ICT sets clear vision for 2009

By VonDez Phipps
Reporter-SKNVibes.com

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – UPON entering the new year, the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Centre has outlined its achievements of 2008 and has tabled its plans for the development of the sector for the upcoming months.

IT Adviser Pierre Bowin told SKNVibes that in 2008, the Department of Technology was able to achieve many of its objectives, the major one being the full functioning of the ICT Centre. He informed that the Centre has been able to train about 1000 civil servants and individuals from the private sector to enhance their skills and allow them to be more efficient in their respective work places.

“Information Technology Month was very well received, but we hope to make it more meaningful in 2009. We were able to enhance the awareness of the public in relation to ICT concentrating on how we can make our lives more efficient and even broaden our scope of knowledge and ability.

We were also able to expose some of the emerging and existing ICT-related businesses to make people more aware of the goods and services available in this sector.~~Adz:Right~~

“A major highlight of our Department was establishing the e-Government Seminar, jointly hosted by the Governments of the Republic of China on Taiwan and St. Kitts-Nevis. We were able to communicate our e-government plan and share with the other members of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). We exchanged ideas and identified the challenges of e-government  in an effort to charter a new way forward, as we recognize that technology is a critical part in our overall success.”

Bowin said for 2009, the goal of the Centre is to be guided by the country’s Adaptation Strategy which was developed by government at the closure of the sugar industry to ensure the steady transition from a country that was heavily dependent on sugar to one that is economically diversified.

He added that one of the pillars supporting such a strategy is the development of ICT, and stated that the National ICT Plan is expected to further develop the sector to “meaningfully contribute to the overall development of the country”.

The IT Adviser said to create an enabling environment that would seek to expand the ICT sector, the Department must work to strengthen its existing policy framework and enact legislation that would also serve to strengthen the sector.

“For 2009, we are not going to limit ourselves; we are going to share the training opportunities with the public. We do hope that persons would show more interest as we would like to exceed last year’s training by at least 5 fold since we recognize that there is the need to ensure each person is equipped with the necessary skills in ICT.

“We also want to ensure that more ICT-related businesses work closely with us. ICT cuts across all sectors and so it is important that we don’t leave out any business; we must continue to infuse ICT into the public. Government service would be faster and more efficient as we attempt to use ICT to re-engineer business policies and rearrange traditional services.

We can also provide particular services online which would make transactions much easier and accessible from the comfort of the consumer’s home.”

Bowin stressed that the various sectors in the country must “work together as we cannot do this alone; the stronger our ties are, the better our opportunities to be more productive”.