Business View Caribbean September/October 2018

6 7 OPENING LINES T rinidad and Tobago will host a major regional gathering to ad- vance Internet development in the Caribbean.The event, to be held Oct. 2-3, is the 16th regional meet- ing of the Caribbean Network Operators Group, called CaribNOG. It is being held in partnership with the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Regis- try (LACNIC). CaribNOG is a volunteer-based com- munity, largely drawn from the profes- sionals who design, build,maintain, and secure the computer networks for organi- zations across the region. “Like other network operator groups around the world, CaribNOG delivers technical training and facilitates the sharing of professional experiences and network best practices,” said Bevil Wood- ing, Caribbean Outreach Liaison at the American Registry for Internet Numbers, and one of the founders of CaribNOG. “One would be hard-pressed to find a modern development agenda that ex- cludes the integration of some form of Internet-enabled technology,”he con- tinued.“The Internet is now considered foundational to both economic growth and social empowerment. Forums like CaribNOG are therefore critical to devel- opment, because they help create the conditions for a more secure, resilient, reliable and affordable Internet for all.” ARIN and LACNIC are two of five Internet registries responsible for the coordination of Internet number re- sources worldwide, and both share that responsibility for the Caribbean region. Over the coming months, the two registries and CaribNOG members will work together to ensure the suc- cess of the highly anticipated October meeting. Building on the success of CaribNOG 15, which was held in Miami in April, CaribNOG 16 will continue to focus on the issue of network resilience. CaribNOG 16 will be part of a five- day event called Internet Week, also supported by the Caribbean Tele- communications Union, the Internet Society, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), and Google. The weeklong conference follows LACNIC’s recent announcement of its new partnership with Google to strengthen local Internet connectivity and build the digital entrepreneurship ecosystem across Central America and the Caribbean. In Trinidad and Tobago, the workshops are supported by the Ministry of Public Administration and Communications. TRINIDAD TO HOST CARIBNOG INTERNET CONFERENCE NEXT MONTH