St Kitts and Nevis Government Marks Digital Independence Milestone

Minister of Information, Communication and Technology, Konris Maynard one week before the twin-island Federation of St Kitts and Nevis marks its fortieth anniversary of independence declared that the country is on a journey to digital independence. 

“Achieving digital independence means building a digital infrastructure that stands firm in the face of adversity. It means ensuring that our digital networks and communications infrastructure remain secure, available and steadfast during disasters, safeguarding our people, critical infrastructure and resources,” Maynard said. 

He was delivering the feature address at the opening of the twenty-sixth regional gathering of the Caribbean Network Operators Group (CaribNOG), on Monday at the Marriott Resort, Frigate Bay.

“Our nation’s fortieth anniversary of independence, under the theme ‘growing sustainably, developing maturely, building resiliency, independence 40’, aligns perfectly to the theme of CaribNOG 26: achieving digital independence,” he said. 

The minister announced that the St. Kitts and Nevis Government has been working with CaribNOG to establish a local Internet exchange point. He highlighted plans to support the strengthening of other critical Internet infrastructure and to promote the creation of local digital content, including electronic government services. 

The two-day CaribNOG conference was co-hosted by the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN). It was organized by Bevil Wooding, Director of Caribbean Affairs at ARIN and CaribNOG co-founder, who said that internet users in St Kitts and Nevis have a lot more to look forward to in the coming weeks. 

“CaribNOG is a unique volunteer-based community that plays a vital role across the region, providing technical capacity-building, cybersecurity support, and stakeholder awareness programs. Today we celebrate with the Government of St Kitts and Nevis and commit to continue our important role in designing Caribbean solutions to Caribbean challenges.” 

CaribNOG 26 brought together business leaders, government officials, ICT professionals, academics, and members of civil society, alongside local, regional and international Internet development experts to discuss the increasing role of technology in business, government and society.