Day 1 Daily Recap
Today marked the first day of Internet Week Guyana, and it was a full day! Below is a recap of everything that happened.
Opening Day
In the morning, we heard opening remarks from Lance Hinds, Guyana Ministry of Public Telecommunications, who underscored the overall objectives of Internet Week Guyana, in terms of increasing awareness of how the Internet works, how it is governed, and why it is important for Caribbean voices to be more present in that process.
This was followed by brief remarks from representatives of each of the participating organisations, including Bevil Wooding, Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU); Stephen Lee Caribbean Network Operators Group (CaribNOG); Albert Daniels, Internet Corporation for Assiged Names and Numbers (ICANN); Shernon Osepa, Internet Society; and Kevon Swift, Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC).
Guyana Minister of Public Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes, provided interesting perspectives on the importance of technology and telecommunications in transforming Guyana’s social and economic outlook.
After lunch break, we dove back into a closer look at each of the participating organisations. Shernon Osepa explained the importance of the ongoing work of the Internet Society in setting global standards, developing policy and building capacity. Then Albert Daniels provided an overview of a number of different opportunities for everyone to become more involved as a stakeholder in the ICANN multistakeholder policy development process.
Kevon Swift explained the significance of the number resource work done the Regional Internet Registries, such as LACNIC. Stephen Lee presented an overview of the collaborative approach adopted by CaribNOG over the last ten years, in order to increase Caribbean capacity to build, maintain and secure regional networks. Bevil Wooding, speaking on behalf of CTU Secretary General Bernadette Lewis, offered some insights into the wide range of work covered by the CTU across the Caribbean region.
After break, Shernon Osepa moderated a Cybersecurity Panel Discussion, with panelists Belisario Contreras, Manager of the Cybersecurity Program at the Organization of American States; Valmiki Singh, Head of Guyana’s National Frequency Management Unit; [08:51, 10/10/2017] Kevon Swift: Muriana McPherson, Cybersecurity Manager, National Data Management Authority, MOPT; and Bevil Wooding, Caribbean Outreach Manager, American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN).
We concluded the opening day with an open mic session which, as always, is open to everyone! Several attendees took the opportunity to ask panelists about issues related to local, regional and international cybersecurity.
Lance Hinds closed the day with a sneak peek of the agenda for Tuesday’s Network Security Day, coordinated by the Internet Society.
What a productive meeting! Thank you to all who participated in ICT Awareness Day, both at the Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown, Guyana and via our online livestream.
If you want to refer to anything you’ve seen so far, the slides from the meeting have been posted online. In the coming days, full webcasts from the meeting will be made available as well.