PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands; Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 – The World Telecommunications Information Society Day (WTISD) will be celebrated on May 17th 2009. It is a day set aside by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to encourage discussion, reflection and debate on particular themes. This year’s theme is “Protecting Children in Cyberspace”.

In observance of this Day, the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organisation (CANTO) is hosting an essay competition under the theme: Protecting Children in Cyberspace. The competition is open to all students’ ages 15 - 17 throughout the Caribbean and E. Jay Saunders, Chairman of CANTO’s Marketing Committee & General Manager of Digicel Turks & Caicos Islands, encourages students in the Turks & Caicos Islands to take full advantage of this opportunity to participate in the competition.  “The topic of this year’s competition is very relevant in today’s world as the Internet continues to play a major role in our everyday lives. However, because of its openness, our kids are at risk of exposure to damaging information and predators.  This competition gives students the chance to think of ways of protecting themselves and others in their group because they understand their peers better than anyone else”.

E. Jay Saunders, who became Chairman of CANTO’s Marketing Committee at the 25th Annual General Meeting held from the 25th - 27th January 2009 in Antigua, gave more details about CANTO in a Q&A session.

Q: What is CANTO?

E. Jay: CANTO stands for Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organizations. It is a nonprofit organization that is made up of and represents the voice of most of telecommunication companies throughout the Caribbean. It has 110 member companies from 33 countries.

Q: What is the purpose of CANTO?

E. Jay: CANTO gives telecommunication companies in the Caribbean a forum to come together to address in a unified voice telecommunication issues of mutual concern.

Q: This July CANTO will turn 25. What is CANTO planning for its Silver Jubilee year?

E. Jay: As part of the Silver Jubilee celebrations, on the 12th July CANTO will host its Annual Conference and Trade Exhibition. This year it will take place in Trinidad & Tobago. The theme will be “Advancing the Caribbean through Information and Communication”, which will set the stage for CANTOs Connect the Caribbean (CTC) initiative. The CTC is part of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Connect the World initiative. Our goal for the CTC initiative is to connect all the people of the region, including all schools and government departments to the information super highway by 2015

Q: What is the most exciting part of your job as Chairman of the Marketing Committee?

E. Jay: After 25 years with the same name and logo, CANTO is embarking on a major rebranding exercise, which will encompass the changing of its logo and overall look. The rebranding exercise will cover all of CANTO’s marketing and communications collateral from letterheads, websites, print ads, and more; throughout all 33 countries where CANTO members are located. The marketing committee is tasked with pulling all of that off without a hitch. As Chairman of the committee I will have to roll-up my sleeves and get involved with this initiative. It will be hard, but I find the challenge exciting.  

For more information on CANTO’s 25th Silver Jubilee celebrations log onto www.canto.org/canto2009
 
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