CTO to Appoint New CEO, Invites Applications from ICT Experts

The Commonwealth Telecommunication Organisation (CTO) has announced the launch of its search for a new leader to take the helm of the hundred year-old organisation in September 2011. The CTO recently advertised for a developmentally and commercially focused Chief Executive Officer, inviting applications from contenders from across the Commonwealth.
Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, the current Chief Executive Officer of the CTO, who announced in September 2010 his decision to step down from his leadership role with effect from September 2011, to pursue personal interests, despite an invitation by some members of the CTO Council to continue for another term as CEO, commented, “Having joined the CTO in September 2003 as Chief Executive Officer, the last eight years have been amongst the most satisfying periods of my career. In helping shape the future of this century-old organisation, I am pleased that I have accomplished some of the most important tasks that I had set out to do when I joined the organisation, including having played a major role in building new partnerships, providing a much-needed business and commercial orientation to the deliverables of the organisation, and recruiting staff who are poised to take the CTO to its next level of growth and expansion. By focusing on such pertinent issues as rural communications and e-governance, the CTO has been ahead of comparable organisations in recognising key issues that will enable ICTs to propel  the growth of its member countries. I have been privileged to have been supported by various Executive Committees of Council, Chairmen and Council members who have been most cooperative. Acquiring a permanent headquarters building for the organisation is, I believe, one of the lasting legacies of my stewardship. However I believe that it is now time to hand over the reins to a successor with compatible goals, to provide leadership to the organisation, to member countries, and through successful long-term strategic programmes, to the Commonwealth at large.”
The successor to Dr. Spio-Garbrah is expected to be identified by May 2011 and be formally approved by the CTO Council at its meeting in Trinidad and Tobago on 15-16th September, 2011.
Working closely with international and regional institutions, including the governments, regulators, businesses, development agencies and other organisations both in the Commonwealth and beyond, the CTO has developed an enviable reputation for policy analysis and programme implementation in the use of ICTs for development over the past years.