Frigate Bay, St. Kitts and Nevis (24th August 2018) – The United Nation’s 2016 e-Government Development Index (EGDI) survey offers a snapshot of trends in the development of e-Government in countries across the globe. Importantly, it indicates that the Caribbean needs to critically examine its e-Government performance, which in a global context, is lagging.
According to an analysis of the 2016 EGDI scores by Michelle Marius, Editor and Publisher of ICT Pulse, ‘the Caribbean countries examined have considerably less developed e-Government structures than the top ranked countries. None of the countries in the region are within the top 50 and less than half of the sample group (only six) are within the top 100 ranked countries.’
As a result of the above, cognisant that the Caribbean region must improve its delivery of e-Government services, the Government of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis in collaboration with the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) will host ICT Week – St. Kitts and Nevis from 24th to 28th September 2018. The theme for the Week is 21st Century Government – Enhancing Connections…Accelerating Progress.
Incorporating the CTU’s statutory meetings on the 24th and 25th, the Week’s flagship activity is the 17th Caribbean Ministerial Strategic ICT Seminar, which will take place from 26th to 27th September 2018. Ms. Bernadette Lewis, Secretary General of the CTU, explained that “The Seminar will focus on the promotion of 21st Century Government – citizen-centric, seamless Governments that use ICT to enhance their effectiveness, efficiency and transparency in the delivery of services to their citizens.” She added that “It will explore current and emerging technologies for increasing connections among and within stakeholder groups in order to accelerate progress towards 21st Century Government and the ultimate goal of ICT-enabled Caribbean development.”
On Friday 28th September, as part of its direct intervention with Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), four workshops will be held targeting both Blind and Deaf youth and adults. Those workshops will demonstrate to PWDs the power of ICTs to enhance their lives and enable them to be more included in everyday life.
The CTU is also pleased to announce the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) and Digicel as its premium sponsors of ICT Week – St. Kitts and Nevis. ARIN is a nonprofit, member-based organisation that supports the operation and growth of the Internet. It is the Regional Internet Registry for Canada, the United States and many Caribbean and North Atlantic territories and manages the distribution of Internet number resources, including IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.
As a complete communications and entertainment provider, Digicel is proud to serve over 14 million customers across 31 countries in the Caribbean, Central America and Asia Pacific and to deliver a suite of ICT managed services that enables Governments and businesses to benefit from transformational technology solutions.
Commenting on Digicel’s partnership with the CTU on ICT Week, Alexander Matuschka, Digicel Group CEO, highlighted, “At Digicel, we believe passionately in our mission to help create a world where no one gets left behind. Across the globe, Digicel is working in partnership with Governments to make the connected world we imagine and the 21st Century Government we imagine a reality and a force for good for citizen consumers. The level of innovation and transformation is gathering pace and there really are no boundaries to what can be achieved. I’m very much looking forward to helping to drive that activity forward to position Caribbean nations at the forefront of the knowledge economy.”
Government Ministers and Permanent Secretaries from the ministries of telecommunications, justice, health, economy, education and trade and C-level executives will greatly benefit from and are invited to attend these important events.
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