Challenges and benefits of a

1
Information Communication Technologies for
Development (ICT4D)

• Challenges and benefits of a
• connected
• Caribbean

2
Current Landscape

• Globalisation
• A flattening world
• Niche markets no longer exist
• Negotiations moving at pace of molasses
• Moving from a trade-in-goods regime to a services
  regime
• Information is the new world currency
• New organisational structures
• Rapid technological changes
• Over 1 billion persons connected

3
In what Context?

• MDG
• Information Society
• WSIS Plan of Action
• CSME
• The main objectives of the CSME are full use of
  labour (full employment) and full exploitation of
  the other factors of production (natural
  resources and capital) competitive production
  leading to greater variety and quantity of
  products and services to trade with other
  countries. It is expected that these objectives
  will in turn provide improved standards of living
  and work and sustained economic development
• Towards A Single Economy And A Single Development
  Vision
• Technical Report on Governance
• Georgetown Declaration (ICT Ministers 2002)
• Declaration on Functional Cooperation ( CHOG
  2007)

4
A Community for All

• Heads of Government Declaration on Functional
  Cooperation ( July 2007)
• Our determination to make functional Cooperation
  a priority within the Community as one of the
  prinicipal means by which the benefits of the
  integration movement are distributed through the
  length and breadth of the Community thereby
  engendering a Community for All

5
Pillars of regional integration

• Security
• Foreign policy coordination
• Economic integration
• Functional cooperation
• Heads of Government Declaration on ( July 2007)
• That we will achieve this objective primarily
  using
• Regional institutions
• Organisations
• Other entities
• Whose mandates support our efforts
• the critical importance of Information and
  Communication Technologies (ICTs) including
  C_at_ribNET as an underpinning for functional
  cooperation in the Region.

6
Benefits

• Barriers become invisible
• Perceived increased capacity
• Maximises the flow of information and knowledge
• Gateway to global knowledge resources
• Access to networks
• Telemedicine
• Education
• Tourism promotion
• Efficient, effective Government services

7
Challenges different layers

• Language
• Markets
• Economies
• Culture
• Technology

8
The information society -new ways of living and
working together

• A revolutionary challenge to decision makers
• Throughout the world, information and
  communications technologies are generating a new
  industrial revolution already as significant and
  far-reaching as those of the past.
• It is a revolution based on information, itself
  the expression of human knowledge. Technological
  progress now enables us to process, store,
  retrieve and communicate information in whatever
  form it may take - oral, written or visual -
  unconstrained by distance, time and volume.
• This revolution adds huge new capacities to human
  intelligence and constitutes a resource which
  changes the way we work together and the way we
  live together.

9
Challenge Digital Divide

• The digital divide is an important problem that
  policy makers face and it is much more complex
  than simply building out telecommunication
  networks and infrastructure. The divide is the
  result of a wide range of social factors,
  including but not limited to income, education
  and literacy.

10
Challenges Data

• Much information abounds
• Need to capture for careful analysis
• Areas
• Infrastructure
• Telecommunications, Internet, Computers, TV,
  Radio
• Infostructure Documentary information, Geo
  information
• Strategic Planning
• Capacity Development
• Applications
• administration, Education, Health
• Industry, Natural Resources and Territory
  Management
• Information Economy
• - ICT Industry, e-Commerce , e-business

11
Challenges - General

• No clearly defined development vision
• ICT as catalyst
• Socio-cultural ills
• Climate change / Unplanned consequences of
  natural disaster
• Absence of Regional Natl plans
• Human resource capacity ( re-skill an/or e-skill)
• Lack of trust
• Fragmented legislative framework
• Funding / new financial models
• Focused leadership
• New breed of leaders
• Relevant statistics and indicators
• More visible champions/ leaders in the Region
• Mechanisms for improving work-flow with
  regional organisations
• Engaging all parties ( esp. youth) nd energising
  synergies
• ICT Ministers Meeting not Convened in Three (3)
  Years
• Public Education Programmes
• Slight Disconnect Promoting an IS when the
  Region has not articulated a position on what the
  Caribbean IS will be
• Development partners with similar /different
  agendas and priorities

12
Where are we now?

• Robust institutional structure
• E-Government Strategy 2004-2007
• Some E-government services available
• Telecom liberalisation
• E-Learning
• E-commerce (Protocol to be developed)
• Government Procurement protocol
• Recognition and buy-in

13
Where do we want to go?

• A full-employment economy that provides a decent
  standard of living and quality of life for all
  citizens elimination of poverty and provision
  of adequate opportunities for young people,
  constituting an alternative to emigration
• Spatially equitable economic growth within the
  Community, having regard to the high growth
  potential of those Member States with relatively
  low per capita incomes and large resources of
  under-utilised land and labour
• Social equity, social justice, social cohesion
  and personal security
• Environmental protection and ecological
  sustainability
• Democratic, transparent and participatory
  governance.
• Girvan Report Towards a Single Economy (2007)

14
Key Targets

• Connecting public administrations, schools and
  tertiary institutions, to broadband
• Developing a high-speed research and education
  network
• Interactive public services, accessible for
  all, and offered on multiple platforms
• Removal of obstacles to the deployment of
  broadband networks
• Review of legislation affecting e-business,
  e-commerce
• Advancement of SMEs
• Financing models
• Creation of a IS Task Force

15
ICT as enabler- policy implications

• Fostering an environment for the effective use of
  ICT...by supporting the development of ICT
  infrastructure
• Building confidence in e-commerce... Through an
  enabling legal environment
• Unleashing growth in the services sectorby
  providing greater access to bandwidth Internet
• Harnessing the potential of innovation and
  technology diffusion by promoting the
  development of ICT skills
• Making government programmes more efficient
  through a national / regional e-strategy

16
ICT4D Programme Outcomes

• Improved Access Connectivity
• Improved Information Flows
• Within the Secretariat
• Regionally
• Infusion of ICT4D in all Work Programmes of the
  Secretariat
• Support for the Work of Regional/International
  Organisations and Institutions
• ICT for Development Agenda
• Internet Governance Issues
• Regional ICT Steering Committee
• Regional Videoconferencing network

17
Role of telecommunications

• Telecommunications services provide a platform
  for economic growth.
• Few companies today can survive without a
  telephone and most rely on fax, telex and other
  electronic forms of communications too.
• Telecommunications brings buyers and sellers
  together an indispensable function in a thriving
  market.
• Telecommunications also facilitates the flow of
  information which is essential in making a
  market-based system work.
• It acts as a feedback cycle between suppliers and
  their customers. This system of information flow
  becomes all the more important for international
  trade where suppliers and customers are
  geographically removed.
• one of the cornerstones of a market democracy

18
Role of the Private Sector

• is crucial for several reasons
• Scope and scale deploying the necessary
  Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
  infrastructure, applications and services in
  sufficient diversity and at sufficient scale to
  meet the wide range of needs and demands in any
  developing country requires resources far beyond
  the capacity of any government mobilizing
  private sector resources in response to new
  markets and new opportunities is the only
  sustainable way to build out ICTs to the extent
  where it can have a broad and sustained impact.
• Access to global financial resources in
  addition to the financial resources they deploy
  directly, global private sector partners bring
  with them an ability to attract global sources of
  private capital to ICT projects in developing
  countries.
• Access to global innovation and best practice
  the private sector is a vital source of technical
  expertise, human capacity building, and
  innovation in technologies, business models and
  applications.
• Adaptation to local needs the local and
  regional private sector can be a vital bridge
  between global technical expertise and best
  practice and the particular needs, demands, and
  use patterns of a given country or region for
  this reason, supporting the growth of local ICT
  innovation and private sector entrepreneurship is
  a crucial complement to partnership with the
  global private sector.

19
Overview of the CARIB-IS project

• Funded under the 9th EDF
• Project funds 2M
• Designed to stimulate the Formation of the
  Caribbean Information Society ( by 2015)
• Information Society is a term for a society in
  which the creation, distribution, and
  manipulation of information has become the most
  significant economic and cultural activity.
• Performance indicators
• Professional and support staff recruited
• CARIB-IS.NET established and operational
• IS indicators determined
• Work advanced on defining two ICT project areas
• Training workshops and Steering Committee
  meetings held

20
c_at_ribNET

• Caribbean Research Education Network
• One of the main services offered by the CKLN
• Mandated by Heads of Government
• Heads Statement 2007 - c_at_ribNET will be main
  tool for functional cooperation ( integration)
  C_at_ribNET was being developed and implemented as
  a strategic
• resource for the Caribbean and that it would
  provide opportunity for innovation in the
• way institutions in the Region collaborate and
  harmonise activities such as work,
• education and learning, culture, security, etc.,
  as though distance no longer mattered

21
CKLN Purpose

• Specifically CKLN will
• Work with all Tertiary Education Institutions in
  the Caribbean to strengthen their capacity to
  develop and deliver e-learning programmes and
  courses at a distance to Caribbean nationals
  wherever they may live.
• Provide a Regional Education and Research Network
  (C_at_ribNET) connecting all Caribbean countries, so
  Educational Institutions can collaborate and
  partner in the development and dissemination of
  knowledge to Caribbean people

22
Global research education networks
23
Purpose of c_at_ribNET

• Provide High Capacity Social Bandwidth to CARICOM
  countries in support of E-Education, E-Learning,
  Research, E-Government, E-Health, E-Inclusion and
  Regional Security
• Facilitate connection of Tertiary Education
  Institutions in the Region to Universities in
  Europe, the United States and elsewhere for
  Research, Collaboration and Knowledge sharing.
• Support for the CSME and strengthening Functional
  Cooperation amongst CARICOM Member States
• Bridge the Digital Divide in the Region to
  Achieve Social Cohesion of Caribbean people

24
c_at_ribNET

• Will serve as a Regional Intranet
• Link to all major research networks in the world
  (CLARA, GEANT)
• Funds committed Euros 5M, IADB US600,000
• Business Planning activity should start February
  2008
• National bandwidth planning
• Governance model still to be determined but
  Member states have been mandated by Heads to
  appoint a focal point ( ICT /Telecoms)who will
  interface with the CKLN/c_at_ribNET ( as part of the
  implementation team)

25
Next Steps

• Presentation of a High level strategy to ICT
  Ministers in 2008 ( 2008 -2011)
• Development of Action Plan by PM Sub-Committee
  ICT Steering Committee
• modern online public services
• e-government
• e-learning services
• e-health services
• a dynamic e-business environment
• and, as an enabler for these
• widespread availability of broadband access at
  competitive prices
• a secure information infrastructure
• .

26
Final thoughts

• Strong, demonstrated political will
• Stay Engaged with the regional process
• Keep informed of international issues and
  developments
• Start and maintain the right dialogue
• Need to be proactive in problem-solving
• Examine and document the change-mangement issues
• If we do not make real effort to harmonise the
  existing efforts we run the risk of doing a
  great disservice to the people of the CARICOM
  region and being re-colonised by a new set of
  masters!

27

• THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
• Contact jbritton_at_caricom.org
• jenniferbritton_at_hotmail.com