INTERNET experts from around the world will be in Georgetown in October for Internet Week Guyana, a high-level technology conference focused on national and regional development issues.
Hosted by the Ministry of Public Telecommunications, the meeting is jointly organised by the Latin America and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC), the Caribbean Network Operators Group (CaribNOG), the Internet Society (ISOC), the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU).
Internet Week Guyana will draw on the expertise of global Internet organisations, to address local and regional Internet development issues,” said Kevon Swift, head of Strategic Relations and Integration at LACNIC, an organisation that distributes and manages Internet number resources in the Caribbean and Latin America.
The five-day event commences on October 9, with an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Awareness Day, which will introduce topics that will be covered more indepth during the week. On October 10, ISOC and ICANN will jointly lead an Internet Governance Day, focused on the establishment of Guyana’s national Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
“Internet Governance discussions go beyond technical matters, but focus also on legal, economic, development, socio-cultural, human rights and security aspects. National IGFs are very important because they give the local community the opportunity to discuss local challenges and more importantly, to look for concrete solutions to those challenges,” said Shernon Osepa, Manager of Regional Affairs for Latin America and the Caribbean at ISOC.
The Internet Governance Day will also focus on the impact of the new generic top-level domain programme. A Cybersecurity Day highlighting the security threats facing Caribbean networks and techniques for defending them, will be hosted by CaribNOG on October 11. CaribNOG has conducted similar workshops throughout the region targetting network technicians, government officials, judges, lawyers, businessmen, bankers, military and law enforcement officers and concerned citizens. As more Caribbean businesses, governments and citizens place greater reliance on internet-based technologies, critical systems become more vulnerable to cyber-attacks and cyber-crime. It is important, therefore, that a coordinated approach be taken to raise awareness and to increase the technical capacity of those entrusted to manage computer networks. That is the role of CaribNOG,” said Bevil Wooding, executive director of CaribNOG and Caribbean Outreach Liaison at the American Registry for Internet Numbers.
On October 12, LACNIC will hold an open forum to discuss the benefits of IPv6, the Internet Protocol which addresses the depletion of unallocated numbering resources in the region and around the world. The conference closes on October 13 with a Youth ICT Day organised by the CTU. Young people will have the chance to learn a range of useful digital skills from a slate of experienced professionals.
All Internet Week Guyana events are free of charge and open to the public.