The Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society (TTCS) will be having a meeting on Saturday November 20 2010 from 11am at Engineering Consultants at 112A Edward Street, Port of Spain (corner of Oxford and Edward Streets)
At this meeting, we will be discussing several matters including :

• the Interception of Communications Bill 2010
• an overview of the TTCS bye-laws
• the recent Cariforum Follow up workshop in Santo Domingo
• the recent DiploFoundation Internet Governance (IG) Diplomacy Training Workshop in Tobago

Anyone interested are invited to attend. A contribution of $30 towards refreshments is expected.
See you there!

The Interception of Communications Bill 2010 was introduced in the Trinidad and Tobago Parliament on November 12, 2010 in the House of Representatives by the Minister of National Security, Senator Brigadier John Sandy.

The Bill seeks to "provide for and about the interception of communications, the acquisition and disclosure of data relating to communications, the acquisition of the means by which electronic data protected by encryption or passwords may be decrypted or accessed and other related matters."

From the text of The Interception of Communications Bill 2010 :

This Bill seeks to provide the legal framework within which public or private communications, which are being transmitted by means of a public or private telecommunications network, can be lawfully intercepted. An interception of communication is lawfully done only when it is done pursuant to a warrant issued by a Judge on an application by an authorized officer. Consequently, it is an offence for a person intentionally to intercept a communication being transmitted without an order of the Court. In general, a warrant would be issued only to investigate, prevent or detect a specified offence, and would be valid for an initial period of ninety days, but may be extended by the Court for two further periods, each for ninety days. The Bill also makes provision for an oral application for a warrant in urgent circumstances, subject to certain safeguards. Finally, the Bill provides that the content of a communication or communication data, which is lawfully obtained, is admissible as evidence in any criminal proceedings.

Download/read The Interception of Communications Bill 2010 at http://www.ttparliament.org/legislations/b2010h22.pdf  (PDF ; 212K ; 34 pages)

From the Trinidad Guardian newspaper dated 27 Oct 2010 : E-citizen card’ to become main form of identification

"The Government intends to implement an “e-citizens card” which will replace the ID card and drivers’ permit in the future, said acting Permanent Secretary Gillian McIntyre, Ministry of Public Utilities. “The e-citizens card is a unique identification number which will allow citizens to access all Government services on and off-line. “It is anticipated that this identification system which will eventually replace all other systems such as drivers permits, ID cards and smart cards will encourage a more efficient degree of Government services,” she said. Ag Permanent Secretary Gillian McIntyre, Ministry of Public Utilities was speaking on behalf of Emmanuel George on Thursday night at the media launch of the “I-create” 2010-2011 Caribbean Association of National Telecommunications Organisation (Canto) Regional e-content competition at National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA)."

Read rest of article at 
http://guardian.co.tt/business/business/2010/10/27/e-citizen-card-become-main-form-identification

Via a press release on the http://www.caricomict4d.org/ website :

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)  Three of the Sub-Committees of the Regional Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Steering Committee will begin next week to formulate a Draft Implementation Plan for the recently developed Draft Regional ICT Strategy. 

The week-long meetings of the sub-committees will be convened in Trinidad and Tobago from Monday 25 October and will discuss issues pertaining to Access, Connectivity and Internet Governance; Business, Trade, Culture and Disaster Management; and Capacity Building.

The Draft Implementation Plan will outline the activities to be undertaken and the specific milestones and targets to achieve the objectives as set out in the Draft Strategy. It will also give guidance to the governance model that should be adopted for the execution of these activities.

The Regional ICT Strategy (Regional Digital Development Strategy – RDDS) outlines the level of ICT development in the Region and identifies existing gaps. It also points out critical Regional issues to be addressed and the approaches that should be taken to deal with these issues. Its mission is to “use ICT and other appropriate technologies to leverage and deepen the Region’s cultural resources, through high-speed ICT networks and trained human resources, and within good governance and sound operating partnership frameworks; in order to add social and economic value for the benefit of the Region.” 

At their Meeting in July 2010, CARICOM Heads of Government mandated that the Implementation Plan for the Draft Strategy be developed and forwarded to the ICT Ministers Meeting and the next Inter-Sessional meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in 2011. The Implementation Plan for the Draft Strategy will also be presented at the Fifth meeting of the Regional ICT Steering Committee next month.

The Regional ICT Steering Committee – which comprises sub-committees – was established in 2004 and serves as an advisory body to the CARICOM Secretariat on issues related to ICTs. It comprises delegates from CARICOM Member States, Regional Organisations and Institutions, the Private Sector, Civil Society, and the CARICOM Secretariat.

The work that is conducted under the Steering Committee is geared towards advancing development of the Caribbean Information Society. The Committee is part of the Caribbean Information Society (Carib-IS) project which is funded under the 9th European Development Fund.

The Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society (TTCS) website at http://www.ttcsweb.org/ was primarily done using a text editor for the past 10 years, with only the use of a HTML preprocessor (PPWIZARD) within the last 5 years.