In this first Community Chat for the year, and with members of the Caribbean tech community, Allison James and Steve Spence, the panel discusses: the risks and rewards of the Single Window Platform; and internet Exchange Points (IXPs) and whether or not they can Improve the business case for more data centres in the Caribbean.

 

This episode is also available in Apple iTunes and on Stitcher!

Welcome to our first Community Chat podcast episode for 2019!

For those who are joining us for the first time, essentially, the Community Chat is a ;panel discussion with at least two guests from the Caribbean tech community. Each guests is invited to submit an ICT/technology-related issue for discussion by the panel. However, in keeping with the thrust of ICT Pulse, where we discuss ICT issues from a Caribbean perspective, the issue proposed ought to be Caribbean focussed.

For our January Community Chat, we have two brand new guests, the topics they proposed are outlined in the sections that follow:

  • Allison James, is a Manager at KPMG for Barbados and Eastern Caribbean countries, and is based in Barbados. She has a hybrid background as a Chartered Accountant and a Certified Information Systems Auditor. In her role at KPMG in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Allison seeks to bridge the gap between IT and business. Her areas of practice include digital transformations, data analytics, cyber security and information systems audit.
  • Steve Spence, is the Chief Technology Officer at ArkiTechs Inc., an IT solutions provider headquartered in Florida, but Steven operates out of the firm’s Trinidad and Tobago office, for which he is also the Country Manager. Steve has over 20 years’ experience in the Electrical and Computer Engineering, and has worked in variety of roles both in the Caribbean and internationally.

 

Single Window Platforms – The risks and rewards

Allison James

Single Window Platforms have become a buzz term across the Caribbean, with many countries indicating that they are moving to adopt such platforms, particularly for trade and border clearance-related activities. Ideally, cut across multiple government ministries, departments and agencies, and in order to facilitate completely seamless trade, and border clearance-related transactions. However, in many countries, the results tend to be the computerization of select processes in a particular organisation, but not the cross-agency aspect, which is truly at the core – and a key benefit – of a Single Window Platform.

For her part, Allison, appears to be concerned that Caribbean governments seem to be jumping on the Single Window Platform bandwagon, but may not be carefully considering the pros and cons, especially in light of how difficult it is to successfully execute.

 

The Impact of Internet Exchange Point (IXP) on the viability of data centres in the Caribbean

Steve Spence

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) is a topic, which we have discussed occasionally here on ICT Pulse. Our first article would have been in 2011, and at that time, there were less than a handful of IXPs across the Caribbean. Now well over half the countries have one, but, it may be argued that these IXPs are not fulfilling their true potential.

As a quick reference, an IXP is a physical network access point through which major network providers connect their networks and exchange traffic. When an IXP is established, it provides a more direct means for network providers (connected to that IXP) to exchange traffic, which tend to be faster and cheaper that the more circuitous routes that would typically apply.

However, in addition to that benefit, Steve believes that there are other benefits to be realised – specifically IXPs strengthening the business case for the establishment of data centres in the Caribbean region.

 

We would love to hear your thoughts!

Do leave us a comment either here beneath this article, or on our Facebook or LinkedIn pages, or via Twitter, @ICTPulse

 

Select links

Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that either were mentioned during the episode, or otherwise, might be useful:

 

 

Image credits:  Sponchia (Pixabay);  A James;  S Spence

Music credit: Ray Holman