ICT Center Seeks Partnerships with Private Firms

Basseterre, St. Kitts, August 05, 2009 (SKNIS): Permanent Secretary for Information and Technology, Osmond Petty, declared that the National Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Center will continue to work with public and private sector partners to meet the growing demand for e-Development in St. Kitts and Nevis.

He made the comments during a recent ceremony to officially certify the ICT Center as an authorized testing house for the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) which markets in some territories as the International Computer Driver’s License.

Mr. Petty noted that Government will pursue stronger relations with IT-based firms to ensure the demands of the public are met.

“The ICT Center is not the only ICDL training site in St. Kitts,” he said, citing the IT Facility, which is managed by Russell Williams. “We hope to enter into … a collaborative arrangement with the IT Facility so that we can all share in the certifying of persons in St. Kitts and Nevis.”

The Permanent Secretary stressed that the private sector must capitalize on the benefits of the ICDL training and certification process and added that the ICT Center will make it possible for larger numbers of persons to be trained.

This capability will be important given the current growth of e-Services in the Federation as well as future projections. A planned recommendation for civil servants to become ICDL certified is expected to increase demand even further.

Government has actively encouraged, and in some cases provided facilities, for individuals and companies to expand in the digital age. One example of such is the incubation spaces at the ICT Center for private individuals to run IT related businesses.

ICT Policy Adviser Pierre Bowrin told SKNIS that two of the four incubation spaces are currently available
to individuals with startup companies. He noted that registrants have access to the administrative and
technical support at the facility which is useful to embryonic agencies.
 
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