The network is made up of dynamic cultural organizations operating in each of the member state of the Organisation of the Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) namely: Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as the French Department of Americas (FDA) - Martinique and Guadeloupe - which associated to the project because of their cultural, linguistic and geographical proximity. The network will enable the cultural organisations of the region to work directly with one another.

The 60 sister organisations of the network are grouped into five categories: performing arts (music, dance, etc), literature (including Creole and orality), visuals arts, festivals and events, as well as cultural heritage. They cover a wide range: 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, etc.

Financed by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the 375,000-Euro project aims to foster regional integration and facilitate relations between the OECS member states and the FDA.
The executive agency and coordinator for the project is the OECS Secretariat assist by the regional steering committee, made up of a representative from each of the OECS Member states, Martinique and Guadeloupe, are responsible for the smooth implementation of the project over a 30 months period.

Objectives

• Visibility

This is the first initiative of this type devoted entirely to the cultural productions of the OECS. Based on an Internet gateway site www.oecsculture.net with organizations acting as suppliers, the OECS Cultural Network should enable the members to highlight the diversity of their productions (announcing shows, exhibitions and publications on-line; ‘exchange’; links to national and international sites) while showcasing each island’s special characteristics on the Net.
www.oecsculture.net serves as a tool for the promotion of the cultural specificity of the region through an appropriate strategy done by cultural agent themselves. Thus, the Lesser Antilles could be presented in a less stereotyped manner than it is today (mainly as a tourist destination).

• Co-operation among participants

Since the network is designed to cover the cultural sectors, it facilitates exchange of experience and information, resulting in joint ventures (tours, exchange and training programs, pooling of expenses, creation of regional data bases, etc.).

Activities

The OECS cultural network project comprises three main activities: Setting up the network on line, facilitating connectivity and providing training.
The cultural organisation network is made up of national committees responsible for Internet access, content design of the websites and updating of the portal www.oecsculture.net , coordination of activities through a focal point, etc. The national committees send a representative to meetings of the Regional Steering Committee, which is responsible for defining the broad outlines of the project.

Connectivity

The important question of access to the Internet for everybody – the famous digital gap – is a real question in the OECS countries. This gap, particularly inside the country, between connected region and non-connected must be considered.
To facilitate the access to ICT resources, the project has installed 36 computers in the six countries, in order to provide gateway access to the sister organisations and to enable them to manage their presence on the Net via all the tools available to them: web, mail, listserve, weblog….
Five national committees choose the Cultural Internet Café solution accessible to all the members. It allowed them to provide a better Internet connection to the members with the assistance of private partners.

Training

For sessions of training were offered to the cultural organisations:

1. Training in Management of a multimedia project for cultural organisations, including defining an Internet policy appropriate for each structure, managing a Webmaster, Internet costs, and workshop discussions on how to update sites. This training was carried out in each country.
2. Training in “General Internet Use” for members of the organisations in countries.
3. Training in “Beginner Webmaster” level for persons working with cultural organisations. This training will also be carried out in each country.
4. A regional training for “Cyber managers” of the Cultural Internet cafés in OECS countries.

The www.oecsculture.net and the 25 websites

The bilingual (French-English) Eastern Caribbean cultural gateway website – www.oecsculture.net, - 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 data base of cultural organisation, a library, How to’s for Internet uses, etc.
In order to ensure an efficient information network, Intranets as defined by the associations in keeping with their information and mutual assistance needs. The www.oecsculture.net operates as a “community” site.
Although the content of the gateway site is define by cultural entities it has been decided that some members would have their own websites, to ensure regular updating of the content. Thus, 24 new websites are created (see new list below) in addition to the estimated 15 already in existence in the Network. These 40 websites make up a web ring offering a selection of representative cultural organisations.
The www.oecsculture.net and the websites is promoted through effective registration in international directories and search engines, through the creation of links with regional or international networks and through e-mail (listserve, e-newsletter).