By Gerard Best
In the Caribbean, our growing inventory of web-connected gadgets is constantly changing the way that we do routine business transactions and access critical services. It is also raising interesting questions about how we can get more from information and communications technology, or ICT, while staying safe online. An upcoming ICT Awareness Day in Guyana, on October 9, aims to answer some of those questions.
“The ICT Awareness Day is free of charge and open to the public. It is a great opportunity for anyone who wants to learn more about how to stay safe online, and how to get involved in the governance of the global Internet,” said Kevon Swift, Head of Strategic Relations and Integration at the Latin America and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC), an organisation that distributes and manages Internet number resources in the region.
LACNIC is one of several Internet bodies taking part in the ICT Awareness Day. Others include the Internet Society (ISOC), the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) and the Caribbean Network Operators Group (CaribNOG).
Sessions will focus on what the Internet economy, cyber security, network neutrality and telecommunications regulation mean for Guyana, and for the wider Caribbean.
The ICT Awareness Day is the first in a weeklong series of meetings hosted by the Guyana Ministry of Public Telecommunications. Catherine Hughes, Minister of Public Telecommunications, will be among the feature speakers at the opening.
The five-day event, called Internet Week Guyana, will be held at the Pegasus Hotel, Georgetown.
Registration and other information are available at www.caribnog.org or by email at onthemove@lacnic.net.