Caribbean Times 75th issue - Wednesday 23rd March 2016

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10 c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g Wednesday 23rd March 2016 Richard Branson discusses solutions for Sargassum Seaweed with OECS Ministers Montserrat is participating in a meeting with entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Richard Branson this week on Moskito Island. Hon. Minister of Trade and Environment Claude Hogan and Chief Fisheries Officer Alywn Ponteen joined colleagues from the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Dominica, Antigua & Barbuda along with leading scientists and experts from around the world to discuss the ongoing issue of Sargassum Seaweed which is affecting the Caribbean and the very important tourism industry. It is a high stakes event involving the UK’s FCO with expectations of immediate solutions to stem the problem to include making a business from Sargassum. Branson is working with the OECS to develop a regional strategy to be implemented locally by member states. The OECS is acting as the technical moderator for the conference along with On March 9 2016 the German Government and the Caribbean Community have agreed to extend their joint programme, “Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technical Assistance (REETA)”. The REETA Programme aims at strengthening, at the regional and national level, sustainable development within the Caribbean Community through the increased use of renewable energy technologies and increased energy efficiency in the building sector. Under this new phase of the German-Caribbean cooperation, the German Government is providing 3 Million Euros to support the institutional and technical requirements for improving the financing environment for sustainable energy projects within the Region. The latest contribution brings to 8,02 Million Euros, the total support by the German Government under the REETA BVI technicians and Branson’s own team of environmentalists. “Sargussum seaweed is a threat to tourism, the livelihood of fishers and the marine environment,” Hogan noted. “Finding a strategy which we can action locally is the dominant theme of the conference.” The environment ministers of Montserrat, the BVI, Anguilla and Antigua have been asked to champion the project to work with Branson and his Virgin Unite charity to find solutions to the problem. Minister Hogan said they have identified some of the main issues but no single solution has yet been formulated. “One of the bullets is public education and information on Sargassum,” he said. There’s also the use of Sargassum as an animal feed. Branson has also shared that energy must be given to conserving seafood and managing the catches of lobster in particular. According to Minister Hogan, the investor is willing to pay for his methods to be implemented and he has already agreed a marine project for Montserrat. The billionaire who owns Moskito Island, along with nearby Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands has more than 400 companies under his Virgin Brand. Many of these companies, including Virgin and Virgin Holidays are in the travel industry. Moskito Island is part of the Virgin Limited Edition franchise, which features three villas and can house up to 22 guests for exclusive use according to the website. German government and CARICOM in joint REETA program Programme. REETA builds on the foundation of the CREDP Project, which has been implemented by GIZ between 2003 until 2016, and is based in Guyana at the CARICOM Secretariat. The programme focusses on five priority areas including policy, private sector development and participation, regional model projects, financing of energy infrastructure and capacity development.
Wednesday 23rd March 2016 c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g 11 C&W Business to offer Cisco Collaboration as a service over its MPLS networks C&W Business, a division of Cable & Wireless Communications Plc (CWC), announced on Monday that it will offer Cisco® Unified Communications as a Service over its multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network to its customers across the Caribbean and Latin American region. The C&W Business portfolio will also include the Cisco Hosted Collaboration Solution (HCS) for the Contact Center. C&W Business will become the first supplier in the Caribbean and Latin America to offer a contact center in the cloud, which represents a more agile, efficient, flexible and scalable contact center solution. Cisco HCS is a next-generation unified communications and collaboration platform for partners who want to offer unique Cisco collaboration technologies using hosted and managed models. By consuming collaboration services from the cloud, organizations have the flexibility to choose the collaboration applications specific to their requirements. Cisco HCS will be hosted at the C&W Business data centers and will be delivered to customers over C&W Communications’ world-class, SIP-enabled fiber IP (terrestrial and submarine) fault-tolerant networks, covering over 48,000 kilometers of fiber across the Caribbean and Latin American region, allowing C&W Business to deliver highly secure and reliable data, voice and video services efficiently to its customers. C&W Business will offer customers: Cisco’s Unified Communications and Collaboration solutions, which include voice and video communications, mobility, messaging, presence, and contact center. These services also enable web and videoconferencing. Access to cloud-based resources in a fast and easy way so customers can mobilize faster than with traditional models. Predictable per-user monthly costs without having to incur upfront capital expenditure investments. Ability to easily scale service levels up or down to address seasonal needs. Deployment of different license types to individuals across work groups or departments as required. Elimination of the costs and problems of equipment maintenance and software upgrades. In addition, existing Cisco collaboration customers can migrate their “on premises” solution into this cloud and maintain their investment in licensing. C&W Business is a Cisco Gold Certified Partner with specializations in Advanced Collaboration Architecture, Advanced Data Center Architecture and Cisco Managed Service Provider, among others. Supporting Quotes Daniel Peiretti, SVP Product Development, C&W Business: “In today’s changing world, multiple organizations are demanding new and more efficient ways to collaborate, improve user productivity and enhance customer experiences. By partnering with Cisco, we are further empowering our customers by delivering and managing a cloud services solution to meet their needs. We are pleased to have Cisco’s endorsement and excited to be implementing the first Cisco HCS for Contact Center in the Caribbean and Latin America and bring CCaaS and UCaaS across the region.” Gustavo Sorgente, Central America, Caribbean and Northern countries of South America – CANSAC- Cisco “Cisco HCS delivers the advantages of Cisco’s collaboration solutions, with the financial, operational, and strategic benefits associated with cloud services. Now, C&W Business will be able to offer collaboration tools to their customers in the region in a subscriber-based service that is cost effective and in a highly secure environment.” Informative, reliable, enriching! Think you have a good news story; did you witness anything that is news-worthy; did you take that valuable picture; things happening in your community but there is no outlet or voice for you? You can earn just by telling your story. Call Caribbean Times at (268) 562 8688 Email: editor@caribbeantimes.ag Or news@caribbeantimes.ag Reach us now with that breaking news!
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Caribbean Times 75th issue - Wednesday 23rd March 2016

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