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“Within the Caribbean lies the human resource capacity to take care of its IT business!”

Those opening words from Stephen Lee, program coordinator of CaribNOG, set the tone for one of the largest gatherings of the Caribbean Internet community, which got off to a successful start in Saint Lucia this week.

Addressing the dozens of regional tech community representatives gathered at the Golden Palm Events Centre on April 27 for the formal opening of the ninth regional gathering of CaribNOG, Lee encouraged participants to not see themselves as just professionals but as members of a regional community capable of impacting the global technology landscape.

The CaribNOG meeting was being held in partnership with the Internet Cooperation for Assigned Names and Numbers, ICANN, the international body responsible for maintaining Internet domain names.

“ICANN is pleased to partner with CaribNOG to jointly host CaribNOG9 and the LAC-i-Roadshow here in St Lucia where great strides have been made recently within the ICT sector,” said ICANN Global Stakeholder Engagement Manager for the Caribbean Albert Daniels.

“The week of meetings draws on the respective strengths of CaribNOG and ICANN and is a testament to the type of collaboration that underpins the growth of the global Internet community,” said Bevil Wooding one of CaribNOG’s co-founders, and one of only eight persons in the world ICANN has entrusted with a special security key for the Internet.

Since its inception in 2010, CaribNOG has earned a reputation as a place to exchange information related to the management of Internet and telecommunications networks in the region. It is a unique, volunteer-led forum for Caribbean technology professionals to share relevant knowledge, deepen practical understanding and develop new skills.

Although the Lac-i-Roadshow is a much newer fixture on the regional tech scene, the event has been doing its part to provide an open forum for discussing important issues related to the governance of the Internet at a regional and global level.

The CaribNOG 9 meeting is supported by the regional and global Internet community the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN), the Caribbean Telecommunications Union, Columbus Communications, the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC), the Internet Society (ISOC), the Brazilian Network Information Center (NIC.br), ArkiTechs, Akamai, Microsoft, Google and Packet Clearing House (PCH).

Cyber security, Internet exchange points, data centres, cloud computing and critical Internet infrastructure are among the main topics to be presented by a slate of experts that includes Carlos Martínez (LACNIC), Mark Kosters (ARIN), Arturo Servin (Google), Albert Daniels (ICANN), Claire Craig (UWI), Steve Spence (ArkiTechs) and Stephen Lee (ArkiTechs).