A roundup of the latest ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region for the period Monday 17 February to Sunday 23 February 2020.
Monday, 17 February 2020
Cable Chief Places ‘Undivided Attention’ On Customer Service
Bahamas – Cable Bahamas top executive says customer service and content quality will have his “undivided attention” for the next one-two years following completion of the firm’s $301.5m US exit… more
Regulators, fintech players examine growing industry
Barbados – Regulators and financial technology industry figures took another step in their quest to fully understand the emerging fintech space and develop relevant regulation, as they joined forces with international partners… more
Guyanese IT business honoured at BIZ X awards in US
Guyana – Local Information Technology (IT) company Techlify Inc has been named the winner of Best IT Organization and Best Business Software at the 2020 BIZ X Awards, an annual event that honors the best of the best small and medium-sized businesses around the world… more
Rush on for free school management software
Jamaica – Since the December 2019-announced partnership agreement between the Ministry of Education and MySchool Jamaica , which allows for all Government-run high and primary schools to receive a free licence for the MySchool Jamaica School Management Software (SMS) , there has been a rush of schools registering… more
Fintech in the Caribbean: Is it gaining momentum?
Regional – The Caribbean is a place like no other. It is diverse in every aspect we can imagine, including in business. In our region, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are an essential component of the economic ecosystem and, in some cases, they represent its backbone… more
Internet challenge posing a threat to student
Trinidad and Tobago – Education Minister Anthony Garcia says students need to be encouraged to spend time away from computer screens and be encouraged to play… more
Tuesday, 18 February 2020
2020 Future Of Belize Telecommunications Market- Trends, Outlook and Growth Opportunities of Mobile, Fixed Landline and Broadband Markets
Belize – The future value proposition for telecommunications market in Belize to 2025 is detailed in the report. It also provides imperatives for gaining market share in highly competitive telecom industry… more
Future Of Dominica Telecommunications Market 2020 – Trends, Outlook and Growth Opportunities of Mobile, Fixed Landline and Broadband Markets
Dominica – The Dominica Telecommunications report – 8th series from OGAnalysis provides a complete view of the Dominica telecom ecosystem along with trends and growth factors shaping the future of the market… more
Social workers attend software refresher course
Saint Lucia – A data gathering tool is seeking to help institutions that work with juveniles better manage their cases for more effective outcomes… more
UWP Government deprives 8000 young St Lucians of laptops – SLP
Saint Lucia – The Saint Lucia Labour Party has been reliably advised that the Allen Chastanet UWP Administration will finally be recommencing the One-Laptop-Per Child Programme which it stopped without good reason nearly four years ago… more
Wednesday, 19 February 2020
NHI: ‘Struggle’ To Get Data Protection Here
Bahamas – The National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme yesterday said its newly-launched electronic health record (EHR) system will achieve the “highest standards” of data protection by being hosted offshore… more
URCA seeking to clamp down on service providers with new regulations
Bahamas – Following what it called an upsurge in complaints from members of the public against the electricity sector (ES), the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) is seeking to provide greater consumer protection with its Consumer Protection (Amendment) Regulations, which also impacts the electronic communications sector (ECS)… more
Gov’t now has access to satellite imagery remote sensing technology
British Virgin Islands – Government now has access to satellite imagery data which will be used to create various policies geared at preserving the natural environment of the British Virgin Islands… more
Advertorial | Telemedicine Will Benefit Local Health Sector – Experts
Jamaica – A telemedicine provider in Jamaica is encouraging more use of telemedicine locally because it is cost effective to both patients and hospitals… more
Amber Group, NCB to launch new mobile payment application
Jamaica – Global technology outfit, Amber Group Limited, has partnered with Jamaica’s leading financial institution National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited (NCBJ) to launch the Amber Pay mobile app… more
Flow reaffirms commitment to Jamaica’s development
Jamaica – Amidst widespread theft and vandalism suffered by the telecoms company, Flow’s Country Manager Stephen Price has reaffirmed the company’s commitment to supporting Jamaica’s development through increased network investments… more
iCreate Limited raises $24m from bond issue
Jamaica – Start-up company iCreate Limited has raised $24 million through the issue of a bond arranged by Sagicor Investments Limited… more
IT Outsourcing Not An Easy Sell For TTech – Looks To Guyana For Fresh Market
Jamaica – Information technology service provider tTech Limited is hoping to grow its business by convincing more small, medium, and large companies in Jamaica and overseas to focus on running their operations, while handing over the development and management of their IT infrastructure, including voice, data and computer systems, to them… more
Thousands to be trained for jobs in digitisation, animation
Jamaica – The Government has allocated $986.6 million in the 2020-21 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives, for the training of 2,500 youth in the digitisation of records, with 1,250 to be placed in internship programmes… more
CARICOM citizens to benefit from fixed roaming rate soon
Regional – Caribbean citizens using their cellphones while travelling throughout the region will soon be paying a fixed rate for roaming… more
Flow shares safer Internet tips
Trinidad and Tobago – The Flow Education Road Show stopped at Bishop Anstey and Trinity College East (BATCE) on February 11, to observe Safer Internet Day… more
Thursday, 20 February 2020
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA TELECOMMUNICATIONS MARKET-2019 TRENDS, OUTLOOK AND GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES OF MOBILE, FIXED LANDLINE AND BROADBAND MARKETS
Antigua and Barbuda – The Antigua & Barbuda Telecommunications Market report – 8th series from provides a complete view of the Antigua & Barbuda telecom ecosystem along with trends and growth factors shaping the future of the market… more
BTC Suffers Further 4% Mobile Subscriber Drop
Bahamas – THE Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) suffered a further 4 percent mobile subscriber erosion in the 2019 fourth quarter, it was revealed last night, while struggling to penetrate other market segments… more
HOA Speaker calls for law to criminalize obscene social media posts
Bahamas – Speaker of the House of Assembly Halson Moultrie suggested yesterday the time has come for Parliament to consider amending legislation to criminalize obscene posts on social media… more
The Bahamas focuses on quality, partnership, sustainability and how the human element will fit with technology in 2020
Bahamas – The Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA) has outlined its goals for the next 12 months, with quality growth, partnership, sustainability and the effective use of technology sitting at the top of its agenda… more
New app to guide tourists, residents
British Virgin Islands – A few months ago, David Penn found a stranger in front of his house looking for the law firm Mourant Ozannes… more
Broadcasting Authority urges TV, radio operators to steer clear of misinformation
Guyana – Ahead of general and regional elections to be held on March 2, the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) is urging broadcasters to be especially vigilant during the elections period… more
CCTV Network To Be Upgraded
Jamaica – Work is slated to continue to upgrade the country’s closed-circuit television (CCTV) network in the new fiscal year… more
Liberty Latin America Q4 revenues up 3%, adds over 400,000 FY subs
Regional – Liberty Latin America reported revenues of USD 974.6 million in the final quarter of 2019, up 3.2 percent on a rebased basis compared to the year-earlier quarter thanks above all to organic growth in Puerto Rico the acquisition of Curacao-based telecommunications operator United Telecommunication Services (UTS)… more
Galt: TSTT’s Data Centre is ready for GDPR
Trinidad and Tobago – Trinidad and Tobago’s data hosting capabilities are on par with its international counterparts… more
Friday, 21 February 2020
GTT’s Giftland kiosk no longer accepting cash for bill payments following robbery
Guyana – The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) today announced that the company’s kiosk in the Giftland Mall has started solely cashless bill payments at the location following a gunpoint robbery…. more
Editorial | Why CARICOM Must Play Hardball On Roaming Regime
Regional – We welcome the apparent advance in negotiations between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the region’s telecoms on a new regime for call and data roaming in the Caribbean, but are holding our applause until there are further and better particulars on what is really on offer… more
Saturday, 22 February 2020
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Sunday, 23 February 2020
PUC 2015 Order exposes… GTT spent US$30M for cable in Suriname and transferred ownership to offshore company it created, then became subsidiary’s prime customer for bandwidth
Guyana – Pull quote: “The Commission in monitoring the operations of Utility Companies under our purview has long held the view that GT&T appears to inflate the cost of its capital acquisitions… more
Cornwall Regional Hospital to receive ICT devices
Jamaica – The Universal Service Fund (USF) is providing the Cornwall Regional Hospital with Information Communication Technology (ICT) devices and tools to improve the management of health information at that facility… more
Faulty Flow Wi-Fi service
Jamaica – Dear Claudienne, I am trying to get information on why the technical team at Flow, in less than 24 hours, cancelled two visits that their technicians should have made to our premises to check a faulty Wi-Fi box that has made it impossible for us to connect to the Internet since January 29, 2020… more
NCB, Amber To Roll Out New Mobile Wallet
Jamaica – Tech company Amber Group Limited has partnered with National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited, NCB, on a new mobile wallet called Amber Pay… more
Solo Practice? Telemedicine Can Help You Find A Balance
Jamaica – Technology has been changing the way we do things in the healthcare industry for years… more
Image credits: filipe ferreira (flickr); Wikipedia; Wikipedia; Facebook; The Eleutheran; The Guyana Chronicle
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