Jamaica becomes the center of the Young Internet world for a week beginning on Saturday, March 26, when the Cable & Wireless Jamaica Foundation will host the Cable & Wireless Childnet 2005 Academy.  The event will be held at the Sunset Resort in Freeport, Montego Bay from March 26 to April 1.

The Academy is a prestigious international event for young people from all over the world - all winners in the Cable & Wireless international Childnet web development competition.

The competition (open to young people aged 18 and under) is administered by Childnet International, a U.K.-based international children's Internet charity, sponsored by Cable & Wireless.  The goal of the competition is to recognize the outstanding creativity of young people who develop innovative Internet projects which bring positive benefit to other young people around the world.

Eighteen year-old Jamaican, Shawna-Kay Lester, is among the international winners in this year's competition, in the "New to the Net" category.  Shawna-Kay is the second successive winner for Jamaica in this competition, as last year, Carrie-Ann Gordon of Immaculate Conception High also came out on top in the same category.

Winners will receive a grant from a special $55k web development prize fund and an opportunity to attend the Academy for a week under the tutelage of experienced, internationally recognized web development professionals.

Members of the public can view the Internet projects and vote for their favourite at www.childnetacademy.org/winners. The winner will be presented with a special prize - a "People's Choice Award" - to be announced on March 31.

A special feature of this year's Academy will be a one-day international conference to review the impact that the Internet is having on children and young people, to be held at the Wyndham Rose Hall & Country Club on March 31.

Under the theme Children and the Internet: Releasing Potential, Minimising Risk, the conference will review the impact of the Internet on children in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean.  It will highlight some of the creative and inspiring ways in which children and young people are using the Internet and will explore just how powerful the internet can be as a tool to enable young people to learn, communicate and realise their full potential.

The conference will also highlight the importance of staying safe online, explore how the risks of new technology can be minimised, and demonstrate how children and young people can be protected from inappropriate content and contact, and is intended to provide a platform for policy makers, educators and industry representatives to share lessons learnt around the world to ensure that young people use the Internet positively and safely.

The conference is being hosted by the Cable & Wireless Jamaica Foundation in partnership with the children's Internet charity, Childnet International and the British Council; and will be held at the Wyndham Rose Hall Hotel on Thursday, March 31 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Participation is free.

The panel of distinguished speakers scheduled to address the conference include: Jamaica's Minister of Education Youth and Culture, Maxine Henry Wilson; President Jacqueline Holding; Stephen Carrick-Davies, Chief Executive of Childnet International; Trond Waage, former Norwegian Ombudsman for Children; Rebecca Shallcross, Executive Director of the BBC's Children Interactive; Heba Ramzy, Head of Microsoft's Corporate Social Responsibility and Community Affairs Programmes in the Middle East and Africa; and Richard Millwood, Director of learning technology research centre, ULTRALAB, along with local representatives from the telecommunications industry, broadcasting and child welfare sectors, as well as the University of the West Indies.

An extended conference workshop session will also provide an opportunity for teachers and educators to receive training on how to deliver Childnet International's award-winning school based Internet safety programme, Kidsmart, and explore how the programme can be replicated in schools across the country.