IT Month continues to educate

By Melissa Bryant
Reporter-SKNVibes.com

~~Adz:Left~~ BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE month-long activities in commemoration of Information Technology (IT) Month are going ahead full steam, as IT specialists are visiting secondary schools in the Federation to provide an overview of the career opportunities in this profession both locally and abroad.

Career talks were held at Washington Archibald High and the Basseterre High last week while Cayon High and Sandy Point High’s discussions were scheduled for this week.

According to ICT Policy Advisor Pierre Bowrin, the children were “very hungry” to learn about the benefits they could receive from pursuing a career in IT.

“Their questions dealt with the short and long-term opportunities available in IT. They inquired about online facilities that they could utilise to learn more about the profession.

“The purpose of the talks was to offer youth guidance about possible career paths and to give them a better idea of the options that they can pursue in tertiary-level education,” he said.

On Sunday, November 9, ZIZ’s Tech Talk Radio Programme aired a panel discussion in which information technology experts made presentations to the listening audience about features of IT, the benefits of using and becoming trained in IT, and the events that are scheduled in celebration of the month.

The panellists, which included Manager for the St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank Card Centre Tammy Benjamin-Luard, Mark Whittaker from the Networks Division of LIME and Director of the Department of Technology Wesley Wharton, encouraged the listening public to become entrepreneurs in the IT field and to consider alternative career paths instead of the more traditional professions.

Bowrin enlightened as to the myriad career opportunities that exist within the IT sector in St. Kitts, stating that jobs are available in programming, web development for companies, business processes analysis and teaching.

IT Month continues with a regional workshop on e-Government at ECCB and a public lecture conduced by OAS Director Starret Greene at the UWI Centre on Thursday, November 27.

The month was officially launched on Thursday, October 30 with a ceremony at the Sir Cecile Jacobs Auditorium and marks the first time that such an initiative has been executed in St. Kitts.