Locals graduate IT program and improve business skills
Staff Reporter-SKNVibes.com
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Colin Frank, ICT Training Coordinator
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BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS-FORTY-eight government workers from thirty-six different departments received certification in using Microsoft Office Suite on May 30th, making them the first class to graduate from the Taiwanese funded National Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Center.
According to Colin Frank, ICT Training Coordinator, the class was merely the first phase in a series of courses entitled ‘Word, Excel Access: Fundamentals for Work.’
“The workshop was designed to teach government support staff the basics of the Microsoft Office Suite series of programs (Word, Excel, Access, Outlook, PowerPoint and Publisher). The program will be held again in October, November and three times next year, resulting in nearly all of the 250 support staff members being trained.
“Ultimately, the program will help these workers, and the government, become more efficient and productive,” Frank told SKNVibes.com.
He added that the course was a first step in the government’s move toward an entirely paperless system of record keeping. 
The ICT Center is more than a government training facility, however, as it has been designed to “make technology and computer training, which is normally very expensive, available to the ordinary man on the street,” Frank said.
“We have very few overhead costs here at the Center so we can offer courses to the public, which might normally cost anywhere from EC $300-$500 for a three day course, for around EC $25,” the Coordinator stated. “Our mission is to make Information Technologies (IT) training available, accessible and affordable.”
Frank said the ICT Center is planning to become CISCO certified within the next two years, allowing locals the opportunity to be trained in the top international standard for networking and Information Technology.
~~Adz:Right~~ In addition to computer training, the ICT center will house four “business incubator spaces” where IT businesses from the community will be given a two-year contracted office space and assistance package for a nominal fee, allowing them a chance to grow their businesses before having to move out into the community.
Course and other information for the ICT Center can be obtained from the SKNVibes.com and government portal bulletin boards, or by contacting the Center itself at 465-8582.
