A roundup of the latest ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region for the period Monday 5 July to Sunday 11 July 2021.

 

Monday, 5 July 2021

Kanoo Eyes Caribbean Expansion In Six Months

Bahamas – The Bahamian digital payments provider at the centre of the health travel visa controversy says it expects to gain permission to launch in two other Caribbean territories within the next six months… more

Elsa was a major test of island’s telecommunications infrastructure

Barbados – Unlike other weather systems affecting Barbados in recent times, Hurricane Elsa was a major test of the island’s telecommunications infrastructure… more

Dominicans shape their digital future with support from UNDP

Dominica – The future of the Commonwealth of Dominica is digital and inclusive, and each Dominican has an integral role to play in shaping the way forward for the Eastern Caribbean nation… more

This cybercrime issue is not just confined to Guyana

Guyana – Dear Editor, There is a price to pay for misdemeanors of any type by anyone, but when a public personality, especially one from Parliament, commits not just a peccadillo, but an actual crime, actions must be taken by the relevant authority… more

Not getting the required Flow!

Jamaica ­– My 70-year-old grandmother lives in Morant Bay, St Thomas, and has been having some serious trouble with her Flow Internet and I am hoping that someone from the company will see this letter and do something to fix the problem… more

bmobile Partners to Support Women in Leadership Conference

Trinidad and Tobago – The Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, QC, MP, Prime Minister of Barbados, will join with leading executives, entrepreneurs and other speakers for this year’s UWI-Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business (ALJGSB) Women in Leadership Conference… more

Digicel Business helps T&TEC with technical services

Trinidad and Tobago – The COVID-19 pandemic has fast-tracked digital transformation for most businesses and it was no different for the T&TEC as they had to work out how to maintain operations safely during the pandemic… more

 

Tuesday, 6 July 2021

APUA officially launches new fibre to home project

Antigua and Barbuda – Residents who are fed up with slow internet will soon get to breathe a sigh of relief as APUA Inet officially launched its ‘Fibre to Home’ initiative yesterday… more

BTC elevates Tropical Gardens and Westridge north communities

Bahamas – BTC completed its fiber upgrades in several communities in the western district of New Providence, including Tropical Gardens and Westridge north, which now gives more than 650 families access of up to 600Mpbs of broadband speed directly to their homes… more

Underground cabling the way to go

Barbados – The Barbados Association of Professional Engineers (BAPE) is calling on the current administration to seriously examine the feasibility of moving the country’s main utilities infrastructure underground over the long-term… more

Internet experts to focus on securing Caribbean Internet infrastructure

Caribbean – The Caribbean Network Operator Group (CaribNOG), the largest, non-commercial, technical, educational and community-oriented event in the Caribbean, will be staging its annual Caribbean Peering and Interconnection Forum on Wednesday July 7, 2021… more

CIBC FirstCaribbean Customers Can Open Bank Accounts with a Selfie

Jamaica ­– The bank has become the latest financial services entity to embrace selfie onboarding – a major FinTech trend that has become even more prominent after COVID-19 drove so many more consumers and businesses into online channels… more

Central Bank: No plans to adopt cryptocurrency for now

Trinidad and Tobago – THE Central Bank is not currently interested in cryptocurrency. Its deputy governor Dr Dorian Noel said this country does not have the legislative framework or technological infrastructure to consider it… more

 

Wednesday, 7 July 2021

Caribbean tech start-ups pitch to investors

Caribbean – CARIBBEAN entrepreneurs got to show their potential as the regional accelerator programme TBR LAB hosted its inaugural Demo Day… more

CYBERSECURITY ROADMAP – LOCK SHOP (Part 3)

Caribbean – In previous articles, we looked at the six main pillars that are designed to limit or contain the impact of a potential cybersecurity event. Now we will highlight 10 practical systems, tools and practices that help to LOCK SHOP and protect devices, networks and critical assets against breaches or attacks… more

Experts zeroing on internet infrastructure

Caribbean – The Caribbean Network Operator Group (CaribNOG), the largest, non-commercial, technical, educational and community oriented event in the Caribbean, will be staging its annual Caribbean Peering and Interconnection Forum on Wednesday, July 7, 2021… more

GTT must provide more technical support for internet service

Guyana – Dear Editor, My internet service went down for a second time within a  week on Saturday,  July 3. It was restored on Tuesday, July 6.  The problem: a faulty modem… more

Guyana set to issue 700MHz licences to three operators

Guyana – The Telecommunications Agency of Guyana has confirmed plans to issue three 700MHz spectrum licences this month… more

Bank of Jamaica to begin digital currency pilot in August

Jamaica – Jamaica’s central bank will reportedly commence the initial roll-out of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) project in August… more

Digital currency will be a game changer for the Jamaican economy

Jamaica – The imminent introduction of digital currency to the Jamaican financial landscape will be a game changer that will push the country forward and widen financial inclusion, say a leading local economist and technology expert… more

Glen Henry — STAYING POWER

Jamaica – GLEN Henry is the founder and projects director at Spritewrench Studios, a Kingston-based game development business focused on developing narrative games. The idea to create his own video game someday always excited Henry… more

GraceKennedy, UWI partner on digital upskilling programme

Jamaica – GraceKennedy Limited (GK), through the GraceKennedy Foundation, has partnered with The University of the West Indies (UWI) to train young Caribbean nationals using a new programme geared at developing talent needed for jobs of the future… more

Who’s tracking our digital path

Jamaica – WE must not just pay lip service to technology transformation. What will it take to realise our dreams of creating the advancement that we want to see as a digital society? We aspire to national transformation in this digital era, and many of the goals we seek to achieve are based on what we’ve observed in other countries… more

TSTT zero-rates TTPS app

Trinidad and Tobago – TSTT mobile broadband users can access the Reporting and Safety app created by the TT Police Service to advise the public of its policing activities as well as to receive alerts and reports from the public whether or not they have an active data plan… more

 

Thursday, 8 July 2021

BISX Targets 2021 Crowdfund Launch

Bahamas – The Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX) plans to launch into the crowdfunding space in 2021, its top executive confirmed yesterday, suggesting it will happen “sooner rather than later”… more

BTC powers Mount Moriah community’s crime prevention initiative

Bahamas – BTC recently donated 25 mobile SIM cards with data services for a period of one year to assist the National Neighborhood Watch Council’s (NNWC) crime-fighting efforts in the Mount Moriah community. The community recently installed CCTV cameras to monitor the neighborhood… more

‘Huge Opportunity’ Through No Foreign Crowdfunding Bar

Bahamas – Newly-implemented crowdfunding rules were yesterday hailed as “a huge opportunity” for Bahamian small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) who will be able to source equity capital from foreign investors… more

Kanoo and Cable Bahamas partner over payment option

Bahamas – Cable Bahamas customers can now pay their monthly bills using the Kanoo app, as the digital payments provider has now partnered with Cable Bahamas Ltd… more

16 Guyanese youth will tackle global problems in int’l robotics competition

Guyana – A group of 16 young Guyanese will represent the country at the first global robotics competition, where they are expected to participate in various challenges that will require the use of robotics to solve real-world problems… more

Digital Education – An investment for the future

Jamaica – Many Jamaicans hold the view that a good education is one of the critical steps on the path to a secure future, putting in the investment from early childhood to post-graduate studies… more

Jamaican state digital currency set for launch next month

Jamaica – The Bank of Jamaica’s much-anticipated central bank digital currency will launch next month, according to a report by the Jamaica Observer… more

Republic Bank answers questions about its online banking upgrade

Trinidad and Tobago – Questions put to Derwin Howell, Executive Director of Republic Bank on the morning of July 06, 2021 were answered this evening in an email approved by him… more

Republic’s online banking upgrade goes awry

Trinidad and Tobago – On Monday, Republic Bank rolled out a new mobile app and online banking verification system for its customers that has gone off the rails for hundreds of them… more

TSTT CEO shares insight on broadband expansion to internet security

Trinidad and Tobago – On May 27, technology writer Mark Lyndersay posed questions to newly appointed TSTT CEO Lisa Agard. The company responded on Tuesday this week… more

 

Friday, 9 July 2021

Public transportation operators to be introduced to electric vehicles as part of a new pilot

Antigua and Barbuda – Select bus and taxi drivers will be given the opportunity to operate an electric vehicle with the launch of the Department of the Environment’s (DOE) second electronic mobility project… more

Crowdfunding platform ArawakX attracts 1,000 interested investors so far

Bahamas – One thousand interested investors have already started crowdfunding platform ArawakX’s onboarding process, which tells the company’s spokesperson and Chief Technology Officer D’Arcy Rahming Jr. that there is a hungry market out there for new types of investments… more

URCA reveals two frequencies available for radio station licences

Bahamas – Following a review of the market, the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) has determined that there are two radio frequencies available for broadcast… more  

URCA to investigate Cable Bahamas’ “concerning” widespread service quality issues

Bahamas – The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) has pledged to investigate the quality of Cable Bahamas’ television service, describing the widespread service quality issues as “concerning”… more

Cyber-attacks under-reported

Barbados – As cyber-attacks surge and fraud schemes become more rampant in Barbados, officials are warning of the need for greater vigilance and oversight… more

BOJ warns of risks in using cryptocurrencies

Jamaica – The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) is reminding the public of the potential risks of using or investing in cryptocurrencies… more

Digital currency will be for local use only, should speed financial inclusion — BOJ

Jamaica – The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) is indicating that its mission to deepen financial inclusion since the launch of a related campaign in 2017 has partially succeeded, but has significant areas of failure which are being addressed partially through financial education and improved products… more

Introduce Digital literacy programmes in SVG schools

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – along with the rest of the world was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Our schools were forced to make the rapid change to virtual learning due to the closing of the physical learning spaces. Digital literacy programs have now become more essential than ever… more

CWU calls for forensic audit into TSTT

Trinidad and Tobago – “While the Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) has experienced 35 per cent reduction in value, the company has embarked on another reorganisation exercise, that when successfully implemented, is expected to yield significant profits going forward… more

 

Saturday, 10 July 2021

FTC invokes special clause blocking post-Elsa compensation for utility customers

Barbados – Electricity, water and telecom customers will be unable to claim compensation from the utility companies, the regulator has said… more

SMEs get tips to protect their businesses online

Jamaica – “Act against people who seek to steal your trademark,” was the key message delivered by attorney-at-law Ronald Young who was a guest speaker at a recent Flow Business online webinar where he addressed a number of entrepreneurs… more

The future is digital, let us invest in it

Jamaica – I think we can all agree that the pandemic has impacted our economy negatively, but everything is about perspective. I think we should change the way we look at the pandemic’s influence on our nation… more

UTech legal counsel proposes far-reaching amendments to Cybercrimes Act

Jamaica –­ University of Technology’s (UTech) Legal Counsel Lisamae Gordon has proposed that the Cybercrimes Act, 2015, should be amended to include psychological and mental damage… more

Digicel and Dramacan is about to GoLoud in Saint Lucia with two new podcasts

Saint Lucia – Digicel has collaborated with local drama club, Dramacan to create and produce two podcasts that will be available on GoLoud and PlayGo… more

Digital delivery discrimination

Trinidad and Tobago – SOME local retailers and manu­facturers are complaining that the public health regu­lations the Government put in place in May are preventing their businesses from taking orders and making deliveries to customers, but are allowing the foreign retailers, like the American technology giant Amazon.com to continue deliveries to local customers… more

 

Sunday, 11 July 2021

Digicel estimates 100m hack attempts in the Caribbean

Caribbean – Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica are the top countries targeted in the region for ransomware, with one Digicel manager estimating that over 100 … more

Twenty GTT call centre agents graduate from training programme

Guyana – The Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company Limited on Friday hosted a graduation ceremony for twenty new additional call centre agents at their Lot 79 Brickdam location – GTT Headquarters… more

 

 

Image credits: Kaboompics-Karolina (Pexels); Wikipedia; Wikipedia; Facebook; Wikipedia; Bahamas Weekly; Wikipedia