October 6, 2026
Caribbean technology professionals will gather in Curaçao this week as the Caribbean Network Operators Group (CaribNOG) turns its attention to strengthening the region’s digital infrastructure and resilience.
According to a CaribNOG press release, the organisation’s 32nd meeting will take place from October 7 to 9 at the Courtyard by Marriott in Willemstad. The event will bring together network engineers, internet service providers, data centre and cloud operators, cybersecurity professionals, regulators and policymakers for three days of discussions, technical training and knowledge sharing.
CaribNOG 32 follows the organisation’s previous meeting in Jamaica in April, where the focus was on the importance of the Caribbean’s critical internet infrastructure.
Bevil Wooding, Director of Caribbean Affairs at the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) and a CaribNOG founder, said the Curaçao meeting will move the conversation toward practical steps to strengthen that infrastructure.
“Digital resilience is fundamental to the security, reliability and accessibility of the electronic services we have come to depend on for communications, commerce and public service delivery,” Wooding said.
The programme will examine the systems that keep digital services operating, including satellite links, submarine cables, data centres and power systems. Participants will also visit Curaçao data centres and cable landing stations to see some of the infrastructure firsthand.
Curaçao’s role in regional connectivity is one reason for its selection as the host location. The island is home to AMS-IX Caribbean, the regional operation of the Amsterdam Internet Exchange, as well as a data centre sector that Giovanni King, CEO of BlueNAP Americas and Chairman of the Caribbean Datacenter Association, describes as part of an interconnected Caribbean network serving 14 million people.
King said the region’s next stage of connectivity cannot be addressed by individual islands or operators working separately.
“The next phase of Caribbean connectivity cannot be addressed island by island or operator by operator,” he said, adding that digital sovereignty and resilience need to become part of boardroom decisions, regulatory frameworks and national development strategies.
The meeting will also look beyond technical matters, with executives, regulators and policymakers discussing governance, digital trust and artificial intelligence.
The release said a full day of hands-on training will focus on routing security, AI-assisted network administration and local interconnection.
Stephen Lee, CEO of Caribbean managed services provider ArkiTechs, said the practical sessions are intended to help participants turn the discussions into actions they can take back to their organisations.
The Curaçao meeting will also mark a transition for CaribNOG itself.
After 15 years as a volunteer-run community, the organisation is moving toward a more formal structure that includes programme management, structured special projects and expanded research capacity. CaribNOG said the change reflects the growing role of network operator groups as spaces where operators, regulators and policymakers work on shared solutions.
The Curaçao meeting will be the last held in CaribNOG’s current format.
CaribNOG 32 is supported by ARIN, the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the Internet Society, Packet Clearing House, the Caribbean Telecommunications Union, Connected Caribbean, the Caribbean Datacenter Association, ArkiTechs and AMS-IX.
Registration is open to the public and is free, but attendance requires registration. Details and the full agenda are available through CaribNOG.