Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society

Category: blog

  • new TATT Board appointed by Minister of Public Administration of #Trinidad #Tobago

    The Minister of Public Administration of Trinidad and Tobago, Senator the Honourable Rudrawatee Nan Gosine Ramgoolam presented the instruments of appointment to the new board of directors of the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT) on February 1 2011 at TATT's Barataria office.

    The 10 members of the TATT Board :
    • Mr. Selby Wilson – Chairman
    • Mr. Cagney Casimire – Deputy Chairman
    • Ms Hazel Brown
    • Mr. Simbhoonath Sawh
    • Mr. Farouk Gerard Mohammed
    • Mr. Nazir Alladin
    • Mr. Vijay Moosai
    • Mr. Satnarine Balkaransingh
    • Mr. David Lamy
    • Mr. Nirad Tewarie
    See the following links for further details :

  • Interim Report by ICANN’s Geographic Regions WG and comments submitted by #ICANN At-Large including Caribbean ALSes

    ICANN's Geographic Regions Review Working Group published a Interim Report in December 2010 for public comment at
    http://www.icann.org/en/topics/geographic-regions/geo-regions-interim-report-12nov10-en.pdf  (PDF ; 37 page)

    This Interim Report is the second of three planned reports by the Geographic Regions WG addresses three specific areas. It offers:

    (1) a review of the underlying history, objectives and general principles of ICANN’s Geographic Regions Framework;
    (2) it raises a number of fundamental strategic questions for further community consideration; and 
    (3) it expands on a number of specific matters identified in the Initial Report that are likely to be addressed in the Final Report.

    Cintra Sooknanan drafted a statement on behalf of the Caribbean ALSes and was accepted by the Caribbean ALSes with minor modifications on Friday January 28 2011. The statement by Caribbean ALSes was included in the At Large Advisory Committee's (ALAC) 9 page statement from Pages 6-9 at http://db.tt/UmQ7ydS (PDF ; 156K)

  • new iGovTT Board appointed by Minister of Public Administration of #trinidad #tobago

    The Minister of Public Administration of Trinidad and Tobago, Senator the Honourable Rudrawatee Nan Gosine Ramgoolam presented the instruments of appointment to the new board of directors of the National Information and Communication Technology Company Limited (iGovTT) on Friday January 14 2011 in a ceremony at the Nalis building in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

    The 12 members of the iGovTT Board :
    • Atiba Phillips (Chairman)
    • Alvin Ramsaran
    • Rachel Maikhoo
    • Gregory Fernandez
    • Nigel Ramlagan
    • Christopher De Silva
    • Baldath Mahabir
    • Jacqueline Syms
    • Warren Sookdar
    • Annessa Ali Bocas
    • Heidi John
    • Rayard Mansano

    See the following links for further details :

  • TTCS pizza lime on Wednesday January 19 2011 from 7-9pm at Pizza Hut, Valsayn

    The Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society (TTCS ; http://ttcsweb.org/)
    will be having a pizza lime on Wednesday January 19 2011
    from 7 to 9 pm at Pizza Hut, VALSAYN.

    Come join us as we eat and chat about various computing related topics.

    Contribution of up to $80 towards the food bill is expected.

    Anyone interested in computing are welcome to attend.

    If you are attending, please let us know by emailing [email protected]

    See you there!

    —
    Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society at http://ttcsweb.org/;
    http://fb.me/ttcsweb ; http://twitter.com/ttcs
    “networking local computer users!”

  • Summary of TTCS meetings in 2010

    We hold two types of meetings : Pizza Limes and Tech Meetings. A Pizza Lime is the name given to our monthly discussion forum which is usually held at Pizza Hut, Roxy Roundabout, Port of Spain on the second Wednesday of the month. The tech meeting is when we have computers on site to demonstrate a particular type of hardware or software.

    Saturday January 30 2010 – Automating software deployment on Windows

    Dev showed how to automate software
    deployment on Windows using http://wpkg.org ; while also allows to keep software on Windows computers on a network up to date without having to visit each machine to tediously to uninstall and install new versions of software or installing new software.

    Saturday January 30 2010 – TTCS podcast #20

    Talked about the Apple iPad announcement – see https://www.ttcs.tt/podcasts/

    Saturday February 27th, 2010

    Held at Pizza Hut, La Romain (near Gulf City, San Fernando)

    Saturday April 10 2010

    This was a 2pm lunch at the Asian Buffet, Trincity Mall to discuss upcoming TTCS activities.

    Saturday April 17 2010 – Apple iPad

    We had a hands on look at the Apple iPad released by Apple the previous week

    Saturday April 24 2010 – Android Mobile Development

    Held in conjunction with the University of the West Indies Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Lecture Theatre #3, Floor 2 Block 13, Faculty of Engineering,  University of the West Indies, St. Augustine.

    This hands-on workshop guided participants through basic mobile application development using Android. A team at UWI also described their unique experience collaborating with MIT and Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey in the development of Android applications for social and economic returns.

    Wednesday May 5 2010

    At Pizza Hut, Roxy, we talked about

    Tuesday 18th May 2010 – Ruby-web Frameworks

    We met at ENCO to discuss a survey of Ruby-based
    Web Application Frameworks as presented by Mr. George Mubita, Computer Science Lecturer at the University of Southern Caribbean.

    The presentation covered the following areas:

    1. Overview of Ruby based web application frameworks:
    ● Rails
    ● Merb
    ● Sinatra
    ● The Hobo+ Rails
    ● Rails+Merb

    2. The Ruby Language overview

    3. Demo of a Hobo web application

    4. Putting together a Web 2.0 (Rich Internet Application) with Rails
    and Adobe Flex

    Sunday 30th May 2010

    This was an online meeting to discuss aspects of the
    “Draft Implementation plan for Number Portability in Trinidad and
    Tobago” document released for public comment by the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT)

    Thursday August 5 2010

    Held at Pizza Hut, Roxy Roundabout to discuss the upcoming Focus Group Discussion with the Ministry of Public Administration on Trinidad & Tobago ICT Strategy “Fastforward II”

    Friday August 20 2010 – developing system to track/monitor disasters in Trinidad & Tobago

    At this meeting, we’ll discussed the concept of designing a website using maps of Trinidad and Tobago to track and monitor disasters such as flooding and alert persons accordingly. The idea came from a email on the TTCS discussion mailing list, You can read the entire email thread at
    http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ttcs/message/27813

    Wednesday 25 August 2010 ; developing system to track/monitor disasters in #Trinidad & #Tobago

    Followup session from the Friday August 20 meeting where we looked at solutions like https://www.ushahidi.com/

    Wednesday September 8 2010

    Held at Pizza Hut, Valsayn, we discussed

    • the purchase of Laptop computers for SEA students
    • planning for Software Freedom Day on September 18th 2010.
    • planning for a TTCS November 2010 Tech Day event.

    Saturday September 11 2010

    preparatory meeting for Software Freedom Day (SFD) 2010 which will be on September 18th 2010. See https://www.ttcs.tt/blog/ttcs-meeting-on-saturday-september-11-2010-fr/ .

    Among the work that was done was the creation of TTCS FSWIN CD, via a request from the Free Software Foundation in Europe to assist with their Software Freedom Day events. See TTCS FSWIN CD announcement

    Saturday September 18 2010 – Software Freedom Day

    The TTCS will be celebrating Software Freedom Day 2010 on September 18th 2010 with a booth display at Trincity Mall, Trincity from 10am to 5pm.

    Our booth will showcase various aspects of Free and Open Source Software including :

    • Free and Open Source Software for Windows included on our TTCS OSSWIN DVD (which was the first debut of the TTCS OSSWIN DVD)
    • demoing Ubuntu, a popular linux-based operating system bundled with many applications.
    • Ushahidi crowd-sourcing system to track/monitor incidents/disasters in Trinidad & Tobago

    Wednesday 13 October 2010

    Held at Pizza Hut, Roxy, we talked about

    • the four ICT related events taking place in Trinidad and Tobago during November 2010
    • planning for a TTCS November 2010 Tech Day event
    • report and feedback of our Software Freedom Day event on September 18 2010 at Trincity Mall.
    • the Ministry of Education’s eConnect & Learn Programme launched with the distribution of SEA laptops to several schools.
    • the recent TATT ICT open forum “Electronic Payments System in Trinidad and Tobago – Legal, Cultural and Technological Challenges”

    Sunday November 14 2010

    This pizzalime was held at La Cantina, RBTT Compound, Milford Road, Store Bay, Tobago.

    November 12-13, 2010 – Diplo IG event, Tobago

    Two persons from the TTCS participated in this event

    https://www.ttcs.tt/icann/ttcs-attends-internet-governance-workshop-on/

    Saturday November 20 2010

    Held at ENCO, we discussed

    Wednesday December 1 2010

    Held at Pizza Hut, Roxy Roundabout. we talked about

    • TTCS Bye laws
    • ISOC Chapter Formation
    • Our attendance at the 39th ICANN meeting in Cartagena, Colombia from December 5-10, 2010.

    Thursday December 16 2010

    Held at Vie De France, Long Circular Road, Maraval, we talked about

     

     

     

  • TTCS meeting on Thursday Dec 16 2010 from 6-9pm at Vie De France, Maraval

    The Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society (TTCS ; http://ttcsweb.org/) will be meeting at Vie De France, Long Circular Road, Maraval on Thursday December 16 2010 from 6pm to 9pm.

    At this meeting, we will be talking about:
    Anyone interested in computing and the internet are welcome to attend. Cost of dinner can reach up to $100 per person.

    See you there! 

    —
    Kind Regards,

    Dev Anand Teelucksingh
    Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society at http://ttcsweb.org/ ; http://fb.me/ttcsweb ; http://twitter.com/ttcs

  • Statement from TTCS on UN CSTD decision on 6 Dec 2010

    Dear All,

    Please see our statement below. It is crucial to support this statement and we hope you will also sign this petition or get more information regarding this issue and ISOC press release at
     http://isoc.org/wp/newsletter/?p=2710 and sign the petition


    "The Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society (TTCS; http://ttcsweb.org/) is appalled by the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) decision on 6 December 2010 which would establish a Working Group on Improvements to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) comprising only governmental members.

    TTCS appeals the UN CSTD to reconsider this decision and instead ensure that this Working Group is appropriately constituted with full and active participation of all stakeholders including governments, private sector and civil society from both developing and developed countries; and involving relevant intergovernmental and international organisations and forums."

    Regards
    Cintra
    Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society

  • #Trinidad #Tobago Software Architect Community meeting Tuesday December 14, 2010

    Microsoft Trinidad and Tobago will be hosting the second quarterly meeting  of the Trinidad and Tobago Software Architect Council (TTSAC) on Tuesday December 14, 2010 from 8:30 am – 11:30 am on the 3rd Floor Conference Room, Chamber of Commerce Building, Columbus Circle, Westmoorings.

    Agenda :

    • 8:30 am –   9:00 am – Registration
    • 9:00 am –   9:45 am –  Best Practices in the Cloud, Microsoft
    • 9:45 am –  10:00 am – Break
    • 10:00 am –  11:00 am  To the Cloud with Windows Azure, Teleios
    • 11:00 am – 11:30 am   Stepping Forward with TTSAC

    For details on how to register for this event, email Saabira Muhammed at v-saabmu a@t microsoft.com or via phone: (868) 632-8488

    —–
    Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society at http://ttcsweb.org/ ; http://fb.me/ttcsweb ; http:/twitter.com/ttcs

    "networking local computer users!"

  • Beginner’s Guide to Domain Names published by #ICANN in cooperation with At-Large community

    A domain name can become where other people find you on line, and adds to your online identity. Although domain names are a big part of the Internet, understanding how these names work (and the ins and outs of obtaining them) can be mystifying at first. This highly readable guide, created in cooperation with ICANN’s At-Large community (which the Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society is a member of), helps the individual user understand and use domain names.

    The beginner's guide is 18 pages and can be downloaded at 

  • TTCS participates in #ICANN meeting in Cartagena, Colombia from Dec 5-10 2010

    (update 3rd Dec 2010 : updated Jacqueline Morris’ status as associate chair of ICANN NomCom – Dev T)

    The Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society (TTCS) will be participating in the 39th International Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)  meeting in Cartagena, Colombia  from December 5 to 10, 2010.

    Background about ICANN, At-Large, LACRALO

    At-Large is the name for the community of individual Internet users who participate in the policy development work of ICANN. Groups throughout the world that deal with individual Internet users’ interests can register with and participate in ICANN. The Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society is one such group recognized by ICANN as an At-Large Structure (ALS) since 2006. 

    The Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society (TTCS), along with 10 other ALSes in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ICANN to create the first At-Large Regional At-Large Organisation, LACRALO.
    Today, The Latin American and Caribbean Regional At-Large Organisation (LACRALO) includes 36 ALSes  in 15 countries in the Latin America and the Caribbean region. Together, LACRALO represents the regional interests of the At-Large community of individual Internet users in ICANN from Latin America and the Caribbean.
    One of the directors from TTCS, Dev Anand Teelucksingh, is serving as the LACRALO secretariat since 2009. 
    At Cartagena, another director from TTCS, Cintra Sooknanan will also be attending.
    What’s happening at ICANN Cartagena
    Note that Cartagena time is one hour earlier than Trinidad and Tobago time. Many if not all meetings allow for remote participation for live viewing and live transcripts for some of the larger meetings. If you view the meeting schedule and click to a specific meeting, there are participation details for how to remotely connect to that meeting.
    For more details on remote participation, see http://meetings.icann.org/remote-participation

    TTCS’ involvement in ICANN At-Large activities

    As LACRALO secretariat and as the primary At-Large Representative from the Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society, I (Dev Anand Teelucksingh) have been involved with several Working Groups which will be presenting in Cartagena :

    ALAC/At-Large Improvements project

    The goal of the ALAC/At-Large Improvements project is to review and improve both ALAC/At-Large’s participation in ICANN and the ALSes’ participation in At-Large. This will be done through the implementation of the 13 recommendations outlined in the At-Large Review Work Group’s Final Report and detailed in the Simplified At-Large Improvements Implementation Outline.
    We have divided these recommendations into four groups, each of which has been assigned to a work team consisting of ALAC members and regional representatives.
    I am chair of Work Team D : Work team on ALAC’s policy advice development, which is assigned to the implementation of the following recommendations :
    • Rec 8: ALAC may request public comment period be extended to 45 days
    • Rec 12: Consumer representatives should have input into decisions and policy advice
    • Rec 13: ALAC/At-Large policy advice mechanisms should be strengthened.
    I am also a member of  Work Team B : Work team on ALS participation, which is assigned to the implementation of the following recommendations :
    • Rec 3: Remove any obstacles in ALS-RALO-ALAC structure
    • Rec 4: ALS education and engagement
    • Rec 7: ALAC should choose its own communication/collaboration tools
    • Rec 9: ICANN should strengthen its translation/interpretation tools

     

    LACRALO Showcase Working Group

    https://community.icann.org/display/LACRALO/LACRALO+Cartagena+Showcase+Working+Group

    LACRALO will organize a showcase event on Monday December 6 2010, 1800 to 1900 local Cartagena time to :
    • highlight the activites of the ALSes of LACRALO in Latin America and the Caribbean
    • engage in outreach activities for regional Internet user organisations attending Cartagena.
    I am serving as the chair of the LACRALO Showcase Working Group preparing for this event. 
    Cintra Sooknanan from TTCS will be speaking about the TTCS at this showcase event.
    I will also be speaking as the LACRALO secretariat.

    Mike Tikasingh from TTCS, drew three maps of regions of Latin America and the Caribbean showing the ALSes in LACRALO. These maps will be showcased at the event.
    Countries in green shows a country with ALSes (and the pins indicate the number of ALSes in that country)
    Countries in orange shows a country in the LAC region without any ALSes.
    There are 33 countries in the Latin America and Caribbean region. LACRALO has 36 At-Large Structures (ALSes) from 15 countries.

    Also done were ALS factsheets from the region which are being printed and translated for the showcase event. Here’s a draft ALS factsheet showing only a few of the ALSes in LACRALO.

    LACRALO Bylaw Working Group

    Previous LACRALO teleconferences have identified two key issues in how LACRALO operates, according to our LACRALO organising documents 

    The two key issues :

    1. The terms for the LACRALO chair and the LACRALO secretariat. It was generally agreed that the terms of these officer positions should be for two years instead of one year and that persons elected to these officer positions can only serve for two consecutive terms.
    2. how to deal with At Large Structures (ALSes) in LACRALO that are inactive and not participating in LACRALO. Such inactive ALSes affect the quorum for successful adoption of motions in LACRALO meetings, including General Assemblies.

    The LACRALO Bylaw Working Group have been meeting and drafting suggested updates to the operating principles to address these issues: https://community.icann.org/display/LACRALO/Draft+Modifications+to+the+LACRALO+Operating+Principles+2010+-+Highlighted+Changes

     

    At-Large Structure Survey Recommendations Report 2010

     https://community.icann.org/display/ALSurvey/At-Large+Structure+2010+Survey+Workspace

    The 2010 At-Large Structure (ALS) Survey polled the 122 ALSes in At-Large to get current contact information for all ALS representatives and their alternates; to discover what policy areas the ALS Membership is most interested in; and to learn how they prefer to communicate with members of the At-Large community and ICANN At-Large Staff. Additionally, the survey will assist in learning more about the types of At-Large engagement the ALSes are interested in, including the preferred working group format, and whether their Membership is interested in representing the At-Large community at local and regional meetings and contributing to the implementation of the At-Large Improvements project.
    The Survey Analysis WG (which I am chair) is preparing a final ALS survey report to be presented at the ALAC and Regional Leadership Working Session 1 on Sunday, 5 December in Cartagena.

    Persons from Trinidad and Tobago participating in the ICANN meeting in Cartagena

    I note that there are several persons from Trinidad and Tobago that will be present at the ICANN meeting in Cartagena. In no particular order :
    • Dev Anand Teelucksingh, ALS representative from Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society and serving as LACRALO Secretariat
    • Cintra Sooknanan, ALS Representative from Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society in LACRALO.
    • Jacqueline Morris, Associate Chair of the ICANN Nominating Committee, and a a member of the BCEC, which was responsible for the short list of Candidates for the election of the first ever At Large voting Director of the ICANN Board. Also involved with Internet Governance issues (and in TTCS)
    • Tracy Hackshaw, from Ministry of Public Administration of Trinidad and Tobago (MPA) and who helped to organise the DiploFoundation IG event in Tobago as a DiploFoundation alumni. 
    • Patrick Hosein, director at TTNIC, which manages the .tt ccTLD and is serving on the ICANN ccNSO council.

    Questions, Comments, are appreciated.

    Kind Regards,

    Dev Anand Teelucksingh
    Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society at http://ttcsweb.org ; @facebook : http://fb.me/ttcsweb ; @twitter : http://twitter.com/ttcs
    “networking local computer users!”