CIF Home > Past Events > Caribbean Internet Forum 2006
Logistics
The Caribbean Internet Forum 2006 was held in Grenada from November 1 - 2 at the Grenadian by Rex Resorts, Point Salines.
Theme and Background
Driven by the imperative to hasten economic development, over the past six years most countries of the Caribbean have engaged in de-monopolization of their telecommunications sector. Legal and regulatory institutional frameworks have been evolving to provide the necessary transparency and predictability to attract capital for ICT infrastructure as well as increase access to services. The first Caribbean Internet Forum in Jamaica in 2003 sought to focus attention on the "access gap" and the steps needed to rapidly reduce it.
The "infrastructure deficit" was addressed in subsequent fora leading to considerations of optimized broadband fixed and mobile network deployment, access and usage in CIF III Barbados in 2005. In addition, the CTU and CARICOM held a regional forum that year in Guyana to explore specific issues and impacts of Internet Governance. Like the 2005 Caribbean Internet Forum, the Internet Governance Forum anticipated a follow-on forum that would progress its work. Among other things, this follow-on IG Forum aims to establish the governance framework appropriate to regional jurisdictions.
In parallel to this regional activity, the UN -ITU WSIS process has been developing at the international level to ensure that access to ICT and services are available to all peoples of the world. In the WSIS process, the Internet has been recognized as a key enabling technology to provide access to information and drive economic growth and therefore its operational modalities in relation to existing international legal, policy and regulatory frameworks needed to be examined.
As a consequence the 2005 Tunis Round of the WSIS is being a followed up with a meeting of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum in Greece in November 2006.
The 2006 Internet Governance Forum and the 2006 Caribbean Internet Forum are being held as a single, joint event in November in Grenada to enable synergies between the respective coordinating and interest groups. A webconference between Greece and Grenada will provide a window into both the global and regional dimensions of Internet Governance.
Objectives
- To progress the work and recommendations of the 2005 Internet Governance Forum hosted by the CTU and the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown.
- To progress the work of the preceding Caribbean Internet Forums
- To establish the requirements for, and parameters of, an Internet Governance Framework appropriate to the Caribbean
- To establish priority areas and particular actions relating to the development of an appropriate Caribbean Internet Governance Framework and regional Internet infrastructure
- To build synergies between various regional centres of interest and capability in Internet Governance
Target Audience
- Caribbean Government Officials
- Caribbean ICT Regulators
- Leading Business, Finance & Legal practitioners
- Internet Service, Content, Media & Telecommunications Service Providers
- End Users including Consumer Groups
- NGOs
- Academics
Approach
Participants will be invited to participate in an online Internet Governance Forum and review the following relevant background materials in readiness for the 2006 CIF/IGF:
- WGIG Report, June 2005
- Presentations of the First Regional Internet Governance Forum, September 2005
- Report and Recommendations of the Internet Governance Forum, September 2005
- Other background materials as posted on the Online Forum
The objectives will be pursued in the course of a three-day Forum to be addressed by regional and international authorities in matters of IG.
Working sessions, facilitated by experts and practitioners in the field, will take account of relevant legal and regulatory issues and develop:
- A draft Caribbean IG Framework
- Specific, prioritized, actions and relevant primeships
- Project concepts
Event Sponsors
- Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR)
- Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU)
- Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL)
- Columbus Communications, Inc.
- Cable & Wireless
- Digicel Group
- Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
- Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
- Trinidad and Tobago Network Information Centre (TTNIC)
- MRP(Telecommunications)
- Wireless Grids Corporation
- Syracuse University
Agenda and Presentations
Wednesday, November 1, 2006
| Time | Activity | Speaker/Presenter |
| Opening Ceremony (Session Chair: Dr. Spencer Thomas, Chairman, NTRC Grenada) | ||
| 9:00 a.m. | Opening Prayer | Nigel Cassimire, CTU |
| 9:05 a.m. | Welcome/Introductions | Session Chair |
| 9:10 a.m. | Opening Remarks | Bernadette Lewis, Secretary-General, CTU |
| 9:15 a.m. | Welcome Address | Honorable Gregory Bowen, Minister with responsibility for Telecommunications |
| 9:20 a.m. | Keynote Address: |
Mawaki Chango, Togo, Syracuse University & Previous Fellow, WGIG Prof. Lee McKnight, |
| 10:10 a.m. | Status Report On Caribbean IG Activities | Nigel Cassimire CTU |
| 10:20 a.m. | Open Discussion | Facilitated by Chair |
| 10.30 a.m. | Coffee Break - Sponsored by Digicel | |
| Internet Governance and the Caribbean (Session Chair: C. Courtney Jackson, OUR) | ||
| 11:00 a.m. | Internet Governance: Global and Regional Issues, Challenges and Best Practices | Jacob Malthouse, ICANN |
| 11:40 a.m. | IG in the Caribbean: Legal and Regulatory Issues, Challenges and Opportunities | Teni Housty, Fraser and Housty Attorneys-at-law |
| 11:55 a.m. | Development of Internet Content in the Caribbean: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities | Bevil Wooding, Congress WBN |
| 12:10 noon | Session Summary and Capstone Remarks | Session Chair |
| 12:15 p.m. | Lunch | |
| Internet Governance Frameworks (Session Chair: Nigel Cassimire, CTU) | ||
| 1:15 p.m. | Elements of an IG Framework | Prof. Lee McKnight, Syracuse University |
| 2:15 p.m. | Open Discussion on Internet Governance Issues |
Facilitators:
Dr. Kim Mallalieu, Prof. Lee McKnight, |
| 2:30 p.m. | Coffee Break - Sponsored by Digicel | |
| 3:00 p.m. | Working Session 1: Towards a Draft Caribbean IG Framework |
Facilitators:
Kim Mallalieu, Jacob Malthouse, |
| 4:00 p.m. |
Presentation of Group Reports & Discussions Arising
Group 1: Mission Group 2: Regional Collaborative Mechanisms Group 3: Legal & E-Commerce Framework Elements Group 4: Measuring and monitoring the development of the Caribbean Information Society Group 5: Development & Capacity-Building |
|
| 5:00 p.m. | Going Forward and Close of Session | |
Thursday, November 2, 2006
| 8:30 am |
Webconference: Grenada, Syracuse and Greece, Live from the IG Forum
Welcome & Introductions from 3 sites Dr. Derrick Cogburn, IGP live report from IGF, Greece Jennifer Britton, CARICOM Teresa Swinehart, VP, Global & Strategic Partnerships, ICANN Dr. Alex Sceberras Trigona, DiploFoundation (from Greece) Chengetai Masango, Consultant to UN IGF Q&A |
Also contributing:
Dr. Jon Gant, Dr. Lee McKnight, Dr. Kim I. Mallalieu, |
| Panel Discussion I: Caribbean Infrastructure and Services - Status Reports and I.G. Issues Arising Session Chair: Nigel Cassimire, CTU |
||
| 9:00 a.m. | Development of Regional Submarine and Terrestrial Fiber Optic Capacity | Thomas Soja, T Soja & Associates, Inc. |
| 9:20 a.m. | Global Caribbean Network infrastructure: Present and Planned | Sebastian Stephens, Global Caribbean Network |
| 9:40 a.m. | The Caribbean Knowledge & Learning Network | Donnie De Freitas, ECTEL |
| 10:00 a.m. | WOW Report | Lyndon Clarke, WOW Net |
| 10:30 a.m. | Columbus Communications Report | John Reid, Columbus Communications |
| 10:45 a.m. | Session Summary and Capstone Remarks | Chair |
| 10:50 a.m. | Coffee Break - Sponsored by Columbus Communications, Inc. | |
| Panel Discussion II: Technical infrastructure for Internet Governance Chair: Donnie De Freitas, ECTEL |
||
| 11:10 a.m. | Regional Overview of ccTLD Administration | Carlton Samuels, The University of the West Indies |
| 11:30 a.m. | Providing the Technical infrastructure for Internet Governance - The Case of Trinidad and Tobago | Patrick Hosein, TTNIC |
| 11:50 a.m. | Providing the Technical infrastructure for Internet Governance - The Case of Puerto Rico | Oscar Moreno, nic.pr & University of Puerto Rico |
| 12:10 p.m. | Open Forum - Q&A | Facilitated by Chair |
| 12:25 p.m. | Session Summary and Capstone Remarks | Chair |
| 12:30 p.m. | Lunch | |
| 2:00 p.m. | Working Session 2: Elements of a Caribbean IG Framework |
Facilitators:
Mawaki Chango, Ana Rodríguez, Jacob Malthouse, |
| 3:00 p.m | Coffee Break - Sponsored by Columbus Communications, Inc. | |
| 3.30 p.m. |
Working Session 3: Finalizing Draft Caribbean IG Framework
Group 1: Leadership & Engagement Strategies Group 2: TOR for a regional IG Dynamic Coalition Group 3: A regional Governance Structure Group 4: Physical & Logical Infrastructure Elements of Regional IG Framework Group 5: Caribbean and Global Resources |
Facilitators:
Nigel Cassimire, Bevil Wooding, |
| 4:30 p.m. |
Plenary Session: Presentation of Forum Report
A Caribbean IG Framework Draft, Policy Action Items and Next Steps |
Presented by:
Nigel Cassimire, |
| 5:00 p.m. | Close of Session | |
Contact Information
Dr. Kim Mallalieu
Head, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Coordinator, MRP(Telecommunications)
The University of the West Indies
St. Augustine
Trinidad and Tobago
Tel: (868) 662-2002 ext. 2167
Fax: (868) 662-4414
Email: kim.mallalieu@sta.uwi.edu
Mr. Donnie Defreitas
Director of Technical Services
Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL)
Vide Boutielle,
P.O Box 1886,
Castries,
Saint Lucia
Tel: (758) 458-1701
Fax: (758) 458-1698
Email: ddefreitas@ectel.int
Mr. Nigel Cassimire
Telecommunications Specialist
Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU)
3rd Floor, Victoria Park Suites,
14 - 17 Victoria Square,
Port of Spain
Trinidad and Tobago
Tel: (868) 627-0281, 627-0347
Fax: (868) 623-1523
Email: nigelcas@tstt.net.tt