In this our latest Community Chat, and with members of the Caribbean tech community, Carolyn Ferguson and Kevon Swift, the panel discusses:  the plans for the switchover from analogue (free-to-air) broadcasting to digital broadcasting in Jamaica, and the state of Internet Governance initiatives across Latin America and the Caribbean.

 

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This episode is also available in Apple iTunes and on Stitcher!

The ICT Pulse Community Chat episode for September appears to have two seemingly unrelated and arbitrary topics: digital switchover and Internet Governance.

Digital switchover speaks to the process of transitioning from analogue (free-to-air) broadcast transmissions to digital transmissions. It is a topic that has been discussed extensively across the Caribbean region, with some regulators preparing proposals on how the switchover can be managed in their respective countries.

On the other hand, Internet Governance is a topic that is discussed regularly on ICT Pulse. Our podcast episode last week, with Albert Daniels on the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), is a case in point. However, as an area that covers a broad range of topics and issues – in a rapidly evolving environment – there is always room for more discussion.

Carolyn Ferguson

Having said this, one of the great advantages of the Community Chat format is the fact that seemingly disparate issues can be discussed together. Further, although ‘digital switchover’ might not be squarely an Internet issue, in moving from free-to-air broadcasting, to digital transmissions, opportunities open up for a variety of services, such as pay-as-you-go and subscription services, which appear to mimic some of the offerings already available via the Internet. Additionally, digital TV is already being offered by many cable/subscription television service providers across the region, and it is frequently bundled with broadband Internet services – which points to the technology convergence. i.e. being able to offer several services through a single transmission medium, that has already occurred.

Our guests for this Community Chat are:

  • Carolyn Ferguson. Carolyn is an Electrical Engineer, and a Lecturer in the Electrical Engineering Department, at the University of Technology (Jamaica). She has been participating in the discussions on the digital switchover for Jamaica, and so wants to bring awareness to the issue, not only for our podcast listeners in Jamaica, but also those across the region and further afield, who might be grappling with the same issue.

  • Kevon Swift

    Kevon Swift. Kevon is the Head, Strategic Relations and Integration of the Latin America and Caribbean Network Information Centre (LACNIC), which is the Regional Internet Registry serving the Latin American and Caribbean regions. By nature his work, Internet Governance is a topic near and dear to his heart, but in this instance, Kevon wants to focus on Internet Governance-related events and initiatives that are – or might not be – happening across the region, and why they are important.

 

We would love to hear your thoughts!

Do leave us a comment either here beneath this article, or on our Facebook or LinkedIn pages, or via Twitter, @ICTPulse

 

 

Select links

Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that either were mentioned during the episode, or otherwise, might be useful:

 

 

Image credits: alles (Pixabay);  C Ferguson; LACNIC

Music credit:  Ray Holman