A roundup of the latest ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region for the period Monday 1 June to Sunday 7 June 2015.
Monday, 1 June 2015
No conviction for Catron in ICT offense
Cayman Islands – Sandra Catron admitted using ICT network to annoy man with whom she had a relationship… more
Primary learning gets smarter with IT
Cayman Islands – The education minister has revealed that every government primary school will have smart boards in the classrooms by the start of the 2015-16 academic year… more
The Way GT&T Operates
Guyana – Dear Editor, The citizens of Turkeyen, and Cummings Lodge woke up on Sunday morning to find there was no telephone service… more
Letter Of The Day: Don’t Be Slaves To Cell Phones
Jamaica – THE EDITOR, Sir: We have entered an age where the phrase ‘rule of thumb’ has less to do with a generally accepted way of doing things and more about the apparent domination of the short, thick digit of one’s hand in using a smartphone… more
ONLINE READERS’ COMMENT: Use ‘Charlie demon game’ to make science more interesting
Jamaica – The Editor, While I was prepared to ignore this new school prank about a demon named Charlie who is supposed to communicate by moving pencils as a joke, I was taken a little bit by surprise to hear the permanent secretary in the Education Ministry and the ministry itself warning people to stay away from this “demon” act and to pray for protection… more
Wheatley Bashes Paulwell On Missing Number Portability Deadline
Jamaica – Opposition Spokesman on Science, ICT & Digital Society Development, Dr Andrew Wheatley, has slammed portfolio Minister, Phillip Paulwell, for another delay in the implementation of Number Portability… more
Cable & Wireless deploys Coriant hiT 7300 in Jamaica and Barbados
Regional – Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) has decided to deploy the hiT 7300 Multi-Haul Transport Platform in the backbone fiber-optic networks it operates in Barbados and Jamaica, the optical transport systems vendor says… more
Media Lab courses in the library
Sint Maarten – In the weeks of the 18th and the 25th of May the Media Lab in the Philipsburg Jubilee Library had a full schedule of computer workshops where people could come and learn about a variety of multimedia applications. These courses were taught by instructor Pauline Maas of the Netherlands… more
Scotiabank launches premium banking service
Trinidad and Tobago – Although there has been an increase in banking malware over the past two years, Scotiabank has seen growth in its online banking services, district general manager Rory Bickharie told the T&T Guardian… more
Tuesday, 2 June 2015
Natcom Launches «Lajan cash»
Haiti – On Monday, the Prime Minister, Evans Paul participated in the auditorium of the Natcom at the launching ceremony of “Lajan cash”, the new product of mobile wallet of the Natcom in partnership with the Banque Nationale de Credit (BNC)… more
Digicel to train Gov’t workers in customer care
Jamaica – Telecommunications firm Digicel and the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development last Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to deliver customer care training to more than 220 staff from the ministry, its agencies as well as local authorities… more
Jamaica to launch mobile number porting on 22 June
Jamaica – Jamaica will finally introduce mobile number porting on 22 June, around three weeks later than scheduled, after the government accepted a request to temporarily postpone the process from Lime, the local subsidiary of Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC)… more
Mr Paulwell, we cannot afford to be left behind
Jamaica – Dear Minister of Science, Technology, Energy, and Mining Phillip Paulwell: As a technology user and enthusiast, I believe in the critical role of open-source software to create the applications and infrastructure necessary to support government-funded technology projects… more
UNESCO Funds Digikidz Project
Sint Maarten – The request for funding submitted under the UNESCO Participation Programme for 2014-2015 by the Foresee Foundation (4C-Foundation) for the Digikidz project has been approved by the Director-General of UNESCO, Ms. Irina Bokova… more
A domain dies
Trinidad and Tobago – It isn’t every day that an entire email domain simply goes away, but that’s set to happen on June 30 when TSTT retires the @tstt.net.tt service it’s offered to its Internet customers for almost two decades… more
Wednesday, 3 June 2015
QC Seeking Freedom Of Information ‘With Teeth’
Bahamas – A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) “with teeth” is as vital to the Bahamas’ governance as the opening of the radio airwaves was in the 1990s, an outspoken QC said yesterday… more
Visitor sentenced for ATM attempted thefts
Cayman Islands – Two charges of attempted theft from Automatic Teller Machines resulted in a sentence of 16 months’ imprisonment for Andon Krastev Smilyanov, a visitor from Bulgaria who pleaded guilty… more
Mobile Lottery Platform To Roll Out By October
Jamaica – Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) will begin testing its mobile betting platform by August, and do a full rollout by October, says President and CEO Brian George said… more
BPO sector worried by CWC/Flow merger
Jamaica – PRESIDENT of the American Chamber of Commerce Jamaica, Ron McKay, has expressed concerns that the merger of Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) with Flow may deter international investors looking to enter the local business process outsourcing (BPO) sector… more
UWI To Conduct Telephony Penetration Survey For Technology Ministry
Jamaica – The University of the West Indies (UWI) is to conduct an islandwide survey on behalf of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, to determine why the country has been losing its ranking on the world telephony penetration index… more
Digicel acquires Bermuda Telephone Company
Regional – Digicel Bermuda has completed the acquisition of Bermuda Telephone Company (BTC)… more
SKN students dabble in demonic ‘Charlie Charlie’ game
Saint Kitts and Nevis – REPORTS reaching this publication indicate that students across the Federation, particularly on St. Kitts, have been dabbling in the “Charlie Charlie” game, which is said to be a Mexican ritual intended to summon evil spirits… more
Thursday, 4 June 2015
Not enough focus on online security
Barbados – THREATS TO THEIR security online are real but, Barbados and its Caribbean neighbours are still not doing enough to prepare for cybercrimes… more
Belize With The Most Expensive Internet Rates And Most Slowest In The Region
Belize – This year’s regional Information and Communications Technology (ICT) survey shows that Belize still has the most expensive internet rates and the broadband speed is still lagging behind… more
Communication network of emergency agencies to be strengthened
Jamaica – As part of the Government’s coordinated effort to enhance the country’s resilience to deal with disasters, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) is working to strengthen the communication network of emergency agencies… more
ICT Integral To Disaster Preparedness
Jamaica – Hilary Alexander, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Science,Technology, Energy and Mining, has underscored the need for a stable and resilient information and communication technology (ICT) sector to be included in the plans for disaster mitigation… more
Jamaican Blazes Trail In U.S. Education Software Technology Company
Jamaica – Toni Jacobs has a passion for technology and education… more
Internet experts meet to improve Caribbean networks
Regional – The first-ever Caribbean Peering and Internet Connection Forum (CarPIF) successfully concluded with commitments from Internet companies Akamai Technologies and Google to pay closer attention to the needs of Caribbean Internet service providers and consumers… more
Friday, 5 June 2015
Site enhancements at TheBahamasWeekly.com
a – There’s whole lot going on Under The Hood here at TheBahamasWeekly.com as we go undergo a total site makeover, technological advancements and major speed enhancements to improve your surfing experience… more
Charlie Charlie challenge has abated, says principal
Barbados – Following last week’s uproar over the Charlie Charlie Challenge, one local principal is reporting that the controversy has abated at her rural primary school… more
DirecTV drops US channels
Barbados – DIRECTV has voluntarily removed from its line-up a number of major United States television network channels it did not have permission to broadcast and is making moves to have its competitors do likewise… more
‘Crummy’ service from GT&T
Guyana – Dear Editor, Over the past two weeks, those of us on the Essequibo Coast, who are using the GT&T broadband and telephone service were seriously affected by sudden and long disruption… more
Has GT&T abandoned its customers in the Melanie/Enterprise/Bachelors Adventure area?
Guyana – Dear Editor, Early on the morning of April 11, 2015 I awoke to discover that I had no landline and internet service to my home… more
BPO Association supports LIME-Flow merger
Jamaica – The Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica (BPIAJ) has come out in public support of the recent aquisition of Flow by LIME/Cable and Wireless, and says that it has been in support of the move from day one… more
C&WJamaica Strengthens Operations, But Still Has Second Worse Loss-Making Year
Jamaica – Cable & Wireless Jamaica (C&WJ) Limited and its subsidiaries have recorded revenues of $21.59 billion for the year to March 2015, a 17 per cent annual increase, buoyed by growth in its mobile and broadband businesses… more
Faster Internet services coming via IXP switch
Jamaica – Jamaican web surfers should experience faster Internet connectivity as the companies integrate into the Jamaica Internet Exchange Point (IXP)… more
Jamaica’s tech-readiness regains four places but may be threatened by LIME/Flow merger
Jamaica – Jamaica’s technology readiness regained four spots to 82nd among 143 nations, according to the recently released Global Information Technology Report (GITR) 2015… more
Mixed bag of profits and losses for LIME
Jamaica – TELECOMS provider Cable & Wireless Jamaica (C&WJ), currently branded as LIME, more than doubled its annual net loss to over $9.17 billion for its year ending March 2015 due to exceptional items… more
10 C’bean companies selected for Canadian funded project
Regional – Ten businesses from seven Caribbean countries have been chosen to participate in a Canadian Government funded project that seeks to build an enabling ecosystem to strengthen entrepreneurship and boost job creation across the region… more
Barbados hosts region’s first peering forum
Regional – The first-ever Caribbean Peering and Internet Connection Forum (CarPIF) successfully concluded with commitments from Internet giants Akamai Technologies and Google to pay closer attention to the needs of Caribbean Internet service providers and consumers… more
Digicel Re-Launches My Digicel App Loaded With Extras And A Brand New Look And Feel
Regional – Digicel today unveiled its new look My Digicel App that boasts dozens of cool new features like managing your Digicel account, access to social media newsfeeds and a customer feedback portal – making it the go-to place for all things Digicel… more
Cable and Wireless Hosts Technology Tour in St. Kitts Nevis
Saint Kitts and Nevis – LIME St. Kitts-Nevis Ltd. Is introducing revolutionary ways to do business in the technology sector, through the hosting of a Technology Tour… more
LIME offers advanced technology to business community
Saint Kitts and Nevis – LIME (Cable & Wireless), in collaboration with two world renowned service providers, has launched a Technology Tour to introduce a revolutionary technological system in doing business to entrepreneurs in St. Kitts and Nevis… more
School sex videos light up Facebook
Trinidad and Tobago – Secondary school students continue to heat up the Internet with videos of themselves engaging in sexual activity at their schools… more
Saturday, 6 June 2015
Cuba Hosts Forum on Political Communication in the I.T. World
Cuba – Experts and officials from over 30 countries are gathering in Havana at an International Conference on Political Communication in the Digital Field… more
Microsoft TT reduces its carbon footprint
Trinidad and Tobago – Yesterday, Microsoft TT joined other organisations and individuals around the globe to celebrate World Environment Day (WED)… more
Sunday, 7 June 2015
New Govt must address Telecoms liberalization reform – PSC
Guyana – Executives from the Private Sector Commission (PSC) met with President David Granger and Finance Minister Winston Jordan during which pressing concerns such as telecoms liberalization, tax reform and others were highlighted…. more
How emerging Honduras could fast track beyond Jamaica’s BPO industry
Jamaica – EARLIER in May, I had the opportunity to participate in a visit to Honduras to tour and get a first-hand experience of their value proposition as an emerging outsourcing destination… more
Telecoms Connected To Local Internet Exchange, But Not Yet Sharing Data
Jamaica – Jamaica’s three major telecommunications carriers and e-Gov Jamaica Limited have now connected to the local Internet Exchange Point (IXP) in Kingston, but the parties are not ‘peering’, that is, exchanging data between themselves, the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has said… more
There has been so much disconnect…
Jamaica – The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. — Vince Lombardi … more
Cybercrime — An emergent global phenomenon with implications for the Caribbean
Regional – CYBERCRIME is an emerging threat which associates and facilitators are involved in to infiltrate commercial as well as private spaces. The growing trends are alarming and threaten governments, businesses, and the people in general… more
Boyfriend kills girlfriend over computer chat
Trinidad and Tobago – A 22-year-old Princes Town woman was brutally chopped by a man she allegedly had an on/off relationship at her Knolly Street, Princes Town, home on Friday night… more
Image credits: journalismthatmatters (flickr); Wikipedia; Wikipedia; CarPIF
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