Management and Board Members of the Bureau Telecommunications and Post St. Maarten attended the 27th annual Conference & Trade Exhibition of the Caribbean Union of Telecommunications Organizations (CANTO) last month.
The annual conference was held in Suriname and hosted by Telesur, the largest Telecommunications Service provider in Suriname. This year theme was "Shaping the Future of Information & Communication".
Over 500 delegates, mainly from the Caribbean region, USA and Canada, visited the 4-day event to attend the intensive forums, round the table conferences, minister meetings, business meetings, workshops, presentations and networking diners. Main topics during the conference were: Mobile broadband, Marketing, Communication, Disaster Recovery, Telecom Regulation, 4G, Net neutrality and Regional ICT development.
Key note speaker at the official opening of the 27th CANTO annual Conference & Trade Exhibition was the Honorable Dr. Hamadoun Touré, Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies. Dr. Toure elaborated on Telecommunication Development in the Caribbean and praised CANTO for its vision and leadership on ICT in the region.
CANTO was established in 1984 to facilitate the development of ICT solutions for the benefit of members and other stakeholders in the Caribbean region. Since the establishment, annual meetings and conferences have been organized whereby government officials, regulators, operators, vendors and ICT-professionals exchange views, experiences, share knowledge and collaborate on ICT development for the Caribbean region.
Interim director of Bureau Telecommunications and Post St. Maarten, Ms. Peggy-Ann Brandon summarized CANTO’S 27th annual Conference & Trade Exhibition as: "Yet another well put together conference by CANTO, through which its members were forced to engage, share, collaborate and seek joint solutions and development means in support of the further and continuous development of ICT; aimed to promote proper socio-economic development".