Many, many thanks again to the organizers and supporters of the
CARDICIS meeting on ICTs for the multi-linngual/ multi-cultural
Caribbean.

As is often the case with slow, old things with slow reaction times,
my brain has had three additional thoughts re CARDICIS on the order
of "why didn't I think of that before . . . "

1) In reviewing my notes I realized that this important priority
for regional ICT action had gotten lost in the shuffle:

In the Group #1, which formally named itself GROUP NUMBER 1, Arnoldo
Coro made an EXCELLENT case that regional ICT collaboration in the
Caribbean needs to include support for the PRESERVATION OF DIGITAL
DOCUMENTS in the Caribbean. Even now, there are many agencies which
have great amounts of their agency records ONLY in digital form. For
both historical and security reasons, Caribbean nations must
individually and collectively become more aggressive in protecting
these irreplaceable records.

2) An issue that was not mentioned was DATA REPATRIATION. In the
past this contentious issue has tended to deal primarily with
specimen collections and the occasional research report in the
natural sciences. Now that digital technologies make accurate copying
of documents relatively cheap, this process can be extended to all
kinds of historic data, without compromising the integrity or
security of source collections.

Data repatriation should be a constant theme for many groups,
including ICT institutions --- the metro powers MUST assume
responsibility for returning --- in digital form --- MUCH more of the
important historical records that were gathered during the colonial
era and were archived in the European (and US) government and
academic depositories.

3) One institutional resource that was not mentioned in our
discussions in St. Lucia was UNEP's Regional Coordinating Unit for
the Caribbean Environmental Programme. This office in Kingston has
two full-time information professionals [Malden Miller
<mwm.uneprcuja@cwjamaica.com> and "Luc St. Pierre"
<lsp.uneprcuja@cwjamaica.com>], and all countries in the Wider
Caribbean (including Central and South American countries are member
states of UNEP/CEP). The CEP is comparable to the South Pacific
Regional Environmental Programme (SPREP), which has been a leading
institution in supporting many ICT innovations among the Pacific
Islands.

best wishes to all

Bruce Potter

PS -- the signature to this should show the URL for information about
signing up for some of the many environmental e-mail groups supported
by Island Resources Foundation -->> http://www.irf.org/mailings.htm
Anyone/everyone is encouraged to join any of these lists.

ANOTHER THING we didn't say in St. Lucia is that in NETWORKING,
BIGGER IS ALWAYS BETTER --- ALWAYS.
Nearby vie 03 sep 2004 18:17:21 AST