PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Trinidad & Tobago cops  top 3 spots in CANTO/Ericsson Caribbean  i-Create e-Content Competition

Anand ‘Jerry’ Persad  an ICT Entrepreneur from Trinidad & Tobago is the winner of CANTO’s first  ever i-Create e-Content Competition 2010-2011. The annual competition which was launched in October of 2010  rewards the most creative and innovative e-Content developers in the  Caribbean. The competition was staged in CANTO member countries and received  over 60 registrants from Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Dominica,  Ghana, Jamaica, Suriname, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent & the  Grenadines and Trinidad & Tobago.

Persad captured  first place from a pool of 20 entrants with his submission coined: ‘eTecK Kiosk Application’ entered under the e-Culture Heritage and Tourism category. The site objective includes  providing information and investment opportunities in Trinidad & Tobago to  potential investors in the international and regional market. The ever thankful  Persad was ecstatic upon hearing the news and attributed his winnings to his  wife (Janice Persad) who encouraged him to enter the competition.

The second place went to Trinidad &  Tobago Corporation CMG ltd. with their submission Trinidad Tunes. The company described the site as the  first legal website to feature music for download, from Trinidad & Tobago  and the Caribbean, with an ever-expanding catalogue.

Third place and best mobile application went to Khafra Murray also of Trinidad & Tobago with his mobile application named: Triniberry. This is a blackberry based application which offers a platform for mobile information services relevant and useful to citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.

Phil Tevreden out of Suriname came in fourth place with his entry titled Srananpoku.com which is an online service for Surinamese music aimed at the Dutch market.

Nine experts in the field of ICT and Telecommunications sector were selected as Judges from Barbados, Belize, Jamaica, Suriname, St.Vincent & the Grenadines

Trinidad & Tobago and USA. The submissions were judged in the following categories ranging from relevance of the application, quality and comprehensiveness, ease-of-use, functionality & design, quality of design, value added through interactivity & multimedia, quality of craftsmanship and strategic importance to the region among others.

CANTO thanks its platinum and headline sponsor, Ericsson for assisting with the main prizes and providing the Android OS training necessary to assist with the development of some of the mobile applications.

Other invaluable sponsors included National Information and Communication Technology Company of T&T (i-GovTT), Ministry of Public Administration (Trinidad & Tobago), University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) and Illuminat.

The top three winners will be flown to Paramaribo, Suriname where they will attend the prestigious Ericsson i-Create e-Content Award Ceremony on the 11^th of July at CANTO’s 27th Annual Conference & Trade Exhibition (CANTO 2011).

For more information on CANTO i-Create Competition and CANTO Conference & Trade Exhibition visit www.cantoicreate.com and www.canto.org/cant02011 crespectively.

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CANTO  is recognized as the leading trade association of the ICT sector for shaping information and communication in the Caribbean. Founded in 1985 as a non-profit  association of 8 telephone operating companies, CANTO has now grown to over 110  members in more than 32 countries. A Board of Directors appointed by the  membership directs policy of the Association. This strategy is executed by  the staff of a permanent Secretariat based in Trinidad and Tobago.