ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) governments will have to consider information, communication and technology (ICT) as a significant engine of economic growth as the region battles with the effects of the global and financial crisis, a Grenada government minister has said.

Addressing the first of a series of regional seminars on ICT on Thursday, Minister of State with responsibility for ICT, Arley Gill said that the meeting is taking place “when we are still battling the global financial crisis and at the same time have seen major natural disasters in our member country Haiti and further south in Chile.

“We have no choice but to look at ways in which ICT can be used as an enabler to not just solve economic and environmental issues but to play a role in the reduction of loss of life in such disasters and to maximise management and control in the aftermath,” he said.

Gill said that the Caribbean needed to move away from talking to taking action and to embrace ICT at all levels in order to move the region forward.

“With tourism and agriculture struggling, we may have no choice bit to consider ICT as a means of growth and development for our region,” the Grenada government minister added.

The seminar follows a one-day meeting of the Regional ICT Steering Committee that serves as an advisory and support body to the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat with regards to issues relevant to ICT for Development and the Information Society.

Established in 2005, the Committee is funded by the European Union (EU) and brings together a range of expertise from member states, the public and private sectors and civil society.

The meeting discussed draft ICT strategy to be presented to the CARICOM leaders at their inter-sessional summit in Dominica next week as well as to the upcoming meeting of ICT Caribbean ministers.

Gill said he hoped the draft strategy “will contribute to the creation of the environment to enable the information society to flourish in our region and contribute to the achievement of the (United Nations) Millennium Development Goals”.

Earlier, Chief Executive Officer of the Caribbean Knowledge and Learning Network (CKLN), Kenneth Sylvester, said that an ICT strategy for the region “can’t be a stand alone initiative of the governments” noting that it was important that the strategy be underpinned by other strategic issues, such as legal and regulatory issues.

Sylvester, who is also the chairman of the Regional ICT Steering Committee, said that the seminar, the first of many to be held throughout the region, is intended to share with stakeholders the developments within ICT as the region moves towards establishing an information society.

He said that the establishment of the CKLN, which hopefully by the end of this year, should be able to link the CARICOM countries, underscores the fact that the region is primed and ready to take its place on the information highway.

But he said it is imperative to share information and benefits of the new technology as widely as possible.