Int’l experts to gather in Guyana for Internet Week 2017

Internet and ICT experts from around the world will gather in Georgetown next week to participate in the annual high-level Technology Conference to mark International Internet Week 2017. The conference will feature five (5) days of rich dialogue and technical capacity building discussions at the Guyana Pegasus Hotel, Seawall Rd., Kingston, from Monday 9 to Friday 13 October, 2017.

Guyana’s Ministry of Public Telecommunications is the host this year but the event is being organised jointly by the Latin America and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC), the Caribbean Network Operators Group (CaribNOG), the Internet Society (ISOC), the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), and the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU). This is the 14th CaribNOG conference and it follows on the heels of a very successful CaribNOG13 which was held in Bridgetown, Barbados.
Industry expert, Kevon Swift, Head of Strategic Relations and Integration at LACNIC has said, “Internet Week Guyana will draw on the expertise of global Internet organisations, and it will address local and regional Internet development issues”. LACNIC distributes and manages Internet resources in the Caribbean and Latin America.
The five-day event will be declared open on Monday October 9 by Minister of Public Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes. Opening Day has been designated ICT Awareness Day and it will introduce discussions on cyber security, social networking and digital responsibility, among others. Another day has been reserved for youths and budding ICT specialists. This day is open to secondary and tertiary level students, youths utilizing the community ICT hubs, and other young people interested in carving out their careers in ICT’s.
Then on October 10, ISOC and ICANN are expected to lead discussions on Internet Governance. The experts will focus on the imminent establishment of Guyana’s national Internet Governance Forum. Internet Governance goes beyond technical matters, focusing on the legal, economic, cultural, human rights, security and other aspects of life and living which ICT’s influence.
Another day has been earmarked for in-depth discussions on Cyber Security, highlighting the security threats being experienced by Caribbean networks, and the best techniques for defending them.
According to Mr. Bevil Wooding, Executive Director of CaribNOG and Caribbean Outreach Liaison at the American Registry for Internet Numbers, “As more Caribbean businesses, governments and citizens place greater reliance on Internet-based technologies, critical systems become more vulnerable to cyber attacks and cyber crime. It is important, therefore, that a coordinated approach be taken to raise awareness and to increase the technical capacity of those entrusted to manage computer networks”.
CaribNOG has already conducted several such workshops throughout the region targeting network technicians, government officials, judges, lawyers, businessmen, bankers, military and law enforcement officers. (DPI)