Tuesday, January 17 2012

SCIENCE, Technology and Tertiary Education (MSTTE) Minister Fazal Karim has assumed chairmanship of the Commonwealth Connects Steering Committee (CCSC) for a two-year period at its 25th Meeting which was held in London last Friday at Marlborough House, headquarters of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

The Minister was accompanied by his Alternate on the Committee, Mr Jaggernauth Soom, permanent secretary of the Ministry. The Commonwealth Connects Steering Committee comprises representatives of five Commonwealth Member States (India, Malta, Mozambique, South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago), relevant Commonwealth Organisations and other ICT stakeholders.

The Steering Committee has responsibility for the administration of the Commonwealth Connects Programme which is aimed at harnessing the potential of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to strengthen democratic values and institutions in support of sustainable development objectives, including equitable growth and the empowerment of individuals.

In his address to the Meeting, which was attended by the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Kamalesh Sharma, Minister Karim highlighted the prominence of the Commonwealth within the global community noting that though comprised of diverse countries, it has been successful in achieving shared goals that are beneficial to all Members. Karim indicated that as Chairman he will seek to advance the goals of the programme, which include the Commonwealth Connects Portal (C2P). The C2P is intended to address the critical issue of access to information by providing a single gateway to activities and information resources of the Commonwealth Connects Programme while also acting as a versatile tool for increased collaboration among Commonwealth stakeholders. Other Commonwealth Connects activities which are to be advanced under the Minister’s chairmanship include the Cybercrime Initiative and ICT Capacity-Building.

Trinidad and Tobago Newsday