A roundup of the latest ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region for the period Monday 21 January to Sunday 27  January 2019.

 

Monday, 21 January 2019

The ‘E-books saga’: Yet another call for Michael Browne to resign

Antigua and Barbuda – Opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) Senator Richard Lewis is demanding the immediate resignation of Education Minister Michael Browne over what he (Lewis) terms the electronic text books or E-books scandal… more

Aliv Targets Summer 2019 For ‘Break Even’

Bahamas – Aliv is targeting summer 2019 for its operations to hit “break even” through $50-$60m in annual revenues, as it unveiled plans to “double down” on investment in its mobile network… more

Internet raises over $139K for Fyre Festival restaurateur

Bahamas – A Bahamas restaurateur who lost her personal savings in the notorious Fyre Festival has raised well over $100,000 online after she was featured in Netflix’s new documentary on the disastrous fest… more

BUSINESS BYTE: Flow Dominica achieves record-setting year post Hurricane Maria

Dominica– Flow Dominica came in for high praises after turning in an unexpectedly strong performance at the recently concluded financial year-end on December 31, 2018… more

FLOW makes 22 employees redundant

Dominica – Twenty-two employees have been made redundant by telecommunications company, FLOW Dominica…more

Steven Warner spreading Jamaican culture through internet radio

Jamaica – Jamaican American Steven Warner, popularly known as Sir Rockwell, has been steadily spreading the culture of Jamaica and the Caribbean through the internet radio medium… more

‘Tech-Intimacy’ – The Future Of Foreplay?

Jamaica – Midnight had long made its mark as slumber escapes your company. Dripping with desire, you place a ‘cyber call’ to the one who hold the power to quell or fuel this unruly fire… more

BUILDING THE CARIBBEAN DIGITAL ECONOMY BIT BY BIT

Regional – Imagine disaster early warning systems using the latest tools offered by artificial intelligence and augmented reality… more

Audits unearth major TSTT breaches

Trinidad and Tobago – There is mount­ing ev­i­dence that Telecom­mu­ni­ca­tions Ser­vices of Trinidad and To­ba­go (TSTT) grant­ed pref­er­en­tial con­trac­tu­al arrange­ments to Cell­Mas­ter in a re­la­tion­ship dat­ing back to 2011… more

Le Hunte: No more job cuts at TSTT

Trinidad and Tobago – PUBLIC Utilities Minister Robert Le Hunte says there are no more job cuts planned at TSTT… more

Tech solutions for communities

Trinidad and Tobago – Com­mu­ni­ty De­vel­op­ment Min­is­ter Dr Nyan Gads­by-Dol­ly says the Busi­ness’ Pro­fes­sion­al Cer­tifi­cate in Sus­tain­able Com­mu­ni­ty De­vel­op­ment launched yes­ter­day at the Arthur Lok Jack Glob­al School of Busi­ness (ALJGSB) will use tech­nol­o­gy to em­pow­er par­tic­i­pants to solve chal­lenges in their com­mu­ni­ties… more

Tuesday, 22 January 2019

Training institute iCreate seeks to raise $70 million from IPO

Jamaica – Creative training institute, iCreate Limited is seeking to raise nearly $70 million through an initial public offering on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) Junior Market… more

Data breaches are inevitable — here’s how to protect yourself

Regional – It’s tempting to give up on data security altogether, with all the billions of pieces of personal data — Social Security numbers, credit cards, home addresses, phone numbers, passwords and much more — breached and stolen in recent years. But that’s not realistic – nor is the idea of going offline entirely… more

Flow’s parent company in talks to acquire regional telecoms provider Millicom

Regional – Flow parent company Liberty Latin America Ltd. has made a preliminary offer to buy another regional telecommunications company, Millicom International Cellular S.A., according to statements from the two companies last week… more

Wednesday, 23 January 2019

Cable and Wireless to sue Grenada’s Telecommunications Minister

Grenada – British telecommunications provider Cable and Wireless, yesterday said it had been granted leave to pursue a lawsuit against Grenada’s  Telecommunications Minister Gregory Bowen and the National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (NTRC), on the grounds of  discrimination…more

Telecoms retirees ratchet up gov’t demands for correct pensions

Guyana – The Guyana Postal and Telecommunications Workers  Union (GPTWU) and phone company pensioners, several with more than 50 years of service, on Wednesday demanded that the Ministry of Finance publicly prove that they are receiving their correct pensions in keeping with their unbroken service… more

Technology In Focus | Academia Supports Upgrading Regulations For Net Neutrality

Jamaica – At least two academics are of the view that an upgrade in local regulations is now needed to ensure that there is effective net neutrality in Jamaica. But they argue that there is no necessity at this time for new legislation… more

Technology In Focus | Technology Matters To Jamaica In 2019

Jamaica – Technology has increasingly become an integral part of the lives of Jamaicans and businesses locally. How the country continues to integrate new technologies into the way it conducts business and other daily transactions of value, will play a key role in its development… more

20 Participate In Computer Coding Workshop

Saint Lucia – TWENTY Saint Lucians received modern computer programming skills training via a twelve-week pilot computer coding workshop… more

Grand Riviere ICT Center officially opens

Saint Lucia – The Grand Riviere ICT Center was officially opened on January 17, Member of Parliament for Gros Islet, Lenard “Spider” Montoute, has announced… more

Digicel gives fete-goers free wireless broadband

Trinidad and Tobago– Digicel says it is ensuring that fete-goers stay connected and share their experiences on social media in real-time, through the provision of free wireless broadband internet at select carnival fetes… more

Exclusive: Scotiabank Shared Services Hub in Trinidad is Safe, for Now

Trinidad and Tobago– Scotiabank’s bombshell decision to sell operations in ‘non-core’ Caribbean countries, announced in November last year, put one of its prized facilities – a 750-person shared services center in Trinidad, into a state of limbo… more

Thursday, 24 January 2019

Dames: CCTV expansion eyed at $3 million

Bahamas – As part of the Minnis administration’s fight against crime, the government will invest $3 million to expand its closed-circuit television (CCTV) program to over 500 cameras across New Providence within the first quarter of this year, according to Minister of National Security Marvin Dames… more

HOA passes e-voting law

British Virgin Islands – After hours of deliberating behind closed doors, legislators passed a law on Tuesday designed, in part, to facilitate electronic voting and eliminate the need to count ballots by hand… more

Haiti – Technology : Internet arrives in some coaches in Haiti

Haiti – The Digital Observatory in Haiti (ObNH) welcomes the internet access available in 13 coaches of 3 different companies over 252 km between Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haïtien… more

Replacing Paper With Technology

Jamaica – The Government of Jamaica, in collaboration with the private sector, is sharply focused on seamless trade facilitation as one mechanism to improve the ease of doing business and to facilitate foreign direct investments… more

SMCU raises concerns over TELEM CEO based on rumor allegations.

Sint Maarten – President of the St. Maarten Communications Union (SMCU) Ludson Evers in a letter that based on rumors in the community he wants to raise awareness since the SMCU is also concerned about the rumors they have heard about TELEM CEO Kendall Dupersoy… more

Friday, 25 January 2019

GSS loan agreement will advance Jamaica’s digital global economy – JAMPRO

Jamaica – JAMPRO’s President, Diane Edwards, has said the execution of the Global Services Skills (GSS) loan agreement will be a major step towards advancing Jamaica’s role in the digital global economy… more

Update: BPO Workers To Get US$15m Training Boost

Jamaica – The Government has signed a US$15-million loan with the Inter-American Development Bank in a drive to further expand the country’s business process outsourcing sector… more

CDB advances digital transformation with Digicel

Regional– The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and ICT managed services provider, Digicel, have announced a partnership geared towards advancing digital transformation at the regional financial institution… more

CDB TO RELEASE STUDY ON REGIONAL INVESTMENTS IN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

Regional– The Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) says it plans to release later this year, a study, which is intended to build a foundation for subsequent regional investments in digital technology, designed to support productivity, innovation and better decision-making at the policy level… more

Defamation In The Digital Age

Regional – Persons no longer have to rely only on newspaper columns or a radio show to have a voice and to publicise an opinion. Blogs, websites and social media pages have given the ordinary citizen a platform… more

Saturday, 26 January 2019

– Nil –

Sunday, 27 January 2019

– Nil –

 

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