On Monday – Wednesday February 13-15 2023 the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat, will hold a training workshop ‘Effective Legal Frameworks for Building the Digital Economy‘ in Barbados. The Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda (CCA) was adopted in 2018 with with a view to boosting trade and investment links across the Commonwealth and raising intra-Commonwealth trade to US$2 trillion by 2030. This workshop has been organized in light of the growing importance of creating strong and resilient digital economies, and the correlative need to create an adequate enabling environment through the creation of effective and cohesive legal frameworks,
DAY 1 – FEB 13 (AST = UTC-4) 09:00 Opening Session Francola John– Stakeholder Engagement and Event Management Specialist, CTU Rodney Taylor, Secretary-General, CTU Paulo Kautoke, Senior Director, Trade Oceans and Natural Resources Directorate, Commonwealth Secretariat Hon. Dale Marshall Q.C. M.P, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Barbados
09:35 Measuring digital economies and creating an enabling regulatory environment for financial innovation Mark Wensley, Digital Advisor to the UN Capital Development Fund Helen Gradstein, Regional Digital Finance Specialist, Caribbean
10:15 Intellectual Property Regan Asgarali, Controller of Intellectual Property, Intellectual Property Office of Trinidad and Tobago
11:00 Fintech & Regulatory Sandboxing Felicity Jaforktuk, Country Manager, Zeemoney, Barbados John Outridge, CEO, Trinidad & Tobago International Financial Centre Warrick Ward, CEO, Financial Services Commission, Barbados
MOD: Chris Southworth, SG, International Chamber of Commerce, UK
13:00 Data Protection & Cross Border Data Flows Vashti Maharaj-Adviser Digital Trade Policy, Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda (CCA)
13:35 Consumer Protection & Competition/Fair Trading Legislation to Bolster the Digital Economy Nievia Ramsundar, Executive Director/CEO, CARICOM Competition Commission
14:30 Bridging the Digital Divide: Telecommunications Legislative Frameworks Annie Baldeo, Executive Officer Policy, Planning and Economics, Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago
15:15 The Role of Cybersecurity in Building Trust & Confidence in the Digital Economy Anselm Charles, Information and Communications Technology Manager, CARICOM IMPACS
15:45 Wrap Up Rodney Taylor, Secretary-General, CTU
DAY 2 – FEB 14 (AST = UTC-4) 09:00 The Role of Standardization in Legal Frameworks for Building the Digital Economy Cindy Parokkil – International Policy Manager – BSI
09:35 Bridging Borders: ICC Standards Toolkit for Cross-Border Paperless Trade Chris Southworth, Secretary General, International Chamber of Commerce, UK
10:20 Bringing the Pieces Together, The Importance of Regional Harmonization Sofie Maddens, Head of the Regulatory and Market Environment, ITU
11:00 Caribbean Harmonization Sofie Maddens, Head of the Regulatory and Market Environment, ITU Dr. Chantal Ononaiwu, Director (Trade), CARICOM Single Market and Trade
MOD: Rodney Taylor, Secretary-General, CTU
13:00 Role of Legal Harmonization In Bolstering The Digital Economy: The Contribution of the UNCITRAL Model Laws on Electronic Transferable Records and The Use and Cross-border Recognition of Identity Management and Trust Services Dr. Luca Castellani, Legal Officer, Secretary of Working Group IV (Electronic Commerce), UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)
13:35 International Perspective: Trade Facilitation Agreements & International Cooperation Mohammed Owais Khan, Adviser, Regulatory Framework, Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda, The Commonwealth Secretariat
14:30 Group Work Assignment
(no webcast)
DAY 3 – FEB 15 (AST = UTC-4) 09:00 Review of Day 2 Findings and Key Takeaways
(no webcast)
09:15 Group Assignment Discussion
(no webcast)
11:00 Presentation by Groups + Q&A
13:30 Partner Presentation(s)
14:15 Key Workshop Takeaways and Next Steps
15:00 Vote of Thanks and Close of Proceedings Kirk Haywood, Head Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda, Trade Oceans and Natural Resources Directorate, The Commonwealth Secretariat Rodney Taylor, Secretary-General, Caribbean Telecommunications Union
On Thursday January 12 2023 at 2pm-3pm CET (13:00-14:00 UTC) the DiploFoundation will host its annual prediction event ‘Trends and Predictions for 2023‘. What will 2023 bring for digital geopolitics, AI, data, and cryptocurrencies? Will the ‘1998 deal’ on digital government still hold? What issues will dominate the United Nations and multilateral agenda in Geneva, and beyond? All these, and numerous other questions that will shape the digital landscape in 2023, will be discussed.
SPEAKERS Wolfgang Kleinwächter, Professor Emeritus, University of Aarhus Asoke Mukerji, Former Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations Katherine Getao, ICT Secretary, Ministry of Information and Communications, Kenya Richard Werly, EU correspondent, Blik Marilia Maciel, Head, Digital Commerce and Internet Policy, DiploFoundation Rodney Taylor, Secretary-General, Caribbean Telecommunications Union
MODERATOR Jovan Kurbalija, Executive Director, DiploFoundation
On Friday October 21 2022 at 11:30-13:00 AST (15:30-17:00 UTC) the Collectivity of Saint Martin will host the official launch of Smart-IX – the Saint Martin Internet Exchange Point. This new IXP is part of the CaribIX project, launched in March 2022, which has already established an IXP in St Saint Barthélemy, and aims to also set up IXPs in Saint Maarten and Guadeloupe, promising to deliver better Internet speed, security and service quality across the region. The launch will be followed by the signing of an IXP memorandum of understanding, which signifies the willingness of the first IXP participants to begin peering. More participants are expected to join as Smart-IX continues to develop and grow.
Le vendredi 21 octobre 2022 à 11h30-13h00 AST (15h30-17h00 UTC), la Collectivité de Saint-Martin accueillera le lancement officiel de Smart-IX – le Point d’Echange Internet de Saint-Martin. Ce nouvel IXP fait partie du projet CaribIX, lancé en mars 2022, qui a déjà mis en place un IXP à Saint-Barthélemy, et vise également à mettre en place des IXP à Saint-Martin et en Guadeloupe, promettant d’offrir une meilleure vitesse, sécurité et qualité de service Internet à travers la région. Le lancement sera suivi de la signature d’un protocole d’accord IXP, qui signifie la volonté des premiers participants IXP de commencer le peering. D’autres participants devraient se joindre au fur et à mesure que Smart-IX continue de se développer et de croître.
SPEAKERS / ORATEURS Alex RICHARDS, Conseiller spécial du Cabinet du Président Collectivité de Saint Martin Alain RICHARDSON, 1er Vice-Président Collectivité de Saint-Martin Gilles Bazajet, Directeur, Programme Interreg Caraïbes Cédric BENJAMIN, Directeur Services Informatiques, Collectivité de Saint-Martin Eve Riboud, CEO, Dauphin Telecom Jean ARNELL, CEO, Computech Kendall DUPERSOY, CEO, TELEM Gary Kalloo, CARIB-IX Project Coordinator, CTU
On Wednesday 24 August, 2022 – Friday 26 August, 2022 the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) will host the 18th Caribbean Internet Governance Forum (CIGF) online. This year, the 18th CIGF will feature a Caribbean Youth IGF (CYIGF) and the CIGF will also be held jointly with the inaugural Internet Governance Forum for Small Island Developing States (SIDS IGF). Having been discussed as a goal of the DC-SIDS for quite a few years, the SIDS IGF was catalysed by an intervention and offer of support by the CTU SG in 2021. Support for the idea grew given the realisation that SIDS worldwide share similar development challenges and there existed no collective IG forum that addressed SIDS-specific issues. The theme of CIGF 2022 is “Caribbean Internet Governance Priorities for Post-COVID ICT-Driven Development.”
Kindly support me in anyway be able to establish the first computer laboratory for blind children in the rural heart of SOROTI Uganda. We are making bricks and will provide all raw materials. What we are lacking is money for payment of skilled labour and iron sheets and mortar.
On Thursdays May 26 2022 and June 2 2022 at 9:00-12:30 AST (13:00-16:30 UTC), the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN), the Internet Registry for Latin America and the Caribbean (LACNIC) and the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) will host the fifth Caribbean Internet Public Policy Forum. The theme for this year’s event is ‘Advancing Caribbean Digital Development Within a Changing Global Context‘. This virtual forum will feature keynote speakers, interactive discussions and case studies on international Internet public policy topics relevant to in the Caribbean.
ROUNDTABLE 1: Transformation in Action Curtis Charles (Antigua and Barbuda), Ophelia Blanchard (St Kitts and Nevis), Denise White (Trinidad & Tobago) MOD: Kevon Swift, LACNIC
ROUNDTABLE 2: Advancing the Caribbean Digital Agenda Mavis Johnson-Collie (Bahamas) Dr. Kim Mallalieu (Trinidad & Tobago) Cecil McCain (Gov, Jamaica)
DAY 1 WRAP UP Kevon Swift, LACNIC Rodney Taylor, CTU Secretary-General Einar Bohlin, ARIN VP Gov. Affairs
Gilles Bajazet, Director of the Secretariat, INTERREG Caraïbes Rodney Taylor, Secretary-General, CTU Jean Claude NELSON, 9eme Vice président de la Région Guadeloupe Omar Morales, Régional – Programme de Saint Martin, INTERREG Caraïbes Pascal Peuchot, Directeur adjoint des services techniques, Collectivité de Saint Barthélemy Gary Kalloo, Director, Business Development, Bevil Wooding, Special Advisor, CTU
MOD: Betty Fausta, Founder, IPEOS; Founder & former president, GuadeloupeTech
On Monday January 31 2022 at 09:00-12:30 AST (13:00-16:30 UTC) the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) in partnership with the Government of Barbados hosts a webinar ‘Traversing the Metaverse – A Caribbean Perspective‘. In 2021 Barbados announced it would be among the first countries to open an embassy in the metaverse. It is estimated that by 2025 the global metaverse market will be worth 280 billion US dollars. This webinar will enable discussion that will assist in the formulation of policy, legal and regulatory issues in an effort to educate and raise awareness of the opportunities and challenges for, in particular, small island developing states (SIDS). This will allow the relevant stakeholders to advance regional initiatives and make the necessary policy interventions in the interest of ensuring the Caribbean is poised to provide global leadership in this emerging technological space.
There have been many COVID-19 success stories at the national level within CARICOM Member States, including digital platforms to manage testing, vaccination programmes, and travel. ICT Week presents an opportunity for Caribbean countries to learn from each other regarding what has worked well, and what opportunities exist to share knowledge and build capacity regionally. This is particularly important as regional governments seek to create a travel “bubble” within CARICOM that would facilitate easy and safe movement within the Single Space.
Two public sessions will be livestreamed. (all times AST = UTC-4)
Wednesday 22nd September 2021, 9:00am -3:30pm – 17th Ministerial Seminar
This session will feature presentations by various ICT industry leaders and is designed to bring policy-makers up to speed with new and emerging technology trends that may require public policy interventions.
On Tuesday-Thursday August 22-24 2023 the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) will host the 19th Caribbean Internet Governance Forum (CIGF) and 2nd Caribbean Youth Internet Governance Forum (CYIGF) in Port Of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The theme of CIGF 2023 is “Evolving Caribbean Internet Governance Priorities for Sustainable Development.” This will be a hybrid event.
On Wednesday 24 August, 2022 – Friday 26 August, 2022 the 
Reply