(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)  In keeping with a decision taken at its second meeting in Georgetown, Guyana in May, the CARICOM Regional Information Communication and Technologies (ICT) Steering Committee will develop an action plan by 30 September, 2008 to accelerate the Community’s transformation into an active part of the Information Society.

To this end sub-committees on Capacity Development, Access, Connectivity and Internet Governance, Regional Partnership, Legal & Regulatory Framework, Business and Trade, Disaster recovery and Statistics will each draft a two-year action plan; part of the Regional Information Society Strategy, for approval by Ministers responsible for ICT.

A draft Regional ICT for development (ICT4D) strategy circulated at the meeting sets a deadline of 2015 for full inclusion of the Community into the Information Society. Among the Region’s ICT4D objectives to be met are:

• Maximising the opportunities for all CARICOM citizens to benefit from the information economy/society

• Advancing the growth of infrastructure for the information economy

• Developing a legal and regulatory framework to facilitate electronic transactions.

• Delivering the education and skills CARICOM citizens need to participate in the information / knowledge economy.

• Promoting the integrity and growth of CARICOM content and culture in the information economy.

In 2005, at the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) the international community - under the auspices of the United Nations – agreed to create a global information Society by 2015.

The formation and work of the CARICOM ICT Steering Committee are integral parts of a project that will aid the development of the Caribbean Information Society (CARIB-IS).