BASSETERRE St. Kitts – GRENADA, the spice island of the Caribbean, has come in for high praise from CARICOM Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque for its use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
The Secretary General praised the island for leading by example in the use of ICT to create an enabling environment to pursue its social and economic development goals.
In a release published by CARICOM, Ambassador LaRocque was at the time speaking during a ceremony at the Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana, where he received the credentials of Grenada’s new Ambassador to the Community, His Excellency Patrick Antoine.
In commending Grenada’s drive towards increased use of technology, the Secretary General cited the country’s decision to become the first English-speaking Caribbean country to develop its own Internet Exchange Point (IXP) in 2011.
Grenada, he noted, has positioned itself for diversification by “embracing technology while maintaining its reputation as the Spice Isle through its abundance in nutmeg and mace, which supplies approximately 20 percent of the world market in those commodities”.
He commended the “hands-on approach” taken by the Grenadian Prime Minister, Dr. the Rt. Hon. Keith Mitchell, in executing his responsibility as Lead Head of Government for Science and Technology including Information and Communications in the Quasi-Cabinet of the Conference of Heads of Government.
The Secretary-General recalled Mitchell’s involvement in tabling the Regional ICT Agenda and Platform for Action at the Heads of Government Meeting in July 2004, as well as his encouragement to his colleague in 2003 to support the project which has evolved into the Caribbean Knowledge Learning Network Agency (CKLNA).
“Once again, Prime Minister Mitchell has taken leadership of the process and has successfully called on his colleague Heads of Government to devote a focused session on ICT when they meet at their Twenty-Fifth Inter-Sessional Meeting in St. Vincent and the Grenadines next February.
“True to his hands-on approach, the Prime Minister will preside over a Ministerial Session which will consider the Regional Digital Development Strategy (RDDS) in preparation for discussion by Heads of Government,” the Secretary-General added.
