Change can be achieved when you lead from in front, but also when you lead from behind, as is the case with CIVIC, the Caribbean ICT Stakeholders Virtual Community. Here we chat with the group’s moderator, Yacine Khelladi, to learn how CIVIC has become such an integral part of the region’s ICT/tech scene, along with his thoughts on the affordability of Internet service in the Caribbean, and why Open Data in the region is not as developed as it should be.

 

Episode is also available in Apple iTunes and on Stitcher!

He has been around for so long that many of us think we know him, especially since many people across the Caribbean receive several emails from him every week. Hs name: Yacine Khelladi, Moderator of the Caribbean ICT stakeholders Virtual Community (CIVIC).

Although those in the know in the Caribbean region’s ICT/tech community are aware of CIVIC, it is a unique group. It may not be as visible at regional meetings as other organisations, but it influences positions and decisions made on a broad range of important issues, which we discuss with Yacine.

Yacine Khelladi

In addition to moderating CIVIC, Yacine, who is based in the Dominican Republic, is an Economist and an International Consultant, plus he is also the Latin America and the Caribbean Coordinator for the Alliance for Affordable Internet, so he is able to offer us a unique perspective on the region’s ICT/tech landscape.

In this podcast episode, our discussion with Yacine covers a broad range of topics, including:

  • CIVIC – what it is, what it does, what is its objective
  • Successes CIVIC has enjoyed in terms of shaping the ICT conversation in the region
  • The ICT/tech landscape in the Dominican Republic
  • The Alliance for Affordable Internet, and Yacine’s responsibilities as the organisation’s Latin America and the Caribbean Coordinator
  • Yacine’s thoughts on the Caribbean’s ICT space, and the affordability of Internet service in the region; and
  • Yacine’s thoughts on Open Data, and why the momentum that seemed to have existed just a few years ago, appears to have waned.

During the episode, two questions were posed for which we would love to have your thoughts and insight:

  1. Why isn’t civil society in the English-speaking Caribbean as developed, or as engaged in discussions on important issues generally, and more specifically, with respect to telecoms and ICT?
  2. What happened to the Open Data/knowledge management platform that was being implemented in Barbados? Was it successfully rolled out? Was it abandoned?

 

Select links

Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that were mentioned, or you might be useful:

 

Image credit:  Circe Denyer (Public Domain Pictures.net); World Wide Web Foundation

Music credit:  Ray Holman