A roundup of the latest ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region for the period Monday 28 May to Sunday 3 June 2018.
Monday, 28 May 2018
E-book content review to be completed by September
Antigua and Barbuda – Curriculum officers in the Ministry of Education are finalising the revision of the content to be loaded on the electronic textbook devices which were introduced in the secondary school system last year… more
Blockchain and cryptocurrency conference set for June
Bahamas – The Bahamas Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference was officially announced by Minister of State for Grand Bahama Senator Kwasi Thompson recently and is expected to bring hundreds to the island… more
E’ Field Sophia gets ICT Hub
Guyana – A new Information and Communications Technology Hub was commissioned at the ‘E’ Field Sophia Community Centre by Minister of Public Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes on Friday… more
Guyana suggests hackers deliberately changed map of country
Guyana – The Guyana government Monday said there’s a “strong possibility” that hackers may have deliberately set out to change the configuration of the Guyana map showing the country without the Essequibo region during last weekend’s celebration of 52 years of political independence from Britain… more
Superfast LTE For JUTC Passengers From Growth Tech And Digicel
Jamaica – Passengers on Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) buses will later this year be able to access Digicel’s superfast LTE through a partnership which sees Growth Tech Limited, providers of the service, striking a deal with Digicel business… more
Nicolas Collette exchanges Telenet for Cable & Wireless
Regional – Nicolas Collette, the current vice president of business sales at Telenet, is moving to the Caribbean islands from 1 August, where he will become vice president southern cluster for Cable & Wireless owned by John Malone, the CEO of Liberty Global, Telenet’s parent company… more
Tuesday, 29 May 2018
CIBC FIRSTCARIBBEAN SUPPORTS GIRLS IN ICT
Barbados– Several girls at the tertiary level of education stepped up their technology skills and knowledge during the recent Barbados leg of the Caribbean Hackathon which was described as a success by an Information & Communications Technology (ICT) expert… more
Chinese internet group gets shareholder approval to reorganize in Cayman
Cayman Islands – Chinese internet group Sohu.com Inc. announced it has received shareholder approval to dissolve and liquidate its Delaware holding company. Under a reorganization scheme, all outstanding shares of Sohu Delaware will be canceled and replaced on a pro rata basis by American depositary shares of Sohu.com Limited, a Cayman Islands company… more
Black Bush Polder gets ICT hub
Guyana– Residents of Yakusari and Johanna are the first two communities in Black Bush Polder, Corentyne to benefit from the government’s Information and Communications Techno-logy (ICT) Hubs… more
Open data offers economic benefits — Wheatley
Jamaica – Science, Energy and Technology Minister, Dr Andrew Wheatley, says embracing open data can bring significant economic benefits for Jamaica… more
Two days to go to 10-digit dialling
Jamaica – Jamaica is only two days away from the introduction of the new 658 area code, which will require mandatory 10-digit dialling for all local calls… more
Are toys sharing too much information on the Internet?
Regional – As Amazon releases an Echo Dot smart-home device aimed at children, it’s entering a busy and growing marketplace… more
14th CIGF ADDRESSES DATA PROTECTION AND THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Regional – Shortly before the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) took effect on the 25th May 2018, the 14th Caribbean Internet Governance Forum (CIGF) considered the impact that these regulations could have on the Caribbean region… more
Opening Statement by Dr Sheila Rampersad at Parliament’s JSC on the Cybercrime Bill
Trinidad and Tobago– Opening Statement of Dr Sheila Rampersad, Chairman of the Media Association’s Steering Committee on the Cybercrime Bill 2017 presented at Parliament’s Joint Select Committee on the Cybercrime Bill 2017 on May 29, 2018… more
Uber rides out of TT
Trinidad and Tobago– UBER, the popular taxi app, has hit the brakes on its TT operations, “as a last resort…strictly related to economic and business reasons,” the company has said… more
Wednesday, 30 May 2018
URCA.Sides With Aliv On BTC Billing Dispute
Bahamas – Aliv has hailed industry regulators for taking its side in a billing dispute with the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) that could have threatened customer connectivity… more
ExxonMobil tight on cyber security… no USBs, no personal email accounts on company computers
Guyana – ExxonMobil runs a very tight cyber security regime, including a ban on the use of USB ports, to minimise breaches that can potentially lead to an attack on its pipelines and other production facilities, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Darren Woods official said Wednesday… more
US$1.5 Million Project To Build Greater Climate Resilience Through Technology In Caribbean
Regional – The Caribbean Development Bank has approved a project that aims to increase the use of technology to build greater climate resilience throughout the region… more
Saint Lucia to Host its First-Ever Data Literacy Boot Camp
Saint Lucia – On June 8, 2018, the Government of St. Lucia will launch Saint Lucia Open Data, (data.govt.lc). The objective is to make government data more readily available and accessible… more
Uber pausing operations in Trinidad
Trinidad and Tobago – The Trinidad and Tobago government said the Uber, the popular taxi app that announced it would be “pausing” its operations here from Wednesday, was operating here illegally, even as it maintained it is a technology company that provides software and not a taxi service… more
Uber pulls out of T&T
Trinidad and Tobago – Just 16 months after coming to T&T, Uber is pulling out of this market. In an email that was being widely shared yesterday, the transportation service, which is accessed via a mobile app, cited “lack of a proper environment for innovation and technology to thrive in Trinidad and Tobago… more
Thursday, 31 May 2018
Move To Digital Seeks To Make Govt More Efficient
Bahamas – THE government will be undergoing a “digital transformation” to strengthen the country’s competitiveness, Deputy Prime Minister K Peter Turnquest said yesterday… more
BTL pulls plug on advertising with the KREMANDALA empire
Belize – Reports reaching BBN from reliable sources within both Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL) and KREMANDALA indicate that on May 11, 2018, BTL ended all media advertisements with KREM Radio, KREM TV and the AMANDALA Newspaper with immediate effect… more
RBC introduces tap and pay to Caribbean
Guyana – The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) intends to reduce the time its Caribbean customers spend in a cashier’s line by enabling RBC point-of-sale devices with contactless payment acceptance – better known as tap and pay or tap to pay… more
10-digit dialling takes effect today
Jamaica – JAMAICANS will, effective today, be required to dial all 10 digits when placing local calls… more
Jamaica Gets Additional Area Code
Jamaica – As at 12:01 a.m. today (May 31), Jamaica became the first country in the English-speaking Caribbean to utilize an additional area code – 658… more
Jamaican mobile lines fall 5% to 3.1 mln in 2017
Jamaica – Jamaica’s mobile customer base fell 5.3 percent year on year to 3.09 million at the end of 2017, according to the latest quarterly report from the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR)… more
YCDI kick-starts Women In ICT Mentorship Program with website workshop
Jamaica – Following the launch of their Women In ICT Mentorship Program on April 26, 2018, the Youth Can Do I.T. (YCDI) organisation has officially initiated its first workshop as a part of the yearlong programme… more
Blockchain Milestone — CariNet to Introduce National Nodes
Regional– CariNet, also the Caribbean Digital Finance and Free Trade System has been officially launched, which is applying blockchain technology to help the Caribbean FTA member countries to build digital payment and digital financial infrastructures in order to build a platform for international trade… more
PMs of Estonia, Saint Lucia discuss digital cooperation
Saint Lucia – During their meeting on Thursday, Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas and the prime minister of the Caribbean island nation of Saint Lucia, Allen Michael Chastanet, talked about possible cooperation in the digital domain, informs LETA/BNS… more
TelEm Group stopping customer service mobile technical support from today
Sint Maarten – TelEm Group’s customer service department has announced that with immediate effect it will be stopping the technical support it has been providing to mobile customers at its main Pond Island building… more
Friday, 1 June 2018
Blockchain Startup Raised $4 Billion Without A Product : Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands– A Cayman Islands-based blockchain startup just raised a whopping $4Billion through the sale of its digital coin, EOS… more
‘We believe in data-driven decisions’, says Wheatley
Jamaica – Science, Energy and Technology Minister, Dr Andrew Wheatley, says Government data is being made available to citizens in order to enable them to have an input in decisions impacting the country… more
CariNet Delegation Visiting Countries around the Caribbean
Regional – On May 31, 2018, the delegation of CariNet, led by chairman Charles Xue, the Director-General of World Blockchain Organization (WBO) and earlier investor of CariNet Frank Zheng, arrived at Princess Juliana International Airport… more
Flow Customers Get More Convenient New Features
Regional – The Customer self-care app from Flow, MyFlow was recently re-launched with several new features that make it even easier to use and more convenient for customers… more
Women entrepreneurs still at a disadvantage
Regional – A regional development specialist is concerned that the playing field is still not level when it comes to entrepreneurs having access to credit… more
Uber: We submitted tax, insurance documents to T&T gov’t
Trinidad and Tobago – Ride-sharing company Uber has refuted claims by government that they did not submit required insurance and tax information to them… more
Saturday, 2 June 2018
40 GRADUATE FROM COMPUTER LITERACY TRAINING COURSE IN LINDEN
Guyana– We want more!” This was the all-around sentiment expressed by the 40 women in Linden who were presented with Certificates of Completion on Wednesday at the Linden Technical Institute… more
TeleCarib Labs is building a 21st century Saint Lucia!
Saint Lucia – Christian Wayne, founder and director of TeleCarib Labs, Inc. (also director of the award-winning STAR Publishing Company, parent company to this newspaper) is spearheading a movement poised to revolutionize what education and entrepreneurship look like in the Caribbean – with Saint Lucia serving as ground zero… more
Sunday, 3 June 2018
BUSINESS BYTE: Flow Customers get more convenient new features with latest release of MyFlow App
Dominica – The Customer self-care app from Flow, MyFlow was recently re-launched with several new features that make it even easier to use and more convenient for customers… more
Partnership giving Jamaican journalists free access to open data tools
Jamaica – Google News Lab partner Code for Africa and Kingston-based civic tech non-profit, the SlashRoots Foundation are combining efforts to offer Jamaican news organisations access to digital tools to help them mine open data and offer new services to Jamaican audiences… more
Avasant’s First Caribbean Digital Transformation Forum in Port of Spain, Trinidad Marks the Release of a Pioneering Digital Competitiveness Index for Countries
Regional – Broadening its ever-growing global presence, Avasant has announced the launch of its Trinidad and Tobago operations to support its Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) practice… more
David Jessop | The Hidden Cost Of Non-Compliance With EU Data Law
Regional – Normally, the private sector tends to respond to change far faster than the public sector… more
Francis Wade | Taming Your Inbox: A Guide For New Managers
Regional – When the excitement of a promotion wears off, newly elevated managers sometimes struggle… more
Health + Tech | Here’s Why Medical Practitioners Should Embrace Technology
Regional – Several medical practitioners have indicated that they want to introduce electronic medical records (EMR) but they are not looking at the vast opportunities the technology can bring to modernising health care management, or even the much better linkages that EMR could have in digitising other aspects of their operations… more
Image credits: Megan Trace (flickr); Facebook; Wikipedia; Wikipedia; Wikipedia
