Roundup: Avaya, CTU, ICT

Enterprise communications, software and services provider Avaya (NYSE: AV) has enhanced its Avaya Connect channel training and certification programs in Latin America to provide channel partners with more comprehensive, solutions-based training at a lower cost, Avaya said in a statement. This new model introduces a solutions-based competency model, a channel training subscription fee model and the first SIP Communications Architect certification. Avaya channel partners would be able to build a broader set of skills, and under the new subscription fee model, training costs would be significantly discounted and more predictable for budget forecasting when compared to "ala carte" training or comparable training models from other vendors, Avaya said. *** As part of its 20th anniversary celebrations, the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) will be staging a regional Caribbean ICT roadshow, Jamaica's government said in a statement. The aim of the road show is to raise awareness within the public sector, the private sector, civil society and academia of the innovative approaches necessary for the effective use of ICT in government, business and social development. The Jamaica leg of the road show was launched May 19 and will culminate in a two-day conference, June 28-29 in New Kingston. The Central Information Technology Office (CITO) and the Spectrum Management Authority (SMA) - both agencies of the prime minister's office - have partnered to host the event. *** The Barbados government is working on a series of telecommunications reforms such as a data protection act to accommodate the evolution of information and communications technology, Barbados' minister of state in the finance, telecommunications, investment and energy ministry, senator Darcy Boyce, said on the Barbados government information website. Boyce said the government's role was to enable policy and a regulatory environment that promotes the advantages of ICTs in a rapidly converging environment, e-government, e-commerce and the availability of low-cost broadband. Reforms will include: the enactment of the electronics transactions act, to help reduce the use of paper and create greater efficiencies; the computer misuse act; and the data protection act to regulate the collection and use of personal data. The freedom of information act will provide guidelines for the dissemination of information in the public sector, and the telecommunications act will be revised to accommodate this new regulation. Consumers will also benefit from the introduction of the consumer protection act, which will guarantee basic consumer rights.