Boosting ICT in the Dominican Republic is an ICT Conference in San Domingo on May 19-20 that aims at developing a strategic agenda to enable sustainable growth of ICT business sector in the Dominican Republic.

The event is organised by the Chamber of Commerce and Production of Santo Domingo (CCPSD), in partnership with the Dominican Government, the National Private Sector Council and other business associations, and financially supported by the ACP Business Climate facility (BizClim). a joint initiative of the ACP Group of States and the European Commission financed under the 9th European Development Fund.

The specific strategic objectives validated during pre-event workshops and consultations with key public and private stakeholders are, to:

• Promote business opportunities and potential market niches for the DR ICT sector, in particular those arising from the global financial crisis, the newest ICT products and services trends. Also opportunities for strategic alliances and joint-venture between EU and DR ICT businesses will presented.

• Promote a Public-Private dialogue and define a common strategic agenda to improve the business environment to achieve increased investment in the ICT sector and exports.

• Strengthen the organisation of the ICT sector in the DR.

• Strengthen the organisation of the ICT sector in the DR.

To achieve the objectives agreed upon by key stakeholders, the format of the conference will include presentations in plenary sessions and facilitated working groups/workshops breakouts. About 100 Participants are expected; of which 80 would be ICT businesses and representatives from national business sector organizations, and 20 international participants, mainly representatives of ICT chambers, associations, networks or clusters from Europe and the Caribbean.

The expected DR participants will be

• Owner and managers of ICT Businesses (including Software developers, Integrators, ICT solution and services providers, IT equipment and hardware manufacturers or resellers, IT services providers, trainers and consultants, ICT outsourcers, IT based BPO, etc.), young entrepreneurs, investors in innovation and ICT SMEs.

• IT department managers of the larger non-ICT companies (as banks, telecom, agro-processing industry)

• Deans and directors of specialized (high level) IT training institutes and universities

• Representatives of intermediary organizations, chambers and ICT sector associations.

• Representatives of intermediary organizations, chambers and ICT sector associations.