ROSEHALL, ST James – Governments of developing countries have a moral responsibility to encourage the promotion of the three Es – education, employment and empowerment – as opposed to the three Gs – girls, games and gambling.

This, as the realities of expanding technology set in according to Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, chief executive officer of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) said yesterday.

Spio-Garbrah’s comments, which followed on the official opening ceremony of the CTO’s fifth annual forum at the Ritz-Carlton Golf and Spa resort in Rosehall, Montego Bay, were made against the background of an earlier presentation on the role that the 106-year-old organisation hopes to play in the inevitable evolution of telecommunications into converged information communications technology, (ICT).

“It is a matter of moral suasion as opposed to regulation… what we are saying is that there is a responsibility on the part of our sovereign members to ensure that they don’t just encourage the companies to focus on things like ringtones and games, but to ensure there is a balance with the things that empower people,” he told the Observer.

Close to one hundred delegates representing some 34 countries are attending the conference which is being staged under the theme ‘Harnessing the potential of NGN’s (Next Generation Networks) to facilitate ICT convergence’.

ICT convergence refers to the amalgamation of telecommunication services from a common platform. The desirability of this concept lies in the benefits to be reaped from cheaper and more efficient methods of communication.

The next three days will see delegates sharing best practices with a view to enhancing their national

ICT strategies.