve a voice in the management and governance of this global resource as equal partners."

The change is significant to the Caribbean community of Internet users.

"It is particularly important that users from the Caribbean take an interest in these developments, understand the mechanisms by which their voices can be heard in the global debate and then step forward as Caribbean nations and as a Caribbean region to make an input to the processes of dialogue and policy development," said Albert H. Daniels, ICANN's Global Stakeholder Engagement Manager for the Caribbean, in a Q&A on regional technology blog ICT Pulse.

ICANN's role as administrator of the Internet's unique identifier system, remains unchanged, the release said.

"Even though ICANN will continue to perform these vital technical functions, the U.S. has long envisioned the day when stewardship over them would be transitioned to the global community," said Dr. Stephen D. Crocker, ICANN's Board Chair. "In other words, we have all long known the destination. Now it is up to our global stakeholder community to determine the best route to get us there."

Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union, Dr Hamadoun I. Touré issued a statement welcoming the announcement: "I would like to reiterate what I have said many times: the Internet is a global public good and therefore all nations and peoples should have an equal say in its running and development. I commend the US government's announcement about changing oversight arrangements of the management of critical internet resources and I believe this development will lead to improved and productive cooperation between the telecommunications and internet communities."

While the announcement does not affect Internet users and their use of the Internet, all Internet users have a stake in how the Internet is run, and it is therefore important to get involved, an ICANN statement said.

The first community-wide dialogue about the development of the transitional process will begin March 23-27 during ICANN's 49th Public Meeting, in Singapore. ICANN described the process as "consensus-driven, participatory, open, and transparent".

All global stakeholders are welcome to participate in person or remotely. More information on how to participate in the process is available from ICANN here.