![]() | This biographical article is written like a résumé .(December 2020) |
Bevil Wooding | |
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Nationality | Trinidad and Tobago |
Alma mater | University of the West Indies |
Occupation(s) | Technologist and Development Strategist |
Organization(s) | Congress WBN, ARIN, PCH |
Known for | ICT work in the Caribbean |
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Bevil Wooding is a Trinidadian technologist and development strategist, who is the Chief Knowledge Officer at Congress WBN, a UK-registered charity, with operations in over 120 countries. [1] He is known for his work in the field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the Caribbean. In 2010, he was named by ICANN as one of the Trusted Community Representatives for the Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) root. [2] [3] [4] Wooding advocates developing states and emerging economies to create policies, build infrastructure and leverage human resource capacity for technology-enabled development. [5] [6] He has been described as "a visionary who believes that the Caribbean Economy can be enhanced through ICTs and Internet development.” [7]
He is currently the Director of Caribbean Affairs at the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN), and an Internet Strategist for the US based non-profit Packet Clearing House (PCH). He also serves as a Special Advisor to the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU). His work spans several sectors and includes public awareness, capacity building and policy development. [8] [9] [10]
Wooding's work with the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has led to the creation of a special non-profit agency, APEX, to support the implementation of technology innovations within the Caribbean justice system. He currently serves as executive director of APEX. [11]
In 2009 Bevil Wooding and Stephen Lee with support from the Caribbean Telecommunications Union co-founded the Caribbean Network Operators Group (CaribNOG), as a volunteer-based association and forum for computer network experts and enthuasists to exchange knowledge and ideas. CaribNOG is one of several Internet network operators' groups worldwide. CaribNOG holds two regional meetings each year where topics such as cloud computing, IPv6 and cybersecurity are discussed. [22] [23] The inaugural regional gathering was held in St. Maarten in August 2010, with participation from across the Caribbean as well as the United Kingdom, North America, Mexico, New Zealand and Argentina. [24] [25] The 2018 gathering placed emphasis on the role and responsibility of regional technology professionals in the area of cybersecurity. [26] The first National CyberSecurity Symposium in Belize was organized by Wooding and the CaribNOG team, in collaboration with the Belize Public Utilities Commission and other partners and sponsoring organizations. [27] [28]
Wooding is the co-architect and first Program Director of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union's (CTU) Caribbean ICT Roadshow. [2] The Caribbean ICT Roadshow was launched in 2009 as a public awareness and education campaign designed to demonstrate how technology can be used to transform Caribbean society and economies. [29] [30] The initiative targets governments, entrepreneurs, the elderly and youth, through customized programs ranging from lectures to hands-on workshops and panel discussions. [31] [32] As of 2018 there have been 23 editions of the CTU Caribbean ICT Roadshow in 18 countries. [33] [34]
In his role as an Internet Strategist for Packet Clearing House, Wooding has worked to raise awareness of and advance investment and development in Internet exchange points (IXPs) across the Caribbean. Instead of Caribbean countries relying on international exchange points to carry local data between Internet service providers (ISPs), developing local IXPs can help countries to conserve operating costs, boost digital security, improve internet quality, and increase internet access. [35] He has contributed to the establishment of IXPs in Barbados, Belize, BVI, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. [7] [36] [37] At the launch of the first IXP in Belize, Wooding stated that this type of internet infrastructural development is a “small but vital step in the journey toward the development of the Belizean and the Caribbean Internet Economy”. [38]
Wooding co-founded the Caribbean Peering and Interconnection Forum (CarPIF), a regional event to bring together senior decision makers from internet service providers, cloud providers and content delivery networks. [39] [40] He describes CarPIF as “where the economic underpinnings of the traffic exchange and peering relationships that define the Internet are discussed using Caribbean data and Caribbean examples, to a Caribbean audience.” [41] CarPIF addresses challenges to internet connectivity, access and affordability. [42] [43] The inaugural event was held in Barbados in 2015. Since then, host countries have included Curaçao, St. Maarten and Belize. [44] [45] [46]
Network resilience and cybersecurity have been high priorities for Wooding, who has conducted numerous workshops and presentations raising awareness about the threats facing the Caribbean and the work of organizations such as CTU, CaribNOG and ARIN to build local capacity, strengthen networks and protect the regional internet. [47] [48] [49] [50] Resilience refers to “the ability of a network to maintain acceptable levels of service in the face of a range of challenges, including cyber-attacks and natural disasters, and even user-errors.” [51] Made up of numerous small-island states, the Caribbean region is particularly susceptible to the effects of extreme weather events and natural disasters, such as hurricanes. [52]
Through ARIN training events across the region, Wooding has been educating regional agencies about how to strengthen and secure local networks. In 2018, St. Kitts & Nevis became the first in the Caribbean to be assigned its own autonomous system number, or ASN, taking the first step towards network autonomy. [53]
Wooding together with Sir Dennis Byron is a co-architect of the non-profit agency APEX, established by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in 2016. Since then he has been instrumental in coordinating development and delivery of technology for Caribbean courts and the justice sector in the region. APEX technology has been implemented in several countries, including Barbados, Belize, Guyana, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago for electronic filing, case management and court performance management. [11] [54] [55]
In 2006 Wooding founded the BrightPath Foundation, a non-profit organization providing values-based technology and digital content training. He serves as executive director with oversight for current initiatives including mobile app development, classroom technologies, digital publishing and photography training. [56] In 2012 he coordinated the development and implementation of the BrightPath Jumpstart program, an initiative that brings high school students together with practicing professionals who provide mentorship, training and ICT industry insight. The program was launched through a pilot project at NorthGate College in St. Augustine, Trinidad. [57]
Following St. Lucia's first Mobile App Development workshop in 2012, the National Youth Council of St. Lucia signed a Memorandum of Understanding with BrightPath Foundation to collaborate on a range of technology education initiatives targeted at the youth. [58] TechLink – a regional program offering hands-on training in digital content creation and related technology skills - was launched in Grenada in November 2013, and by the end of 2014, over 400 educators, entrepreneurs, young people and parents had participated in TechLink events held in Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago. [59] [60]
In 2012, Congress WBN signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), focused on providing values-based leadership and supporting ICT education delivery. [61] Through this partnership, Wooding worked closely with CXC to create the Caribbean's first-ever Digital Media syllabus, along with a training toolkit of instructional videos and resource materials to assist educators with implementing the curriculum in their classrooms. [62] [63] The Digital Media examination was the first to be delivered electronically. [64]
The American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) is the regional Internet registry for Canada, the United States, and many Caribbean and North Atlantic islands. ARIN manages the distribution of Internet number resources, including IPv4 and IPv6 address space and AS numbers. ARIN opened for business on December 22, 1997 after incorporating on April 18, 1997. ARIN is a nonprofit corporation with headquarters in Chantilly, Virginia, United States.
Saint Kitts and Nevis, officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of the Lesser Antilles. With 261 square kilometers of territory, and roughly 50,000 inhabitants, it is the smallest sovereign state in the Western Hemisphere, in both area and population, as well as the world's smallest sovereign federation. The country is a Commonwealth realm, with Charles III as King and head of state. It is the only sovereign federation in the Caribbean.
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An autonomous system (AS) is a collection of connected Internet Protocol (IP) routing prefixes under the control of one or more network operators on behalf of a single administrative entity or domain, that presents a common and clearly defined routing policy to the Internet. Each AS is assigned an autonomous system number (ASN), for use in Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing. Autonomous System Numbers are assigned to Local Internet Registries (LIRs) and end user organizations by their respective Regional Internet Registries (RIRs), which in turn receive blocks of ASNs for reassignment from the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). The IANA also maintains a registry of ASNs which are reserved for private use.
Internet exchange points are common grounds of IP networking, allowing participant Internet service providers (ISPs) to exchange data destined for their respective networks. IXPs are generally located at places with preexisting connections to multiple distinct networks, i.e., datacenters, and operate physical infrastructure (switches) to connect their participants. Organizationally, most IXPs are each independent not-for-profit associations of their constituent participating networks. The primary alternative to IXPs is private peering, where ISPs directly connect their networks to each other.
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Nelcia Robinson-Hazell is a Black Carib poet, community organizer and activist. She has spearheaded the development of policy initiatives throughout the Caribbean on issues regarding gender and indigenous identity. Serving as the president of the National Council of Women of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, she began in the 1980s to change the organization toward political action. Recognizing a need to establish research on the needs of women, she was involved in the creation of both local and regional organizations to analyze and develop information about the socio-economic and political inequalities women faced. She created similar initiatives for indigenous peoples, beginning first in Saint Vincent and then expanding them regionally. Robinson has been involved in international directives including the World Summit for Social Development and the 1995 World Conference on Women, as well as follow-up conferences discussing such issues as poverty, economic empowerment and violence against women. She has served as a civil society representative on the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commissions and as chair of the Commonwealth Women's Network.
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