Caribbean Countries To Benefit From Unhindered Access To Information Highway

KINGSTON, Jamaica CMC – The Caribbean telecommunications Union (CTU) has signed an agreement with the US-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) that will ensure collaboration between the entities in protecting the interests of CTU member states towards continued, unhindered access to the information highway.

CTU Secretary General, Bernadette Lewis, and ICANN chief executive officer, Fadi Chehade, signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) during the 12^th Caribbean Ministerial Strategic Information Communication Technology (ICT) Seminar that ended here earlier this week.

CTU president and Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Phillip Paulwell, said that the laissez-faire attitude towards the use of the Internet had to change.

“Many of us engage the Internet quite seamlessly and without thinking” he said, noting that “we have to now take a second look at this world of information that has been largely unrestricted, but with a warning that there might be, in the future this restriction and barriers, and the need for us to ensure that that does not happen”.

Part of the MOU is to ensure protection of sovereign rights of CTU member states and management of domain names.

Paulwell said “the whole business of domain name management,” has to be seen for its strategic importance and that in the case of Jamaica, it would be made to build a broad-based coalition of all stakeholders within the IT sector to ensure that best practices are adopted, that will enable more effective utilization of the domain names to advance some of the country’s strategic objectives.

“It is going to foster a level of collaboration and co-operation so that information can flow to us, and if there is any attempt to, in any way, infringe on some of the things that we hold and cherish, our role at the table will be impactful and important.”

Paulwell said that the agreement would also advance the mission of getting more Jamaicans to access the Internet and see the information highway as a strategic part of the creation of a knowledge-based society.

Lewis said the Internet has become intricately woven into the fabric of the Caribbean lifestyle.

She said it was only fitting that the CTU avails itself of the opportunity to establish the MOU, which will enable CTU member states to work on mutually beneficial activities, which would foster utilization and growth of the Internet within the context of the Caribbean setting.