A roundup of the latest ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region for the period Monday 12 October to Sunday 18 October 2020.
Monday, 12 October 2020
Anguilla Telecom Market SWOT Analysis and Outlook Report to 2025
Anguilla – The report on Anguilla Telecom is a comprehensive collection of all the market related information required for analyzing and understanding the Anguilla Telecom market… more
Antigua and Barbuda Telecom Market SWOT Analysis and Outlook Report to 2025
Antigua and Barbuda – The report on Antigua and Barbuda Telecom is a comprehensive collection of all the market related information required for analyzing and understanding the Antigua and Barbuda Telecom market… more
Grenada Telecom Market SWOT Analysis and Outlook Report to 2025
Grenada – The report on Grenada Telecom is a comprehensive collection of all the market related information required for analyzing and understanding the Grenada Telecom market… more
Flow provides support for employees amid COVID
Jamaica – THE COVID-19 pandemic has drastically transformed the business landscape in Jamaica with many organisations mandating or encouraging employees to work from home, but it came with benefits as well as challenges for businesses seeking to maintain engagement with team members… more
Tuesday, 13 October 2020
System Error: Virtual Learning Fiasco As Pupils Are Unable To Log Into Online Classes
Bahamas – AFTER weeks of preparation by the Ministry of Education, the virtual learning system crashed on day one for thousands of public education students who tried to log on… more
Virtual Plan For Abaco Business Conference
Bahamas – The Abaco Business Outlook (ABO) conference will take place virtually from October 15-16 under the theme, A new era: Resilience in the face of vulnerability… more
NCF gets 10 tablets from UWI
Barbados – The University of the West Indies (The UWI) Open Campus presented the National Cultural Foundation of Barbados (NCF) with 10 tablets last Tuesday. The tablets are to be used by participants in the NCF’s National Community Training Programme… more
DomRep president wants power utility’s fiber network to carry nationwide broadband
Dominican Republic – The newly inaugurated president of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, urged state-owned electric power company ETED to use its dorsal fiber optic network to take broadband to unattended areas of the country… more
UTech Students In Finals Of IBM Coding Competition
Jamaica – A four-member team of students of the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) has made it through to the finals of the 2020 IBM Developer Call for Code Global Challenge, University Edition… more
COVID-19 apps help Caribbean manage quarantined tourists, citizens
Regional – As more Caribbean islands reopen, new protocols are being introduced on a continuous basis to woo visitors while ensuring the safety of citizens… more
Digicel gains 700MHz frequency in Trinidad
Trinidad and Tobago – Digicel revealed it was awarded 10MHz of 700Mhz frequency requested from the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT), a move to enable its recently launched 4G service… more
Wednesday, 14 October 2020
Mobile money to fight poverty in Haiti
Haiti – ISOC Haiti, the Haitian chapter of the Internet Society, an international association that works for the global governance of the Internet, is relying on the mobile money revolution to fight poverty in Haiti… more
Cybersecurity short on skilled workers
Jamaica – “THE red-hot growth sector of cybersecurity has created more than a million new jobs. The bad news: half of these critical cyber jobs are going unfilled due to a shortage of skilled workers… more
The benefits of podcasting
ˆ – IN an era in which reading has become increasingly less favoured by many, podcasting provides a viable option to consume content in audio form… more
Trade-In-Services And Technology: More Missed Opportunities By CARICOM Members
Regional – Last week, I wrote about regional trade in services which is dominated by tourism… more
Thursday, 15 October 2020
Bahamas ranks low in ECLAC cybersecurity report
Bahamas – Highlighting The Bahamas’ low ranking on its commitment to cybersecurity, a new report released by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has advised that countries in the region must undertake significant investments and implement ambitious policies toward digital transformation in the era of COVID-19… more
Money Providers Given Digital B$ Assessments
Bahamas – Numerous local money transmission and digital payments providers have been assessed as authorised financial institutions (AFIs) to handle digital Bahamian dollar transactions, it was revealed yesterday… more
Sand Dollar to offer lower merchant fees and faster payment settlements
Bahamas – Central Bank officials said yesterday that the Sand Dollar will offer faster payment settlements and lower merchant fees, noting that plans are also in the works to eventually make it interoperable with other global currencies… more
Businesses to get 600% upgrade in broadband speeds in less than 60 days – GTT
Guyana – With demonopolization likely to increase competition, GTT today said that 300Mbps is now available to its business customers on the country’s largest fibre network… more
GTT offers 300 Mbps to business customers; plans “significant expansion”
Guyana – Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) on Thursday announced that it would be improving its services over the next 18 months as part of an expansion plan… more
Knutsford Express eyes more technology investments
Jamaica – Knutsford Express says it is considering investing more in improving automated customer service platforms for increased efficiencies… more
Protecting children’s privacy rights online
Jamaica – ast week alone I saw on WhatsApp and listened to at least two voice notes of children participating in online classes and their pronouncements… more
The Internet’s journey and its outcomes
Jamaica – The Internet is considered to be one of the greatest inventions. The word is an acronym for interconnected network and it emerged in the US in the late 60s… more
Caribbean Export Development Agency launches first virtual expo event
Regional – The Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) has announced the launch of its first virtual expo event named ‘Absolutely Caribbean, unlocking the profit potential of the Caribbean’… more
The digitally inclined journalist
Trinidad and Tobago – At the TT Publishers and Broadcasters webinar on Technology Journalism in August, the most enthusiastic participants were journalism students from Costatt… more
Friday, 16 October 2020
The Bahamas Central Bank Wants to Make Digital “Sand Dollar” Interoperable with Global Currencies
Bahamas – As the CBOB prepares to launch the nation’s first central bank digital currency (CBDC) next week, the central bank has hinted that it is already looking forward to the next step of making the Sand Dollar – The Bahamas’ digital currency – interoperable with other global currencies… more
Virtual Classes Now All Online
Bahamas – EDUCATION Minister Jeffrey Lloyd says the ministry’s Learning Management System (LMS) is now fully operational after thousands of public school students experienced problems trying to log on this week… more
Flow and Digicel to implement first phase of information transparency decisions
Jamaica – Mobile phone users will start receiving automated alerts on their usage levels from telecoms providers Digicel and Flow come October 18… more
Legislation coming to crack down on prisoners with cellphones
Jamaica – THE Government is moving to amend legislation governing the island’s prison system to allow criminal charges to be levelled against inmates found with contraband, with the heaviest punishment going to those found with communication devices… more
Mayberry Doubles Down On Digital Strategy; Four Managers Exit
Jamaica – A push to digitise operations, accelerated by the full onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, has coincided with a number of exits from brokerage Mayberry Investments Limited… more
Robinson renews call for mediation regarding Tablets in Schools project
Jamaica – Opposition Spokesman on Technology Julian Robinson on Friday renewed his call for the government to engage in mediation with GeoTechVision which is in a legal tussle in relation to the supply of devices for the Tablets in Schools project… more
Mottley eager to see greater innovation in region
Regional – Prime Minister Mia Mottley is blaming a lack of cultural confidence and issues of identity as two of the main hindrances to the Caribbean taking the lead in many areas of innovation and technological advancements… more
Mottley: Embrace digital revolution
Regional – Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley has said that the Caribbean has produced many outstanding citizens and can boast of solving complex problems, yet there remains a reluctance to fully embrace information and communications technology (ICT)… more
Promoting Online Safety And Privacy
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – Eknotec Services, a locally based service provider that promotes incident response solutions including data privacy and protection, system and network monitoring, operational efficiencies and solutions for remote workers, have announced that they have joined a growing global effort to promote the awareness of online safety and privacy… more
Digicel Saint Vincent: Best Mobile Coverage Provider
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – Digicel St. Vincent was among seven service providers that copped the 2020 Ookla Speedtest Award for The Best Mobile Coverage Provider in their respective territories… more
Saturday, 17 October 2020
Digicel slashes rates for overseas calls to 100 countries
Jamaica – Following the recent liberalisation of the telecommunications sector, Digicel yesterday announced a reduction of its overseas calling rates… more
Prime Minister concerned about students challenged with on-line learning
Jamaica – Prime Minister Andrew Holness says the government is actively working to have some students return to the classroom, even while the country continues to see a rise in Covid-19 cases… more
SBAJ President Urges Business Owners To Embrace Tech
Jamaica – Newly elected president of the Small Business Association of Jamaica (SBAJ), Michael Leckie, said that a number of small businesses are currently struggling to survive, but he feels a willingness to embrace digital technology could help them in the days ahead, as COVID-19 continues to create financial woes… more
USF Embarking on Programme to Assist Students in Accessing Online Classes
Jamaica – Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the Universal Service Fund (USF), Daniel Dawes, says the entity will shortly be embarking on a programme to assist students experiencing challenges accessing the internet to participate in online classes… more
Unicomer donates 8 more laptops
Trinidad and Tobago – Keeping their promise, Unicomer Trinidad Ltd gifted eight more pupils with laptops for their achievement at the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) 2020… more
Sunday, 18 October 2020
Ten days after losing monopoly GTT increases speed for customers for free – industry stakeholders
Guyana – For 30 years, the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph, which is 80 percent owned by US-based Atlantic Tele-Networks Inc., pushed against the liberalization of the telecoms industry while it practiced predatory pricing that stymied the development of call centres and emerging industries… more
FTC Probing Digital Payment Services Amid COVID – Perceives The Market As Uncompetitive
Jamaica – With the onset of the coronavirus or COVID-19 and the increased migration from cash to electronic transactions commerce, the Fair Trading Commission, FTC, has launched a study into the payment services sector in Jamaica… more
Jamaica readies for proliferation of 5G services locally
Jamaica – Jamaica is far advancing its regulatory and monitoring regime for the proliferation of fifth generation (5G) mobile technology services in Jamaica… more
Online learning heartache
Jamaica – STUDENTS are now on midterm break from digital learning, but parents who have sat in on some of the online classes have taken issue with a number of things, particularly the lack of personal feeling or the impersonal nature of the classes… more
Tyrone Wilson named new Mobile Edge Solutions chairman
Jamaica – Local tech and software development firm Mobile Edge Solutions Limited has appointed Tyrone Wilson as its new chairman, effective August 1… more
DATA COLLECTION IS KEY
Regional – If schools are going to remain open during this time, the collection of data and the monitoring of this data is vitally important… more
Image credits: Karolina Grabowska (Pixabay); Wikipedia; Wikipedia; Wikipedia; Wikimedia Commons; Brands of the World
