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CANTO 2009 formally known as the 25th Annual Conference and Trade Exhibition climaxed on the 17th of July 2009 on a high note leaving delegates wanting more. The four day event began on Sunday 12th of July with a press briefing at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad & Tobago. The briefing chaired by Mr. Graeme Suite of the Telecommunication Services of Trinidad & Tobago (TSTT) included remarks and comments by top representatives of the respective co-hosts organizations. The panelist included Vice President Regulatory & Asset Rationalization and CANTO Director, Mr. Linus Rogers; Chairman of CANTO, Mr. Ian Blanchard; Vice Chairman of CANTO, Mr. Dirk Currie and the Secretary General of CANTO, Ms Regenie Fräser.  |  | CANTO Press Briefing: l-r: G. Suite, R. Fräser,I. Blanchard, L. Rogers, and D. Currie | CANTO 2009 WTISD- Essay Winner- Ms G. Grant of Barbados
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Members of the media were briefed on the objectives of CANTO 2009 and the respective roles of the co-host. The media got the opportunity to address the Connect the Caribbean project as well as the main theme of the event “Advancing the Caribbean through Innovation and Communication”. CANTO also took this opportunity to recognize the CANTO 2009 World Telecommunication Information and Society Day essay winner, Ms Gabriela Grant of Barbados.
The press briefing paved the way for the Opening Ceremony where Master of Ceremony, Mr. Wendell Constantine welcomed a packed house of over 800 CANTO members, Honorable Ministers, and invited guests to the premier ICT event of the
Caribbean. The delegates were greeted with remarks from the Co-host and CEO of TSTT Mr. Robert Peon; Chairman of CANTO, Mr. Ian Blanchard and Secretary General of CANTO Ms. Regenie Fräser. The keynote address was given by Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite, Deputy Secretary General of CARICOM and the feature address delivered by Honorable Kennedy Swaratsingh, Minister of Public Administration of Trinidad & Tobago
|  | | Mr. R. Peon gives Welcome Remarks | Deputy Secretary General of CARICOM, Ms L. Applewhaite delivers Keynote Address |
CANTO Board of Directors took the opportunity to recognize the honorary members most of which were founding fathers of CANTO and presented them with a token of appreciation. An honorary member is an individual who is no longer an official of an active member and who has performed outstanding services to the company and who accept election as honorary members upon the invitation of the directors in recognition of their work for the Company. The honorary members in attendance were Elvio Cijtnje, Neville Calliste, Ediberto Tessucum and Leon Williams; absent were Carl Chantriell, Iris M. Struiken-Wijdenbosch and Trevor Clarke.
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| | Minister of Public Administration, Hon K. Swaratsingh delivers Feature Address. | Honorary members recognized: l- rt. L. Williams, , E. Tessucum, N. Calliste , G. Grant, R. Fraser, I. Blanchard, K. Swaratsingh
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The delegates were then escorted to the exhibition hall some 200 feet away by the pulsating rhythms of drums played by the Noble Douglas Lilliput Children‟s Theatre. The children adorned in traditional masked costumes added much excitement as delegates moved from the official opening to the first viewing of the Exhibits of CANTO 2009.
Deputy Secretary General of CARICOM, Ms Lolita Applewhaite and Mrs. Denise Swaratsingh, wife of the Honorable Kennedy Swaratsingh opened the exhibition hall and conference by the traditional ribbon cutting ceremony.
|  | | Noble Douglas Lilliput Children’s Theatre escorts delegates | Mrs. D. Swaratsingh assisted by Ms. L. Applewhaite cuts ribbon |
The delegates were treated to a cocktail reception sponsored by TSTT accompanied by the sounds of the popular jazz band Alternative Quartet.
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| | Alternative Quartet entertains guests | Exhibition Hall: Best Exhibit- TSTT |
On Monday, the conference began with the CTC Ministerial Breakfast Meeting sponsored by Cable & Wireless Barbados. The Prime Minister of Grenada, Hon Tillman Thomas and 7 regional ministers were in attendance from, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, the Netherlands Antilles, Montserrat, Antigua, Suriname, the British Virgin Islands and Trinidad &Tobago.
The Ministers discussed the direction of CTC and challenged the commitment of all stakeholders. A collaborative effort through CTC is the best possible route to the successful deployment of any ICT endeavor.
|  | | Delegates at the CTC Breakfast Meeting | Mr. D. Austin of C&W Barbados sponsor of the CTC Breakfast Meeting welcomes invited guests.
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The Monday morning opening session went without any hitches with the keynote feature address by Mr. Edghill Messiah, Vice President HR and Administration of TSTT. Mr. Edghill urged delegates, policymakers, operators, vendors, and the like to leave CANTO 2009 with a greater appreciation of where each stakeholder fits in the march towards development and a renewed sense of commitment to working together to bring all the best benefits of ICT to the various publics that we serve.
The feature address was delivered by the Honorable Patrick Manning, Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago. Hon Patrick Manning pointed out to the captive audience that in these tough economic times it is virtually impossible to stay ahead of the game without the active engagement of the ICT sector. Echoing the sentiments that it is only in partnership and active engagement can we as a Caribbean body achieve our respective ICT goals.
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| | Monday Morning Keynote Address: Mr. E. Messiah | Feature Address: the. Hon Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago Mr. P Manning |
The day continued with the Prime Minister of Grenada, Honorable Tillman Thomas as the keynote speaker for the Ministers‟ Round Table discussions. Other Minister included:
• (Hon. Kennedy Swaratsingh, Minister of Public Administration of Trinidad and Tobago
• Hon. Jerrol Thompson, Minister of Telecommunications, Science, Technology and Industry, St. Vincent & the Grenadines
• Hon. MHP Adriaens, Minister of Transport and Telecommunication, the Netherlands Antilles
• Hon. Charles T. Kirnon, Minister of Communications and Works, Montserrat
• Hon. Edmond Mansoor, Minister of Information, Broadcasting & Telecommunications, Antigua
• Hon. Richel Apinsa, Minister of Transport, Communications and Tourism, Hon. Julian Fraser, Minister of Communications & Works, British Virgin Islands
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| | Cross section of delegates at conference | A few delegates on coffee break |
The Ministry of Public Administration of Trinidad & Tobago walked away with the coveted trophy of the second annual „CANTO CTC Project of the Year’ award, with their project titled: ttconnect . Trinidad and Tobago‟s Fast Forward agenda is all about transforming the country into a knowledge-based society by 2008. This includes the Government working with the public and private sectors to produce an exciting roadmap that charts a clear and determined course to an online society and a knowledge-based economy.
President and CEO of WireIE, Mr. Robert Barlow, also presented The Honorable Tillman Thomas, Prime Minister of Grenada, with a donation of 15 HP computers and training for the 2009 calendar year.
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| | Panelist listens attentively: (L) - (R): R. Fräser. Hon P. Manning and I. Blanchard | Joy Lange-Syriac of National ICT Centre accepts CTC project of the year award from C. Downes-Haynes (L) and R. Fraser (R) |
Other though provoking forums included Leveraging ICT in Business, Regulation, and Connect the Caribbean Initiative (CTC). At the CTC session all stakeholders including ITU, HIPCAR, CTU, CARICOM, CARICAD, CKLN, CANTO) presented an overview of the status of their efforts to connect the Caribbean. CANTO CTC project will endeavor to pool these efforts so that the Connect the Caribbean objectives can come to fruition by 2015. CTC is the Caribbean‟s response to the Connect the World initiative of the ITU.
Tuesday and Wednesday saw knowledge thirsty delegates discussing captivating topics in areas such as Regulation, Collaborating to Survive in the Economic Crisis, Caribbean IPTV Summit, Leadership in the Caribbean , Opportunities in the World of Mobile Satellite, Embarked Broadband - Next Generation, Business Impact of WAN, Optimization Solutions for Service Providers , Business Continuity : Earthquake Awareness in the Caribbean, The Blue Print of Convergence, Carrier Ethernet – Enabling Caribbean Telecoms, WiMAX Workshop and Developing Business on Mobile. All the delegates left armed with information to be able to assist in helping make important decisions that will impact their organization.
As the saying goes: All work and no play is not a CANTO affair; True to its nature CANTO and TSTT gave its delegates social and networking activities befitting of a silver Jubilee. On Monday night delegates were warmed up by popular contemporary Soca Artist, Shurwayne Winchester and his “You” band who did not disappoint locals and
|  | | G. Edwards and T. Balthazar greet guests at the Ericsson sponsored, Monday night dinner | Shurwayne Winchester entertains delegates at the Monday night dinner |
international guest alike. The event sponsored by Ericsson included a delectable international cuisine catered by the Hyatt Regency hotel.
On Tuesday evening, members and sponsors were treated to a wonderful dinner sponsored by ORACLE. Dinner accompanied the local jazz band “Wayne and Friends” who played a plethora of music to soothe the minds of the knowledge filled delegates. The best booth award was also announced and co-host TSTT walked away with the most innovative, creative booth.
 |  | | A.Pereyra of Oracle welcomes guests at the Members & Sponsors Tuesday night dinner. | Cross section of guest at the members and Sponsors dinner |
|  | | I. Blanchard recognizes Honorary Member: E.Cijtnje | D. Currie present sponsorship appreciation award to H. Etnel of TELEM |
The closing cocktail cosponsored by WireIE and TSTT included a cultural show lead by notable Trinity Artiste Dance Company led by Allan Balfour giving the audience a taste of Trinidad & Tobago‟s diverse culture and history. The much anticipated „Prince of Soca’, Machel Montano and his HD band then proceeded to thrill the audience with their high impact, infectious soca music marking the end of CANTO 2009.
The closing ceremony promised even more with the announcement of the 26th AGM which will be held in Guyana and CANTO 2010 which will be held in Curacao.
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| | Dance troop entertains guests | L. Gomez of UTS co-host of CANTO 2010 and C. Sandries of BTP Curacao promise an exciting CANTO 2010 |
|  | | C. Prior of GT&T invites delegates to the 26th AGM (2010) which will be held in Guyana and hosted by GT&T | Machel Montano thrills delegates at Monday night Cocktail and Cultural Show |
Last but not least, delegates got the opportunity to be a part of the 3rd Annual Conference on HR Best Practices for the Caribbean Region co-sponsored by the ITU and facilitated by CANTO. Delegates were able to delve into areas such as HR Strategic Management, Challenges in HR and Leveraging the HR department. The overall objectives of the HR conference were to provide an overview of the current
trends and practices as well as focus on guidelines and benchmarks in the human resource sector.
|  | | Delegates at the 3rd Annual HR conference | M. Harris facilitator of the HR conference welcomes delegates |
As an added bonus, CANTO partnered with Latin American Caribbean Addresses
Registry (LACNIC) to deliver a two day workshop which two technical sessions; one addressed the issue of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) and the other concentrated on the topic of IPv6 addresses. It was also the right forum for LACNIC to present its institution and activities such as the development of policies for the assignment of internet resources, the IPv4 and IPv6 resources allocation, initiatives to strengthen the region, participation mechanisms, discussion forums, etc.
CANTO 2009 was a success and would not have been possible without the support of co-host TSTT, additional sponsors: Alcatel–Lucent (Silver Sponsor) Jinny, Allcard, Peoplesurv; and media partners: TEMPO Networks, CNMG and Carib Vision. With over 700 delegates in attendance this event continues to offer an excellent blend of educational content, world class exhibits and social events making this premier regional event sine qua non.
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