Caribbean ICT Youth Network

The CIYN is an initiative of the CTU to develop the next generation of ICT leaders: regulators, engineers, policymakers and entrepreneurs.

This initiative first began in 2022, following the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU’s) inaugural Generation Connect Youth Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, for which many Caribbean delegates attended. The CTU’s Secretary General and his Deputy engaged these youth delegates post-summit, and offered them the opportunity to plan the first ever Caribbean Youth Internet Governance Forum (CYIGF) – held virtually in August 2022, preceding the annual Caribbean Internet Governance Forum (CIGF).

This event received much participation and praise from countries around the Caribbean, and has been recurring every year since, with the CYIGF now being registered under the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (UN IFG) as a National or Regional Initiative (NRI). The co-ordinators of CYIGF also serve in the UNIGF’s Youth track, and represent at the NRI’s IGF planning meetings.

Other key CIYN activities include annual meetings of the CIYN as part of CTU’s ICT week; its annual flagship initiative, the Caribbean Youth Internet Governance Forum (CYIGF) held with the Caribbean Internet Governance Forum; capacity building seminars; opportunities for fellowship to ITU and other international organisations international conferences; and a newly-launched internship programme with the CTU, set to take place over July – August 2025 in Trinidad and Tobago. CIYN activities in the past have  included a fellowship by one of its members to  the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 in the United Arab Emirates (through the support of the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago) and attendance by two of its members at the ITU Global Youth Summit 2025, held in Varadero, Cuba.