UWI to hold Caribbean Internet Governance forum

Regional technology experts will share their insights on global Internet Governance issues, from a Caribbean perspective, at an upcoming forum hosted by The University of the West Indies (UWI). Internet governance deals with the development of shared principles, policies and programmes that shape the use and evolution of the Internet.

The forum starts at 6.30 p.m. on May 1 and will be held in Room 101 of the Faculty of Engineering at the UWI, St Augustine. Registration is free and open to the public. IEEETT CCS plans to hold a second seminar on 5G networks later this year.

“In the global, multi-stakeholder Internet Governance model, the Internet is seen as a borderless resource belonging to no single entity. Instead, it is managed by a global community of governments, corporations, technologists, academics, civil society and individual end users,” said Patrick Hosein, senior lecturer in the Department of Computing and Information Technology at UWI, St Augustine.

This multi-stakeholder model is used by the Trinidad and Tobago Network Information Centre (TTNIC), the Registry for the .tt ccTLD, of which Hosein is the CEO. He also chairs the Computer and Communications Society (CCS) of the Trinidad and Tobago Section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEETT), which is sponsoring the forum in association with the Trinidad and Tobago chapter of the Internet Society (ISOCTT) and the TTNIC.

Speakers at the forum will deliver interactive presentations and answer participants’ questions about Internet Governance. The ultimate aim is to strengthen the Caribbean presence in international fora where the future of the Internet is being determined.

Speakers at the forum include Tracy Hackshaw, ICANN GAC vice chair; Cintra Sooknanan ISOCTT president; Jacqueline Morris, member of the multi-stakeholder advisory group of the TTNIC; and Albert Daniels, ICANN Global Stakeholder Engagement Manager for the Caribbean. This forum is being held during the same week as the South School on Internet Governance which will provide more intense training on Internet Governance to a select number of fellows.