Above: Jacques Gabriel, Works Minister, Haiti; Barbados FM Maxine McClean and ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Toure in 2010 (Photo: C. Zavazava)

Barbados and 14 other CARICOM countries are heeding a call to safeguard their information technologies, and useres, throughout the region.

The aim of the HIPCAR project is to support Caribbean competitiveness by harmonising approaches to ICT development.

The project, which was conceived by the International Telecommunications Union, CARICOM and the Caribbean Telecommunications Union, will provide guidelines for uniform policies, legislation and regulatory procedures.

According to International Telecommunication Union Project Coordinator Kerstin Ludwig, the programme is part of a larger project that covers all African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, focusing on cybercrime, privacy and data protection.

“Being able to fight cybercrime is not only relevant if you have criminals in the country, it’s also relevant if you have victims in the country,” said ITU consultant Dr Marco Gercke. “The point is, today, we have more internet users in the developing countries than in developed countries — if you want to protect people in your country, you [must] have appropriate cybercrime legislation.”

–Barbados Information Service