Page 8 - CANTO Annual Report 2019

The 35th Annual CANTO Conference and Exhibition was held in July 2019 in Trinidad & Tobago and boasted the attendance of some 12 ICT Ministers from across the region, as well as some 600 delegates from around the world. The Conference challenged delegates on a range of ICT issues, and engaged participants in sessions that were largely well attended, into the final day. Several Regulators attended from around the region and the Conference was addressed by the FCC, marking the second year in the row that they
have demonstrated their strong commitment to CANTO.
Changes to the Board
In January 2019, at our 35th AGM in Guyana, Mr. E. Jay Saunders, representing Digicel Trinidad & Tobago, was elected to the Board. The Board welcomed E. Jay and enjoyed working with him for several months. Unfortunately, E. Jay has had to step away from his position on the Board due to new responsibilities at home in Turks & Caicos, and has been replaced by Julian Wilkins, former Chairman. The Board is pleased to have Julian
back as a full member in his own right.
The AGM also marked the departure of Mr. Lyrio Gomez, representing UTS, as a member of the Board. The Board of Directors wishes to thank Lyrio for his service and loyalty to the CANTO organization over the years.
Due to unavoidable absences for work related reasons, Mr. Charles Carter of TSTT, was temporarily replaced by Ms. Christa Leith for several Board meetings. Ms. Leith has a long association with CANTO and has brought the number of women to the Board at 3, ensuring that our male/female balance on the Board is nearly at half.
The Future is Change
In October of last year, CANTO’s Board met to undertake a strategic review of its operations. During that exercise, we examined the results of an extensive survey of key stakeholders of CANTO, including the staff, our committee members, a sample of our vendors and sponsors, and even the Board itself. We reviewed the results over two days and the message from our stakeholders, is clear. To survive, we need to change.
We learned a lot from the responses we received. Many respondents, for example, think our agenda for the Annual Conference is too focused on regulatory matters. There is a general perception that our events can be too formal, and too focused on protocol.
6