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4 5 T he Caribbean will have to strengthen its critical Internet infrastructure if it is to defend against the growing threat of climate-change-driven natural disasters and if it is to keep up with the world’s growing digital economy. This view was expressed by Internet expert Bevil Wooding, the Caribbean Outreach Direc- tor at the American Registry for Internet Num- bers, ARIN, a US-based non-profit organization responsible for Internet number resource man- agement. “In today’s world, the security, resilience, and robustness of computer networks are critical to the development of the digital economy. The Caribbean can no longer afford to leave import- ant decisions about network build out, network resource management, and network infrastruc- ture spend only to commercial telecommu- nications providers. Those issues are now the concern and the responsibility of governments, private network operators, and even end users,” he said. Wooding, who is also the strategic ICT advisor OPENING LINES CARIBBEAN MUST STRENGTHEN ITS INTERNET INFRASTRUCTURE, SAYS REGIONAL EXPERT for the OECS Commission, was speaking in St. Vincent and the Grenadines to officials at the 36th Executive Council meeting of the Caribbe- an Telecommunications Union (CTU), the body responsible for information and communica- tions technology policy in the region. Dr. Didacus Jules, Director General of the OECS Commission, shared that the devastating impact of the 2017 hurricane season on sev- eral Caribbean territories has put a spotlight on the importance of strengthening the resil- ience of the region’s communications network and infrastructure. “As a region, we must have a clear, strategic approach to building out Internet infrastruc- ture to drive business innovation and eco- nomic development,” Jules said. He warned that the global economy will become increas- ingly unforgiving to regions with failing, out- dated or unsecured technology infrastructure: “If we do not act with urgency to address this, the impact on our economic and social de- velopment can be more devastating than last season’s hurricanes.” According to Wooding, the CTU has also established a special commission to identify “actionable recommendations for improving Caribbean network resilience.” He also high- lighted current efforts by regional and inter- national non-profit organizations to address the issue, noting that the CTU, ARIN, the Ca- ribbean Network Operators Group (CaribNOG), Packet Clearing House, and others are already collaborating on initiatives “to develop greater awareness and technical capacity in computer network design,management and cybersecurity.”