CHAIRMAN of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM ), Grenada’s Prime Minister, Tillman Thomas, on Friday expressed dissatisfaction with the absence of several ministers with responsibility for ICT at the 36th Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development, (COTED) hosted  by Grenada at the Grenadian Rex Resort, in Grand Anse, St George’s.
The meeting, which was convened to discuss and approve both the draft Regional Digital Development Strategy (RDDS) and its attendant implementation plan, as well as other ICT-related issues, was not able to field a quorum of eight member states, with only four ministers attending, despite confirmations received by the CARICOM Secretariat.
Prime Minister Thomas who has lead responsibility for Science and Technology, including ICT in the quasi Cabinet of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, stressed his displeasure that the meeting was taking place without the benefit of the full participation of all member states.
“Our people cannot afford leadership that is tentative and unstable. We have been talking long enough. It’s now time to act,” he warned.
He noted that the formulation of the strategy was a mandate from the conference and in moving the process forward to implementation of the strategy, he said, he had anticipated that after six years since the last meeting on ICT, that this would be a “special meeting,” and that the relevant ministers would have regarded it as a “stepping stone in the region’s thrust to utilise Information and Communication Technology as a driving force in our development.”
The CARICOM Chairman lamented that while developments in ICT were galloping in some countries, the Caribbean  was still pursuing the adoption of a digital developmental strategy.
He added that the region’s dependence on traditional business models and focus on the tried and tested, continued to be challenged by a generation who had embraced the opportunities of ICT and technological advancement.
“And while we wait on a quorum for the adoption and adaption of this strategy, some of our nationals are finding international success in their homes via their computers,” the Grenada Prime Minister noted.
He sounded a word of caution that “we stand to lose our best minds to the developed world unless we embrace ICT with commitment and urgency.
“Our countries have yet to engage ICT as a development tool that should be integrated into our culture and psyche,” he noted and as such, he expressed the belief that the region’s peoples were finding evidence of technological success in countries like Singapore, India, Malta and Japan.
Noting that significant work was done to formulate what was regarded as a robust strategy on ICT, Prime Minister Thomas told the 36th Special COTED Meeting that it was imperative that the process continues and that there was commitment to bring it to “full term and safe delivery.”
He therefore called on all member states to recommit to driving the Regional Digital Development Strategy forward, noting that “the future of our people hinges on it.
“Our credibility as a region will be questioned, not just by the rest of the world but by our own people. We must seize the opportunity that is available to us now to take the lead in this sector,” he asserted.
“We are years overdue. ICT is here to stay, we must embrace it and make a paradigm shift or we will be left struggling to catch up,” he concluded.