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Over the past few centuries the world watched as we made the tremendous leap from the birth of the telegraph through the development of radio, and television and its attendant broadcasting successes to the present Internet revolution. Never before in the history of mankind has any revolution been as singularly important as the Information and Communication Technology revolution. Increasingly, the world has come to realize that in order to create a level playing field for competitiveness – we have to find ways to bridge the digital divide at the national and global levels. In this regard, the Internet continues to prove itself as one of the foremost bridges between developed and developing countries in facilitating communication and commerce. The Theme for the World Telecoms Day 2005: “Creating an Equitable Information Society: Time for Action“, is therefore most appropriate especially for the peoples of the CARICOM Community. The member states of our Community, many of which are mainly Small Island Developing States (SIDS), although active in the debate surrounding viable participation in the Information Society, are yet to benefit fully from the advantages proffered by the ICT revolution. We continue to remain late, strategic ‘adopters’ of ICTs. Telecommunications has emerged as a primary enabler for moving the Region forward in all areas and sectors. Hence, if the Caribbean Region is to benefit from the promise of Information and Communication Technologies then we have to address with urgency a number of issues which threaten to keep us relegated in the sphere of the information “have nots”. These include: spectrum management, Telecommunications costs, Regulatory issues, fast-tracking’ of demonopolisation and liberalisation of the telecoms industry, public & private sector commitment, affordable bandwidth and access to primary and secondary networks. As we move fully into the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, to increase our competitiveness as a Region in this the year of the Single Market, there is no doubt that one method of achieving our common national and regional objectives is to fully embrace Information and Communication Technologies as both an enabling instrument and an industry. The Call for Action for the International Telecommunications Union has come at an opportune time as we continue our planning for the future of CARICOM with regard to issues of connectivity, development of rich and appropriate content and capacity development. I therefore take this opportunity to urge Member States to make a concerted effort in the few remaining months leading up to Phase two (2) of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) to pool our resources, to create partnerships for progress among Governments, private sector and civil society and to summon up our recorded historical strengths – in order to apply the best regional approaches to lessening the digital divide in our Region and providing tangible, beneficial services to the people of CARICOM. Information and Communication Technologies must serve the needs of the people for true social and economic benefit to be realized. We must hasten that process with all our collective abilities. Our people requires it of us, the international environment demands it of us. |
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