(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat hosted its first Information Communication Technology (ICT) Youth Festival on Friday May 22, 2009, with demonstration and emphasis on “fun, interactive and safe” ways to use the technology.

The ICT Youth Festival was held at the Guyana International Conference Centre, Georgetown, under the theme “Protecting Children in Cyber Space”; the thrust of the May 17th celebration of World’s Telecommunications Day. The ICT Youth Festival was designed to develop the capabilities of children in the application of ICT for creative and innovative activities. The objective was also to educate teachers and parents on how to teach children about the benefits and risks of the Internet.

Students from 24 primary and secondary schools participated in five workshops on the use of digital technology for the production of videos, music and new; creating websites; and the use of the Internet.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Executive Director of the Strategic Planning and Monitoring, and Evaluation Sub-Programme, CARICOM Secretariat, Ms Jacqulyn Joseph, said that the ICT Festival drew attention to the “very real concerns” of the safety of children in cyberspace, pointing out that to-date an alarming 96,000 sex offenders were taken off of the popular social website, My Space.

Considering the risks to which child-users of the Internet were exposed, Ms Joseph stated that it was essential for discussions pertaining to the development of child-friendly technologies to become the foundation for policies and legislations which would ensure that children were protected in cyberspace and the productive uses of the technology maximised. She added that the Festival could serve as a model, replicated throughout the region to expose young people to the constructive aspects of ICT.

Coordinator of the Information Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) Sub-Programme, CARICOM Secretariat, Ms. Jennifer Britton, observed that cyberspace had become equivalent to a “gold-rush boomtown”, with young people and children accounting for the majority of its consumers.