CARDICIS

The Information Society and Cultural Diversity at the Caribbean (CARDICIS) is a response to the Caribbean's demonstrated lag in activities and outcomes linked with policies and application of ICT for development (ICT4D) as compared with Latin America and even Africa. The presence and the influence of this region in the discussions of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) have been below expectations of regional governments, NGOs, and activists. The Caribbean has a particular difficulty in speaking with one voice in this and other contexts.

Eighteen months prior to the CARDICIS meeting of August 30 to September 1, 2004, there was an intensification of activities (in particular a meeting in Barbados organised by Institute for Connectivity in the Americas (ICA), and thanks to the electronic discussion group CIVIC which came out of that meeting). The European Union was also involved. ICA Caribbean was putting in place projects generated by its preceding call for proposals; Funredes is involved in one of these which is to support the process of virtual integration in CIVIC.

CARDICIS 2004

The CARDICIS meeting of 2004 was held in Castries, St. Lucia, and brought together a diverse group of people involved in ICT throughout the Caribbean together. Translation and interpreters were provided by APEC University, of the Dominican Republic, Université Quisqueya of Haiti and SALCC and Education Ministry of St Lucia.

Agence Intergouvernementale de la Francophonie sponsored the conference, while Funredes designed and implemented the meeting itself with the support of the Latin Union and the Acceso Foundation.

The lecturers were:

* Adama Samassekou, President of the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN), President of WSIS PrepCom Geneva, Republic of Mali
* Gillian Marcelle, Technology for Development (TfDev), South Africa
* Yacine Khelladi, Taiguey Foundation, Dominican Republic
* Pedro Ureña Rib, Université Antilles Guyane, French Guiana
* Daniel Pimienta, FUNREDES, Dominican Republic

The Wikipedia entry on CARDICIS is considered an output document of CARDICIS 2004, and a bridge to CARDICIS 2005, which is presently in development.

External links

* [http://cardicis.org CARDICIS website] ( [http://cardicis.org/cv.php?lan=en&pg=cvMiembros list of participants] , [http://cardicis.org/fase1.php?lan=es&pg=f1DocT documents for the organization and output of the conference] )
* [http://www.stlucia.gov.lc/pr2004/august/cardicis_workshop_to_empowerment_the_creole_language.htm CARDICIS Workshop to Empowerment the Creole Language]
* [http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/001172.html The CARDICIS Experience]
* [http://cardicis.org/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=CarcicisStLucie CARDICIS photos]
* [http://agence.francophonie.org/ Agence Intergouvernementale de la Francophonie] (AIF)
* [http://funredes.org Funredes] , "Fundación-Redes-y-Desarrollo."
* [http://www.unilat.org/ Unión Latina]
* [http://www.acceso.or.cr/ Acceso Foundation]
* [http://www.acalan.org African Academy of Languages]
* [http://taiguey.org/ Taiguey Foundation]