September 19, 2008 No. 23/08-G CDB TO HOST CONFERENCE ON ICTs FOR DEVELOPMENT The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), in collaboration with other development partners, will host a conference entitled "Incorporating ICTs into the Regional Development Agenda: Using e-Government as the Driver". This conference is designed to sensitise regional policy-makers and advisers to the importance of mainstreaming information and communication technologies (ICTs) into the development agenda, and to the benefits to be derived from deploying e-government systems. CDB is of the view that ICTs deployed by government systems can serve to effect better delivery of services to citizens, improved interactions with business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to information, and more efficient government management. At the opening session of the conference, CDB's Vice-President (Operations), Mr. Desmond Brunton, will give the welcome address, while Director of the UN ECLAC Sub-Regional Office, Mr. Neil Pierre, will speak on "National Development Strategy and National ICT Strategy Integration: Meeting MDGs and WSIS Declaration". It will take place at the CDB Conference Centre from September 30 to October 1, 2008. Representatives from Canada, Cape Verde Islands, Jamaica, Malta, Singapore and South Korea will share national e-government experiences with their colleagues. By the end of the conference, the participants are expected to have come up with a plan of action for accelerating e-government development in the Caribbean Region.