Virtual Network Of Cultural Entities In The Eastern Caribbean

This network draws on information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enhance and promote the cultural life of the Caribbean community by creating opportunities for collaboration among a network of cultural organisations. Concretely, the bilingual (French-English) Eastern Caribbean cultural gateway website is made up of an Extranet and an Intranet including: a newsletter, a calendar of events, thematic pages relating to the arts (theatre, music, etc.), a searchable database of cultural organisations, libraries, how-to's for internet users, and so on. The portal both facilitates exchange of experience (e.g., through interactive fora) and shares information (e.g., through access to related links to national and international websites). These offerings are designed to create a sense of connection and cooperation among those working in the cultural sector. The idea is that such exchange and learning may result in joint ventures (tours, exchange and training programmes, pooling of expenses, creation of regional databases, etc.).

Participation is a key strategy: the portal operates as a "community" site. In order to ensure an efficient information network, Intranets are defined by the associations in keeping with their own information and mutual assistance needs. Some members have developed their own websites to ensure regular updating of the content; these 40 websites make up a web ring offering a selection of representative cultural organisations. Using this interface, the Virtual Network aims to enable members to highlight the diversity of their productions (announcing shows, exhibitions and publications online) while showcasing each island's particular characteristics. The portal, that is, serves as a tool for the promotion of the cultural specificity of the region through a strategy of sharing information that is developed and carried out by the cultural agent themselves. Such a participatory approach is designed to foster the presentation of the Lesser Antilles in a less stereotyped manner (it is frequently seen as mainly as a tourist destination) - for example.

To facilitate the access to and effective use of ICT resources for networking, the project has installed 36 computers in the 6 countries, in order to provide gateway access to the sister organisations and to enable them to manage their presence on the internet portal via all the tools available to them: web, mail, listserv, weblog. Various Cultural Internet Cafés have been set up that are accessible to all the members and that provide a better internet connection than might otherwise be possible. To foster use of this technology, training sessions of training have been offered to the cultural organisations:

• Training in management of a multimedia project, including defining an internet policy appropriate for each structure, managing a webmaster, internet costs, and workshop discussions on how to update sites.
• Training in general internet use.
• Beginner webmaster training for persons working with cultural organisations.
• A regional training for cyber managers of the Cultural Internet Cafés.

The executive agency and coordinator for the project is the OECS Secretariat, which is assisted by a regional steering committee made up of a representative from each of the OECS Member states. A series of national committees is responsible for internet access, content design of the portal, coordination of activities through a focal point, etc. They operate in a manner similar to a network of mutual assistance communities. The 60 sister organisations of the network include those working in areas such as education, historial heritage, home science, literary arts (spoken and written word), management, media, musical arts, national heritage, performing arts, and visual arts. They cover a wide range, of organisations and individuals, including: national libraries, trust funds, schools of art, cultural heritage associations, festivals, carnival committees, networks of Calypsonians, networks of steel-pan players, orchestras, dance and theatre companies, show business promoters, music societies, and web professionals involved in cultural activities.