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“W
outh
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nternet
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e need to make plans and act to achieve our Internet Governance goals”, these were the words of CTU Secretary General, Bernadette Lewis as she addressed participants at the 4th annual South School on Internet Governance (SSIG) hosted in Bogota, Colombia. The Caribbean Telecommunications Union has continuously supported the SSIG initiative as a forum which addresses Internet Governance issues, with a particular emphasis on elements pertinent to the region, such as content development and language. Multi-stakeholderism, local content asymmetry of access, new gTLDs, cyber security and accessibility on the Internet are themes which are increasingly moulding the discourse on Internet Governance. The ‘South School on Internet Governance’ (SSIG) is an annual program designed to train new leaders in all aspects of Internet Governance with a strong focus on Latin America and the Caribbean. This initiative, spearheaded by Professor Olga Cavalli and Adrian Carballo, attracts a wide crosssection of participants from both the public and private sectors. This year’s week-long program was hosted in Bogota, Colombia and was the largest since its inception in 2009. Secretary General of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union, Bernadette Lewis was among this year’s distinguished faculty and she presented on the theme: Caribbean Internet Governance. The SG made reference to the Caribbean Internet Governance Framework, and highlighted several points including the need to enlist diverse stakeholders in the Internet Governance process. This sentiment was echoed by many of the school’s presenters. Additionally, Ms. Lewis emphasised that greater investment should be made in research and evidenced based policy development. She stated that too often are policies generated based on foreign notions of development and growth. Furthermore, all stakeholders need to be educated so that we ensure that our citizenry is aware and can make informed choices and demand that their respective governments make decisions that will benefit them.
“We need to make plans and take
action
to achieve”
This year, the english speaking Caribbean was represented by two fellows from Belize and Trinidad and Tobago. Particpants were addressed by several distinguished speakers including Colombian ICT Minister Diego Molano Vega, Dr. Robert Pepper, Vice President, Global Technology Policy, CISCIO;Wolfgang Kleinwatcher, Rodrigo de la Para, ICANN; Ricardo Pedraza Barrios, Verisign, and Christian O’Flaherty of ISOC.