ST GEORGE’S, Grenada (CMC) – Grenada will host the fifth regional meeting of the Caribbean Internet Peering and Interconnection Forum (CarPIF) that will focus on developing the Internet in the Caribbean by improving policy and building relationships between network operators and content providers.

The Caribbean Network Operators Group (CaribNOG) and the Internet Society (ISOC), which are co-organising the June 12-13 event, say it will draw Internet giants like Facebook and Google to the region as well as policymakers, regulators, private sector leaders, and academics.

“This event presents an opportunity for Grenada and the region to showcase the steps being taken to accelerate Internet development in the Caribbean,” said CaribNOG executive director and co-founder of CarPIF, Bevil Wooding.

“In addition, the forum addresses the peculiar policy and regulatory challenges that have made Internet connectivity, access and affordability difficult in some Caribbean countries. Removing barriers to infrastructure development, content availability and Internet traffic distribution can have a significant and positive [impact] on Internet growth in the Caribbean, along with the benefits of economic development and social empowerment that follow.” he added.

CarPIF, launched in Barbados in 2015, was created to promote the development of Internet exchange points and greater regional and international interconnections between Internet service providers, content delivery networks and other content and network service providers.

“We will be building on the momentum of past meeting where major international Internet companies like Google, Facebook and Akamai have participated alongside our regional and national Internet service providers,” said Wooding, who also serves as the Caribbean outreach manager for the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN).

The organisers said that by staging CarPIF in Grenada this year, they hope to highlight how the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) has been leading by example in the successful establishment of Internet exchange points in countries like Grenada, Dominica, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

“Increasing Caribbean interconnections requires collaboration and partnership among a diverse set of stakeholders,” said Brent McIntosh, the head of Regional IP Operations at Cable and Wireless.