– CTU holds symposium on Internet Exchange Point in SVG
KINGSTOWN, ST VINCENT – St Vincent must not be left behind in the digital age, says Dr Jerrol Thompson, Minister of Telecommunications, Science, Technology & Industry of St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Minister Thomson was speaking at the opening of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) Symposium on the establishment of an Internet Exchange Point in St Vincent and the Grenadines. The CTU symposium, held in collaboration with US-based nonprofit Packet Clearing House (PCH), was convened by the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines at the Knowledge Institute and Conference Centre in Kingston, St Vincent.
Bernadette Lewis, Secretary General of the CTU said, “It is time for Caribbean countries to examine the current inefficiencies associated with the routing of Internet traffic in the region and to move swiftly to establish Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) to ensure that domestic Internet traffic  is routed via a local IXP and not via centres in North America.”
She added, “Caribbean Governments adopting Internet-based applications for internal processes and to deliver services to their citizens, need to consider the value of an IXP in keeping domestic traffic local and reducing the risk of scrutiny of data packets by external agents.”