In this our October 2020 Community Chat, and with members of the Caribbean tech community, Liselle Yorke and Dr Lyndell St Ville, the panel discusses:  Online education and copyright law in the Caribbean. Are we making the grade?, and Too much information! Raising citizens’ awareness of the need for data sharing limits.

 

This episode is also available in Apple iTunes, Google Play Music and on Stitcher!

As much as COVID-19 is challenging us to live more digitally, and to move away from what had been the status quo, it is also forcing us to confront issue, which perhaps for years, and for all intents and purposes, we have been avoiding. Many of us are dying for things to go back to normal – whatever that might be at this point – but at the same time, in trying to live (or survive) more digitally, our personal rights, and/or the rights of others, might be at stake.

This concept of rights is the bedrock of this month’s Community Chat. However, before we delve into the topics discussed, please meet our guest panellists.

 

Introducing our guests and their topics

Liselle Yorke

Liselle Yorke is originally from Trinidad and Tobago, but currently lives in the US, where she is a Communications Specialist, who has written extensively on technology for development. Liselle was on two Community Chat episodes in 2019, where she led us through conversations on “What will it take to go digital in the Caribbean?”, and “Can technology help or hurt local cultures?”.

Once again, Liselle’s topic is snatched from the headlines. In Trinidad and Tobago, and within the past month, lawyers representing textbook publishers were “threatening to sue the Ministry of Education, and even teachers, for reproducing school books during online learning and to distribute among learning packages to those without computers” (Source:  Trinidad and Tobago Guardian). Hence, the question Liselle submitted for discussion was,  Online education and copyright law in the Caribbean. Are we making the grade?, cognisant that the novel coronavirus pandemic has forced Caribbean schools to pivot quickly to distance learning. However, an emerging issue is the question of copyright restrictions on materials teachers are using for their classes.

 

Dr Lyndell St Ville

Dr Lyndell St Ville is the Owner and Chief Technology Officer at Datashore, a consultancy firm that offers services including, business intelligence and ICT policy development and design. He is also the Immediate Past-President of the ICT Association of Saint Lucia. We had Lyndell on the Podcast in December 2019, as we explored the ICT and technology space of Saint Lucia.

For his part, Lyndell is concerned that we do not fully appreciate the implications and ramifications of what we share online. As consumers, are we clicking the “share” button just because it is presented to us, not appreciating that seemingly innocuous posts can provide a deeper and more intimate portrait of over personal lives? Hence, Lyndell’s topic was Too much information! Raising citizens’ awareness of the need for data sharing limits, as we may need to more carefully consider (among other things): why we share what we are sharing online; the potential for harmful effects; and perhaps more importantly, that not all data should be shared, especially in real time. 

 

We would love to hear from you!

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: Alpha Stock Images; L Yorke; L St Ville

Music credits: Ray Holman