The World Information Technology Services Alliance (WITSA) has presented the Government of Bermuda with a special ICT Industry Development Award, at the WITSA World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT 2010) in Amsterdam.

The award recognises efforts to encourage the development of the global ICT industry and in this case it was given to the Government of Bermuda for organising a workshop (jointly sponsored with the World Bank) for delegates from the Latin American, Caribbean and South American region, on the means of strengthening the ICT industry through the formation of incubators and associations.

The workshop was held prior to the WITSA Global Public Policy Summit (GPPS) at the Fairmont Southampton in Bermuda in 2009. The intention of this pre-conference was to enable several emerging countries in that region that would not otherwise have been able to do so, to participate in meaningful sessions on growing and maturing ICT industries, allow the participants to network with their global peers, and benefit from the WITSA GPPS 2009.

In the WITSA 2009 Annual Report, Secretary General Dr. James Poisant commented on the Public Policy Summit held in Bermuda, saying: " WITSA is extremely proud that its member, the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce working in collaboration with the Bermudian Government, succeeded in hosting the best-ever Global Public Policy Summit in WITSA's history.

"The programme content, speakers, venue and operations were world class. Thank you Bermuda!"

Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and E-Commerce, Michael Scott, said: "I was thrilled and proud to hear that the team in the Department of E-Commerce was recognised by this key global ICT Association leader for their hard work in conceiving and staging this important pre-conference. We feel Bermuda has much to offer in helping other countries develop their ICT infrastructure and look forward to having a fruitful working relationship with our partners across the world."

The World Information Technology Services Association Global Public Policy Summit 2009 was held at the Fairmont Southampton from November 1 to 3. The event attracted 183 delegates from more than 40 countries.