A roundup of the latest ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region for the period Monday 16 October to Sunday 22 October 2017.
Monday, 16 October 2017
E-Procurement System To Launch In December
Bahamas – THE Government expects to roll-out its electronic procurement tendering system by mid-December 2017, according to its main co-ordinator… more
Tech Summit set for November in GB
Bahamas – Minister of State for Grand Bahama in the Office of the Prime Minister, Senator Kwasi Thompson says the concept of The Bahamas as a Technology Hub is not a new idea, however making Grand Bahama the center of that technology hub just makes sense… more
Web Shops: Banks ‘Fell Down Big Time’
Bahamas – WEB shops have filled the money transfer void because commercial banks “fell down big time”, a Chamber of Commerce director is arguing… more
Government, several others beg funds online
British Virgin Islands – Since the British Virgin Islands (BVI) was pounded by Hurricane Irma, a number of individuals and organizations such as Government have taken to the World Wide Web with outstretched palms seeking financial donations… more
SERVICE RESUMES FOR MORE DIGICEL CUSTOMERS
Dominica – Digicel customers in: Woodfordhill, Wesley, Anse Du Mai, Anse Sul Dar, Campbell, Layou Valley and sections of Warner are now re-connected to the network… more
Hinduja Global Solutions Eyeing Jamaica Expansion
Jamaica – Indian professional services firm Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS) is reportedly considering expanding its Jamaica operations outside of capital Kingston, where its three operational units are based… more
Trinidadian Bevil Wooding Appointed As ARIN Caribbean Outreach Liaison
Regional – A Trinidad and Tobago national, and one of the region’s most prominent technology advocates, Bevil Wooding, has been appointed as Caribbean Outreach Liaison at the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN), one of five registries that coordinate Internet number resources worldwide… more
Big interest in Tobago ICT expo
Trinidad and Tobago – EVERY day, every minute, sometimes every second the world continues to advance technologically… more
ICT ‘can boost Tobago’
Trinidad and Tobago – Information and Communications Technology, or ICT, goes hand in hand with development… more
Tuesday, 17 October 2017
Antigua Single Portal Unites Customs and Ports
Antigua and Barbuda – The Caribbean nation is preparing for the upcoming launch of a maritime single window for ship notifications with the launch of the first phase on October 9, 2017… more
Aliv: $5.6m Bond Release Shows Roll-Out Targets Hit
Bahamas – THE Bahamas’ second mobile operator yesterday said more than 4,000 subscribers have switched to its network, with regulators releasing $5.6 million from its performance bond… more
Over 9 mln Dominicans have mobile phones – Indotel
Dominican Republic – A total of 89 out of 100 Dominicans now have a mobile, equivalent to 9.3 million mobile subscribers, reports local daily Listin Diario, citing Jose del Castillo, chairman of telecommunications regulator Indotel… more
Deep Blue Cable announces pan-Caribbean expansion plans
Regional – Deep Blue Cable has today announced plans to extend its pan-Caribbean subsea network to Colombia and Panama… more
Liberty Global weighs financial impact of hurricanes on its operations
Regional – Liberty Global, the parent company of Cable and Wireless, said it expects to receive insurance proceeds to cover the losses to operations in the Caribbean following the passage of Hurricanes Irma and Maria… more
Embrace the benefits of social media
Regional – Sporting organisations at the top of the sport hierarchy pyramid are fading towards irrelevance… more
Wednesday, 18 October 2017
Information Ministry staff walk off the job
Antigua and Barbuda – Operation hours at the Ministry of Information, Broadcasting Telecommunication and Information Technology headquarters has been reduced to four hours, starting today… more
Aliv Gets 13,000 Ports At ‘Accelerated Pace’
Bahamas – THE Bahamas’ second mobile provider yesterday predicted it will complete its nationwide roll-out “well ahead” of target, having attracted 13,000 subscriber ‘ports’ at an “accelerating pace”… more
Thursday, 19 October 2017
Increased Web Shop Taxes Not Ruled Out
Bahamas – The Deputy Prime Minister has not ruled out new or increased taxes for web shops, saying the Government had to consider sector integrity as well as revenues… more
Web Shop Gaming Impact Is A Lottery
Bahamas – ELECTIONS have consequences. The Free National Movement (FNM) won the recent election, so Prime Minister Hubert A. Minnis and his Cabinet must now make decisions… more
The Final (?) Hearing on B.T.L. Compensation
Belize – The long-awaited consolidated appeals and cross-appeals between the government, Dunkeld International Investments Limited and Dean Boyce and the B.T.L. Employees’ Trust were heard this morning in the Caribbean Court of Justice in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago… more
Global Effort Under Way to Restore Dominica’s Amateur Radio Capabilities:
Dominica – The Yasme Foundation, Yaesu USA, the Foundation for Amateur International Radio Service (FAIRS), and individual GoFundMe donors have joined forces to restore country-wide Amateur Radio communication on Dominica in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria… more
Internet Week Guyana advances Caribbean tech development agenda
Guyana – Around the world, the growing sophistication of cyber criminals is challenging the capacity of governments, businesses and individuals to defend themselves… more
Tech Expert amplifies importance of Smartphones in Guyana’s ICT Development
Guyana – Smartphones are quickly making their mark as a major device in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the age of technology fusion.. more
Learning room at Children’s Hospital outfitted with computers
Jamaica – The Bustamante Hospital for Children’s Learning and Activity room has been outfitted as a state-of-the-art learning centre with the donation of several computers and accessories through the Governor-General’s ‘I Believe’ initiative… more
Reduce Land Line Rates Now, FLOW
Jamaica – THE EDITOR, Sir: It was only back in 2013 that then CEO of LIME (now Flow), Mr Garfield Sinclair, was busy on every radio and TV talk show and in the daily newspapers posing as the great defender and ‘Value Champion’ of lower mobile termination rates for the benefit of overburdened consumers who were paying as high as $17 per minute to make a local call… more
tTech among leading IT companies to host BizTech forum
Jamaica – Local information technology solutions company, tTech Limited is onboard with the Jamaica Computer Society (JCS) to host the 2017 BizTech IT Conference alongside top names in the global technology community such as IBM, Google and Microsoft… more
How the Caribbean is harmonizing regulation to attract ICT investment (VIDEO)
Regional – Secretary-General of the Caribbean Telecommunication Union Bernadette Lewis sat down with ITU on the sidelines of the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-17) to discuss what the Caribbean island nations are doing to attract investment in information and communication technologies (ICTs) to boost their future socioeconomic growth… more
100% free bonus credit on Flow mobile this Friday
Saint Lucia – Saint Lucia’s leading telecommunications service provider, Flow, is giving customers something extra this Friday, as Christmas gets underway early for citizens on Saint Lucia’s fastest network… more
BTP: One infrastructure most efficient way to restore telecom infrastructure
Sint Maarten – Bureau Telecommunications and Post (BTP) St. Maarten says creating one infrastructure will be the most efficient and cost-effective way to restore the telecoms infrastructure in St. Maarten, which was damaged extensively by Hurricane Irma on September 6… more
Friday, 20 October 2017
Govt’ re-affirms commitment to improving internet connectivity
Antigua and Barbuda – The government is making yet another commitment to improving the internet connectivity within all school plants on the island… more
Information Ministry staff demanding a move after second walk-off
Antigua and Barbuda – Relocating from their office at the Sealy Building to what they believe is a clean and safe workplace will appease the 20 workers who said that for the past eight years they have been working a 40-hour week in unsanitary conditions… more
AG Warns Against False Advisory On Social Media Monitoring
Bahamas – ATTORNEY General Carl Bethel yesterday warned against a viral false advisory on social media monitoring… more
B.T.L. to get borrowing power; Opposition sharply attacks ‘rushing’ bills
Belize – Today’s session of the House of Representatives had a loaded agenda… more
Social media is helping to expose police brutality in Belize
Belize – Over the last few months, many videos have been surfacing on social media exposing police brutality in Belize… more
Telemedia C.E.O. makes big money!
Belize – Later, when the bill was brought up for debate on the second reading, Opposition Leader Briceño landed a telling blow when he brought up the extensive salary and benefit package for C.E.O. of Belize Telemedia Limited Rochus Schreiber… more
Radio Cayman engineer helps fix Turks and Caicos broadcast system
Cayman Islands – Radio Cayman’s senior technician, Dean Bremmer, has returned to Cayman after helping restore the Turks and Caicos Islands’ broadcast system, which was largely destroyed last month by Hurricane Irma… more
Jamaica positioned as major BPO destination, says JAMPRO
Jamaica – Vice-President for Investment Promotion at JAMPRO, Claude Duncan, says Jamaica has positioned itself as a major business process outsourcing (BPO) destination, attracting several of the major players in the global industry… more
Mobile Apps Being Developed to Improve Policing
Jamaica – National Security Minister, Hon. Robert Montague, says the Government is developing three mobile applications (apps) that will revolutionise policing in Jamaica… more
October 25 is Cyber Security Awareness Day
Jamaica – The public is invited to participate in Cyber Security Awareness activity day at the Police Officers’ Club on Hope Road in St Andrew on October 25 from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm… more
Community Christmas Coming With Flow
Saint Lucia – Flow is delivering a unique and exciting proposition for Christmas 2017, with Grand Prizes, guaranteed winners from every district in Saint Lucia, as well as support for community projects… more
Samsung bets big on Note 8
Trinidad and Tobago – The Samsung Galaxy Note 8, which was launched in T&T yesterday is being described as, “the most powerful device on the market” according to Samsung’s Manager, Sales, Latin America, Terry Weech… more
Saturday, 21 October 2017
BTL CEO makes over US$380,000
Belize – At yesterday’s house meeting, Leader of Opposition, John Briceno told parliament that BTL’s CEO Rochus Schreiber makes over US$380,000 dollars per year… more
GOB AND ASHCROFT ALLIANCE ARGUE OVER FINAL PAYMENT FOR BTL AT CARIBBEAN COURT OF JUSTICE
Belize – The Government of Belize and the Michael Ashcroft companies which formerly controlled Belize Telemedia Limited before the 2009 nationalization appeared before justices at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in Port of Spain, Trinidad, this morning, as they argued in a session spanning almost three and a half hours, over how the remaining 50% of the nearly half-a-billion arbitral award is to be split up… more
DIGICEL SERVICE RESUMES IN MARIGOT
Dominica – Digicel customers in Marigot, home to the Douglas Charles Airport, are now re-connected to the network… more
«Haiti Open Data» a small revolution in the country
Haiti – This week at the Marriott Hotel in Port-au-Prince, Tessa Jacques, the Director General of the Center for Investment Facilitation (CFI), in the presence of President Jovenel Moïse and his wife Martine, Koldo Echebbaria Representative of the Inter-American Bank Development Bank (IDB), members of the diplomatic corps, investors, entrepreneurs and representatives of the private business sector, officially launched the “Haiti Open Data” internet platform… more
Patience With FLOW Wearing Thin
Jamaica – THE EDITOR, Sir: I write to express my total disgust with the inefficiency and incompetence of FLOW… more
Social media users react to AG’s ‘informal poll’
Jamaica – ATTORNEY General Marlene Malahoo Forte came in for some sharp criticism on social media this week when she posted on Twitter that she was polling her colleague law ministers from around the British Commonwealth about non-citizens sitting in their houses of parliament… more
Technology And Its Impact On The Church
Jamaica – “No temptation has overtaken you that is unusual for human beings. But God is faithful, and he will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength. Instead, along with the temptation he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to endure it.” – Corinthians 10:13 … more
Lake: FLOW TV one of the Best
Saint Kitts and Nevis – Telecommunications giant FLOW has launched a brand new television service in St. Kitts and Nevis which according to one top company official is the best TV service in the world… more
Sunday, 22 October 2017
Google Parent Floats Internet Balloons In Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico – Google’s parent Alphabet Inc said Friday that its stratospheric balloons are now delivering the internet to remote areas of Puerto Rico where cellphone towers were knocked out by Hurricane Maria… more
Image credits: Nicolas Alejandro (flickr); Wikipedia; Wikipedia; Wikipedia; Belize Web
________________
