National ICT Strategic Plan Government of St Kitts and Nevis Community Access Points Community Access Points (CAPs) are community or public buildings where computers, colour printers and scanners are installed for persons in the community to use either free of charge or for relatively low costs. It is hoped that all the computers would have broadband connection to the Internet. Currently in St Kitts and Nevis the Community Centres have been designated to fulfill this role. These centres have been newly built with grant support from the Taiwanese government. The CAPs are intended to help rural and disadvantaged communities finance and implement projects aimed at improving their daily lives through the use of ICT. It is hoped that these CAPs would be characterized as being demand-driven development programme where decisions are taken by the communities themselves and funds are allocated according to priorities decided on by the community. Furthermore these CAP seek to build capacity of communities by enhancing existing skills and facilitating the acquisition of new skills. To ensure the success of these initiatives, the rollout of CAPs should be done alongside an awareness campaign in target communities on the role of ICT as a tool for development and empowerment. Local Community Access Point would generally be able to do the following: x access government information and services x surf the Net x send and receive e-mails x shop online x follow on-line training courses x review job adverts x book plane tickets x trace ancestors or long lost friends x scan photographs or other pictures x write a letter or resume Ministry of Finance, Sustainable Development, Information and Technology November, 2006 39