Reflections on Gender Equity in the ICT Industry: Anglophone Caribbean perspective brought to Havana during LACNIC 25!

   Some 700 technology experts and professionals from across Latin America and the Caribbean gathered in Havana, Cuba from May 2 - 6, 2016, for the 25th meeting of the Internet Registry for Latin America and the Caribbean (LACNIC). LACNIC is one of five organisations worldwide, responsible for managing the world’s Internet numbering resources. The organization also works to create conditions that will allow the Internet to become an effective instrument for social inclusion and economic development in benefit of all Latin American and Caribbean countries. LACNIC’s 25th meeting included activities such as workshops and training on new technologies, technical forums about Regional Interconnection, IPv6 protocol, Network Security and a Public Policy Forum on the allocation of Internet resources.

Ayanna Samuels speaking during LACNIC25 in Havana on May 4, 2016. Credit: Gerard Best

Headquartered in Uruguay and with a strong Latin America focus, LACNIC has long expressed a desire to incorporate more of a Caribbean Anglophone perspective in their work. As a result of my work in the field of ICTs and Technology Policy, with a strong focus on realizing the potential of affordable Broadband to foster socio-economic growth, along with my capacity building focused work on Gender Equity and ICTs and my personal journey as a Jamaican Aerospace Engineer, I was invited to deliver a presentation during LACNIC’s first ever panel devoted to Inspiring Women to Engage in ICTs on May 4, 2016. LACNIC wrote a review of the panel entitled "Greater Participation of Women in ICTs."

Feedback received is that my presentation resulted in increased understanding of the causes, barriers and solutions to the problem of gender inequality in the ICT industry. I was also heartened to have been told that my sharing insight from my personal journey in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), detailing some of the personal challenges I've faced and continue to face, and how I overcome them, particularly resonated with individuals.

Ernesto Majo, Deputy Executive Director of LACNIC, reflected to me during our ride back to the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, that he felt the proceedings were strengthened by this incorporation of an Anglophone Caribbean perspective. My extreme gratitude to LACNIC for having facilitated this seminal opportunity!