Barbados, in collaboration with the Global Government Forum (GGF) and the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), will host the Caribbean Digital Summit and ICT Week 2023, from October 16 to 20, at the Accra Beach Hotel and Spa, Rockley, Christ Church.
Each year, the GGF, a United Kingdom based publishing, events and research business, organises a Digital Summit in countries across the globe. The Caribbean Digital Summit brings together national and departmental digital chiefs from across the Caribbean for open, informal discussion of the opportunities and challenges around public sector digital transformation.
The 20-member CTU hosts ICT Week annually in one of its member territories. ICT Week brings together CARICOM Ministers with responsibility for information, communication technologies and digital transformation; senior technocrats; the international community, primarily those in development and financial management; regulatory agencies and service providers.
In addition to ministerial and senior technocrats’ meetings, forums are held to sensitise and educate various publics on the advancement of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and to provide opportunities for service providers to showcase their products and for the public to share their views and ideas.
The theme for ICT Week 2023 is “Embracing a Digital Caribbean: Opportunities for Growth and Innovation”. The Week is aimed at promoting ICT development, discussing emerging trends, and facilitating meaningful collaboration between various stakeholders in the Caribbean and internationally.
Attendees to the events will include regional ministers with responsibility for ICTs; their advisors, such as permanent secretaries; telecoms regulators; network operators; international speakers; and other distinguished guests.
Both events are important at this critical juncture where Barbados and its Caribbean neighbours are seeking to implement digital solutions and to enhance their digital infrastructure landscape with a view to improving business facilitation and offering better and more efficient services to their publics.
It is envisaged that from the discussions to be held, workable solutions will be generated and possible joint projects will be identified.
Apart from the main events at the Accra Beach Hotel and Spa, the youth will be afforded the opportunity to contribute ideas, insights and perspectives to shape the digital future of the country at a Youth Forum on Friday, October 20, at the 3W’s Oval, Cave Hill, St. Michael.
Persons who are blind, deaf, and living with disabilities will benefit from ICT workshops at the Derrick Smith School and Vocational Centre, Jackmans, St. Michael, on Friday, October 20. These workshops will seek to demonstrate how ICTs can make their lives more rewarding.