TECHNO VILLAGE in St. Kitts and Nevis star
The ICT Roadshow will be launched Friday, at the Techno Village in the Independece Square in Basseterre, St. Kitts.  Similar outreach activities will also be set up in Nevis, Tuesday June 14. More info on http://www.ict4edc.kn/.
The CTU is assiting the ICT4EDC Project with the implementation and coordination of the multitude of activities.

ICT4EDC Project on the Radio

Mr. Sugar Bowl, Freedom FM (http://www.freedomskn.com/)

The last couple of weeks the ICT4EDC Project (http://www.ict4edc.kn/) has bee buying air-time on the Freedom FM (106.5) Radio Channel in St. Kitts and Nevis. A number of professionals involved in the Project have been interviewed by the Radio Channel's diskjockey, Mr. Sugar Bowl. The talk and questions back and forth have been on the upcoming ICT Roadshow, the digital media training, the Internet Governace Seminar conducted by DiploFoundation - and a lot of other activities by the Project.  The last initiative is a competition, where radio listners are encouraged to text a message in order to win ICT-prizes (- and provide PR for the Project).  Listen here!

E-Ready – For what…?

Presently an E-Readiness Assessment of St. Kitts and Nevis is being conducted, funded by the ICT4EDC Project.
 

E-Readiness can be defined as tnhe ability to use iformation and communication technologies (ICT) to develop a country’s economy and welfare of the population. An E-Readiness Assessment can provide a country with a powerful tool for identifying a community's strategic priorities for participating in the Networked World.
 

There are several benchmarking tools for E-Readiness, for instance developed by the UNPAN, World Bank, Economist Intelligence Unit, Harvard University, etc.

Caribbean children in Frigate Bay, St. Kitts, blowing bubbles

World Bank: Caribbean faces many challenges in improving ICT

As a member of the Caribbean ICT Stakeholders Virtual Community (CIVIC), I follow the online discussion on ICT for Development in the region. (If you wish to join the CIVICa multi-stakeholder, regional and multilingual network network at http://dgroups.idrc.ca/groups/icacaribbean, contact the moderator, Mr. Yacine Khelladi at yacine@yacine.net).  One of the latest posts was on a newpaper article, citing the World Bank’s view on the Caribbean from an ICT perspective. Already members of the CIVIC groups have somewhat sarcastically iterated remarks like “so nice of the World Bank to tell us what we know and live with already…”. However, the World Bank’s profiling of the Caribbean is still interesting, as it gives an overview of how the Bank sees itself and its activities on ICT4D in the Caribbean Region.

The article about World Bank projects on ICT in the Caribbean follows here:

The Global Information Technology Report 2010-2011 now online!

Sweden and Singapore continue to top the rankings of The Global Information Technology Report 2010-2011, Transformations 2.0, confirming the leadership of the Nordic countries and the Asian Tiger economies in adopting and implementing ICT advances for increased growth and development. Finland jumps to third place, while Switzerland and the United States are steady in fourth and fifth place respectively. The 10th anniversary edition of the report focuses on ICT’s power to transform society in the next decade through modernization and innovation.

Independence Square in central Basseterre, St. Kitts

Wide Area Network under preparation in St. Kitts and Nevis

A Government Wide Area Network (GWAN) is under preparation in St. Kitts and Nevis.  The Caribbean Telecommunication Union (CTU) has won a tender to provide technical assistance to undertake a technical audit of the Public Service Information Systems and to develop a porposal of a GWAN. The undergoing activity is funded by the ICT4EDC Project and includes also an overview of the level of E-Readiness of public service entities in St. Kitts and Nevis.

The press release from SKNIS can be read below

Women + Mobile Phones = Economic Development
Recently, I read about another interesting trend. It is generally acknowledged that equipping women in low-income countries with productivity tools earns tremendous returns for development - it's not just good for them, it's good for their families, villages, societies, countries. These women spend up to 90% of their income on their families and are responsible for up to 80% of food production in many low and middle-income countries. These women run families and businesses.

And we also know that mobile phones are uniquely positioned as tools for growth in our era. Research has shown that mobile phones are associated with faster economic and business growth.  Combining the two - the role of women and the power of a mobile phone - has the potential for exponential impact. It's the perfect, and the obvious combination; empowering women through the benefits of mobile phone ownership is the easiest and most straightforward measure we can adopt to advance social and economic growth in developing countries.

(The text above has been adapted from the website Technology Salon - read more on Mobile Phones and Women at http://bit.ly/gX4H5F.  Another interesting website on Mobile Technology can be found on http://bit.ly/gokP2A)