Guyana is getting ready to host two major international conferences simultaneously next week at the Guyana Marriott and the Arthur Chung Conference Center (ACCC). CANTO, one of the leaders in Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the Caribbean and the Americas, is holding its 35thAnnual General Meeting (AGM) and Mini ICT Expo at the Guyana Marriott Hotel from Sunday 27 to Wednesday 30 January.
Minister of Public Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes, is scheduled to deliver the keynote address during the Opening Ceremony for CANTO’s AGM which begins at 6.00 pm on Sunday 27 January.
GTT is the official host of the AGM, and all are collaborating with Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA), a London-based ICT trade body that represents the interests of private sector mobile network operators worldwide.
According to information released by the Public Communications Ministry, aside from the AGM’s agenda, GSMA is working with the Telecommunications Ministry to organize a special one-day workshop on Wednesday January 30at the conference venue.
The Tech4Girls workshop is designed for female secondary school students to encourage them to pursue careers in ICTs. The girls will have the opportunity to interact with female industry leaders while they learn to use the Raspberry Pi kit, Unix Commands and the Google Voice Box, along with other devices and apps. The Ministry is said to be handling the logistics for the workshop.
At the same time, preparations for next week’s meeting of the Committee implementing the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) have moved into high gear at the Arthur Chung Conference Center (ACCC).
The conference, carrying the acronym CRIC17, will take place from Monday 28 to Wednesday 30 January under the auspices of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission.
This is the first time that an event with such global magnitude is taking place in Guyana, i.e. since the 1972 Non-Aligned foreign Ministers conference. The entire Complex at Liliendaal including lawn space is being utilized for additional break-out rooms, the exhibition site, and facilities for interpreters, among others.
Public Telecommunications Minister, Cathy Hughes, under whose portfolio the ACCC falls, toured the complex last Monday with the Ministry’s top functionaries and the heads of the Lands and Surveys Commission. The party minutely inspected the works in progress mainly to ensure that all of the organizers’ requirements are met, and that Guyana acquits itself admirably.
Approximately 400 delegates from about 96 member countries of the United Nations are expected to descend on Guyana this week to participate in the UNCCD conference at ACCC, Guyana’s premier conference facility.
