LACNIC in the Caribbean – Closer to the Caribbean community

05/11/2014

LACNIC is working hard in the Caribbean, a region where Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are growing in a very similar manner than in other mainland territories. With an outstanding career in the Caribbean, Kevon Swift has now joined LACNIC as External Relations Officer for the Caribbean with the aim of bringing the organization closer to all stakeholders involved in Internet development.

During his recent participation at the LACNIC 22 meeting in Chile, Swift described the work LACNIC is carrying out in the Caribbean and noted that various alliances with the region’s strategic stakeholders are allowing the organization to focus on the Caribbean community’s needs.

What’s LACNIC’s status in the Caribbean?

The area served by LACNIC is made up by 14 territories, comprising English, French, Dutch and Spanish speaking communities. Our main customers are the region’s ISPs, but they also include four Caribbean IXPs and many universities. LACNIC is working hard in our region, with interventions in local units, in Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, as well as in other places. We have entered into strategic partnerships with relevant regional stakeholders, with CANTO, the Caribbean Telecommunications Union, and more recently with the Caribbean Network Operators Group (CaribNOG). This year, we are also co-locating one of LACNIC’s three main events –LACNIC in the Caribbean– with CaribNOG so that discussions can focus more on the Caribbean community’s needs and realities.

In which Caribbean meetings and forums does LACNIC participate?

LACNIC participates in the annual CANTO meetings, in the seminars organized by the Caribbean Telecommunications Union, and recently in CaribNOG meetings. In each case, LACNIC’s participation ranges from giving presentations and setting up exhibits, to organizing workshops and practical training seminars on IPv6, DNSSEC and RPKI.

What can you tell us about the Ayitic project in Haiti?

The Ayitic project is an example of a strategic intervention by LACNIC within a Caribbean Internet community. Ayitic was born after the 2012 LACNIC in the Caribbean meeting, when we realized that the Haitian community had its own specific needs. In 2013, we began to implement this project aimed at training Haitian students and professionals in telephony and information technology so that they will have the tools needed to lead their own development and apply them to other professional fields. Ayitic is part of a broader strategy, the Action Plan for National Recovery and Development of Haiti, an initiative led by the United Nations.

How do you see IPv6 implementation in the Caribbean?

There’s an interesting amount of IPv6 deployment in the Dutch Caribbean and in Trinidad and Tobago, but the most important thing to note is that there is increasing dialogue on IPv6 in our region. We can see that important things are going on. Major content providers such as Google and Akamai have significant levels of IPv6 deployment. Right now we are going through the IPv4 exhaustion phase, which is why the need to deploy IPv6 is becoming even more urgent.