CANTO i-Create e-Content Focal Point at CANTO’s 27th AGM

The nature island of Dominica was the location for CANTO’s 27th Annual General Meeting held from the 30th -31st of January 2011. The event co-hosted by LIME Dominica was held under the theme “Shaping the Future of Information and Communication”. The two day meeting focused on the offshoot of the Connect the Caribbean Initiative – i-Create e-Content Competition.

The AGM opened on Sunday with a formal ceremony infused with cultural acts from Dominica. The guests and officials included, the President of Dominica - His Excellency Nicholas Liverpool, The Prime Minister of Dominica representative: Hon. Rayburn Blackmoore- Minister of Public Works, Energy and Ports, Hon. Ambrose George -Minister of Information, Telecommunication and Constituency Empowerment.

Hon. Blackmoore, the featured speaker, welcomed the members of CANTO and congratulated the organization for being in operation for over 25 years. Hon. Blackmoore however stated that he would like to see telecommunication entities like CANTO play a greater role in fostering the adoption of business-oriented or educational technologies; technologies that will enhance our health services sector and lend to the creation of a health and wellness sector or a health-tourism sector.

The Chairman of CANTO, Dirk Currie in his opening remarks outlined the strategic objectives of CANTO from 2011 which include:

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  • increasing CANTO’s visibility and authority in influencing the formulating ICT policies and regulation

  • keeping membership informed of technology, policy and regulatory issues

  • expanding the membership base

  • building ICT capacity

  • promoting access to and use of ICTs in all areas of the economic life

  • broadening the revenue mix

Mr. Currie further articulated that with the key strategic objectives, CANTO is better equipped to withstand the winds of change, as all members come together in a united front.

Mr. Jeffery Baptiste, General Manager of LIME Dominica, expressed gratitude for LIME Dominica being selected as the co-host and extended best wishes for a successful 27th AGM to all delegates.

The Secretary General also addressed the delegates and highlighted the full slate of activities for 2011 against the background of cautious optimism of the recovery of the global economy. Ms Fräser outlined CANTO’s refined strategic purpose under the umbrella of the flagship public private partnership –Connect the Caribbean. (CTC) and identified the three projects that will be focused under this, namely: regional e-Marketplace, community and social development and the regional content network.

The first edition of the e-Content module is the e-Content Competition which aims to seek and reward the most creative and innovative e-Content developers in the Caribbean. E-Content producers will be given the unique opportunity to receive recognition outside their countries, markets and customer communities as well as compete for US$30, 000 worth of prizes.

On Monday, CANTO Directors and members discussed the activities of the Secretariat in 2010, and created a working plan for the 2011 financial year. The packed agenda included the board of directors meeting, five working committee meetings and the AGM proceedings. The five CANTO working committees namely, Marketing and Communication, Human Resources, Regulatory & Emerging Technologies, Financial Advisory and Disaster Recovery Planning Committees were attended by all delegates and addressed the management and development of the respective areas in 2011.

Also on the AGM proceedings’ agenda was the election of board members, where a number of positions on the CANTO board were up for election. The following results were observed:

Officers Elected

• Dirk Currie , Managing Director , TELESUR (Suriname) - Chairman

• Karen Bevans, Chief Operating Officer, BTL (Belize) - Vice Chair

Newly Elected

• Helma Etnel, Chief Financial Officer. TELEM (St. Maarten) – Director

Other members of the board include: Treasurer, Davidson Charles of Cable & Wireless Antigua; Directors: Tellis Symonette, BTC (The Bahamas); Linus Rogers, TSTT (Trinidad); Julian Wilkins, Digicel Trinidad & Tobago; Lyrio Gomez, UTS (Curacao); Lawrence McNaughton, Cable & Wireless Windward (St. Lucia).

The AGM ended on Tuesday with the Globecomm sponsored Disaster Recovery for Emergency Services and Business Continuity workshop which focused on the continuity of the business in the wake of disaster. The event was well received by over 35 persons from the fields of fire and police services, disaster management and telecoms.

The Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organizations (CANTO) was founded in 1985 as a nonprofit association of telephone operating companies in the Caribbean. CANTO is now recognized as a major trade association in the telecommunication sector with 104 members in 31 countries.

A Board of Directors appointed by the membership directs the policy strategy of the Association. This strategy is executed by the staff of a permanent Secretariat based in Trinidad and Tobago. For more information on CANTO visit www.canto.org