Subject:Forum to put Emergency Communications at the Top of the Agenda

> Free to attend CTO and ITU Emergency Telecommunications event to be held in Jamaica, in 26 - 28 September 2006, to enhance the region's disaster management strategy.

The Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation and the International Telecommunication Union have organised the Using ICT for Effective Disaster Management Caribbean Forum 2006, which is supported by the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organizations  (CANTO), and hosted by the Jamaican Office of Utilities Regulation. The event will take place between 26th & 28th September in Jamaica. The objective of this 'call for action' event is to provide the organisers with an opportunity to work with countries in the region to put in place the necessary platform for disaster prevention, preparedness and relief.

This event will go beyond the abstract and look at practical ways through which disasters can be mitigated by using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).  The event will gather senior government and Telecommunication regulatory officials, private sector organisations, and civil society who over a period of three days will assess the impact of recent disasters, look at the frequency and magnitude of these disasters, discuss the role of Information and Communication Technologies in disaster risk reduction, and vitally look at the role of stakeholders such as governments,  regulatory authorities, humanitarian organisations in the United Nations, non-government actors, and telecommunication providers. The Forum will also look at telecommunication network reconstruction and rehabilitation.

This Using ICT for Effective Disaster Management Caribbean Forum 2006, the second in a series of four free to attend regional events to be held around the Commonwealth, will build on the goals set by the World Conference for Disaster Reduction in Kobe, Japan in 2005, the conclusions of the World Summit on the Information Society, and the resolutions and programmes adopted by ITU's World Telecommunication Development Conference that was held in Doha in March 2006.

For more information visit:

www.itu.int/ITU-D/emergencytelecoms/index.html and  http://www.cto.int/dmcaribbean/ or please contact:

Dr. Cosmas L. Zavazava ITU, Focal Point for Emergency Telecommunications

Tel.: +41 22 730 5447

Fax: +41 22 730 5484

E-mail: zavazava@itu.int

Mr. Matthew Dawes

Commonwealth Telecommunication Organisation

Tel: +44 20 7024 7602

Fax: +44 20 7930 4248

Email: m.dawes@cto.int

About CTO

The Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), was created in 1901, and is an international development partnership between Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth governments, business and civil society organisations. It provides the international community with effective means to help bridge the digital divide and achieve social and economic development, by delivering to developing countries unique knowledge-sharing programmes in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the specific areas of telecommunications, IT,  broadcasting and the Internet.

The International Events Division is fundamental to the CTO's aims of bridging the digital divide and achieving social and economic development. These events form the backbone of our knowledge-sharing programmes in the use of information and communication technologies.

Despite the evolution of ICT, it is widely acknowledged that the best way to do business is in face-to-face situations, therefore our events have two key functions in us achieving our organisational goals:

> • Knowledge sharing - our events are heavily researched to be certain that the information presented is timely. This way we ensure that every attendee at a CTO event goes back to their office, wherever it maybe in the world, with first hand information which helps in their, and their organisations, day-to-day operations as well as shaping the future development of ICT.

• Relationship building - As an intergovernmental organisation we have a unique position in ICT development and this means that our events are attended by all of the stakeholders which make up an industry. Our events offer excellent opportunities to network and build working relationships, most of which focus on the emerging markets in Africa, APAC and the  Caribbean

About ITU

ITU is the leading United Nations agency for information and communication technology issues, and the global focal point for  governments and the private sector in developing networks and services. For more than 140 years, ITU has coordinated the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promoted international cooperation in assigning satellite  orbits, worked to improve telecommunication infrastructure in the developing world, and established the worldwide standards that foster seamless interconnection of a vast range of communications systems.

ITU also organizes worldwide and regional exhibitions and forums bringing together the most influential representatives of government and the telecommunications industry to exchange ideas, knowledge and technology for the benefit of the global community, and in particular the developing world.

From broadband internet to latest-generation wireless technologies, from aeronautical and maritime navigation to radio astronomy and  satellite-based meteorology, from phone and fax services to TV broadcasting and next-generation networks, ITU continues to play a  central role in helping the world communicate.

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