The Caribbean’s technology leaders, government ministers and telecommunications executives will gather in the Dominican Republic next month for CANTO’s 41st Annual Conference and Trade Exhibition, where discussions will focus on the region’s digital future.

The conference will be held from August 9 to 12 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Punta Cana under the theme “Elevate the Caribbean: From Connectivity to Global Competitiveness.”

More than a dozen government ministers are expected to attend, representing Anguilla, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Curaçao, Dominica, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Maarten, and Trinidad and Tobago. Four additional ministerial confirmations are also pending.

The conference is expected to bring together policymakers, regulators, telecommunications operators, technology companies and investors from across the Caribbean and beyond to examine the challenges and opportunities shaping the region’s digital economy.

Topics on the agenda include artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, broadband infrastructure, digital sovereignty, smart energy systems, digital skills development and financing for digital infrastructure.

Featured speakers include Dr Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of the International Telecommunication Union’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, Professor Therese Chambers of the University of Technology, Jamaica, and Ambassador Abhinav Puri of the Federation of International Consular Chambers of Africa.

The event will also feature a trade exhibition showcasing products and services from companies across the global ICT industry, while CANTO will present its inaugural Ministerial Award for ICT Leadership and Digital Transformation.

Founded in 1985 and headquartered in Trinidad and Tobago, CANTO is the Caribbean’s leading telecommunications and information and communications technology (ICT) association.