Informative ICT Week in Suriname Digital Government aligns with several pillars of the Charter of Caribbean Public Services (CCPS) developed by CARICAD, specifically, the pillar of Openness while also contributing generally to the pillars of Accountability and Governance. Under the theme, “Digital Transformation…Do It!” the Government of Suriname in collaboration with the Caribbean Telecommunications Union and Telecommunicatie Autoriteit Suriname (TAS) hosted ICT Week – in Suriname from September 16th to 20th this year. Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) Week offers an important series of activities for governments and the general public. The week showcased Caribbean FutureScape, and was open to the public from September 18th to 20th. Facebook hosted its Boost your Business activity and GSMA Training on The Internet of Things, Facebook Train the Trainer workshop, and programmes on the use of Social Media and ICT for persons with disabilities. CTU’s statutory meetings were held and were open only to Ministers for ICTs and associated Senior Public Servants. governments come together and create the e-Caribbean government space for all Caribbean citizens.” During the week Minister Chotkan revealed that the Suriname has made progress with expanding ICT infrastructure and digital services across the country, including to typically remote areas. Mobile connectivity is also expanding as the telecommunications infrastructure improves. Suriname has also established a unique Electronic Identification System (EID). “The Caribbean region will only be able to reach its full potential if governments come together and create the e-Caribbean On the matter of digital transformation, the Minister stressed the need for work to be done in conjunction with full understanding of the need for citizen privacy and security. In addition, he implored all to improve productivity with the use of technology. Suriname is also moving forward to examine opportunities for e-education and other e-services. government space for all Caribbean citizens.” An exercise in Collaboration for Advancing the Single ICT Space was held. The meeting produced several ideas for collaboration and CARICAD agreed to arrange a future set of virtual interactions with participants to develop a template for regional collaboration. Suriname’s Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communication, the Honourable Rajiv Chotkan indicated that, “The Caribbean region will only be able to reach its full potential if The CTU is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to supporting the development of the Caribbean ICT sector. The CTU also promotes coordination of ICT at the regional level, identifies and removes roadblocks to ICT development, keeps track of industry progress and responds to the needs of the ICT sector, all with the aim of creating a cohesive regional approach to an ICT agenda which embraces the needs of all stakeholders. The CTU is committed to ICT development that reaches the citizens of the region, creating affordable access to ICT and helping citizens to use ICT effectively to transform their lives. 2
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