A roundup of the latest ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region for the period Monday 2 August to Sunday 8 August 2021.
Monday, 2 August 2021
CCJ, CAJO accept new technology equipment from Canada
Caribbean – The President of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Justice Adrian Saunders says the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has compelled adjustments to the work methods of judges and staff resulting in them being constrained to work from home… more
Amendment to Petroleum Act geared at clearing way for gas to shore project, laying of fibre optic cable
Guyana – Tomorrow, the PPP/C government will present to Parliament an amendment to the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act, as it seeks to pave the way for the smooth execution of the gas to shore project and ExxonMobil’s laying of fibre optic cables… more
150,000 J’cans to benefit from 5-year digital skills programme
Jamaica – MORE than 150,000 Jamaicans are to benefit from a five-year digital skills programme being undertaken by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information and Microsoft… more
GraceKennedy activates digital transformation strategy
Jamaica – As companies engage greater use of technology during the novel coronavirus outbreak, GraceKennedy Group (GKG) has now fully operationalised its digital transformation strategy… more
Jamaica set for more competition despite lagging MVNOs
Jamaica – Jamaica’s telecom sector has for many years been propped up by the mobile sector, which accounts for the vast majority of internet connections and voice lines – as well as just over half of telecom sector revenue… more
Flow hails Fixed Number Portability ruling
Trinidad and Tobago – Flow T&T has called last week’s court ruling on Fixed Number Portability, “a victory for customers… more
Port of Spain’s digital plan
Trinidad and Tobago – Mayor Joel Martinez had his buzzwords lined up on Friday for the monthly statutory meeting at City Hall… more
Turn off, turn on: Simple step can stop phone hackers
Trinidad and Tobago – As a member of the secretive Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Angus King has reason to worry about hackers. At a briefing by security staff this year, he said he got some advice on how to help keep his cellphone secure… more
Tuesday, 3 August 2021
URCA issues final determination on wholesale broadband internet offers from BTC and CBL
Bahamas – The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) has found it necessary that communications providers Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) and Cable Bahamas offer a wider range of bandwidth to other licensed operators (OLO)… more
5-yr contract issued to fix Customs system after misuse claims
British Virgin Islands – The government has moved to engage a Bahamas-based company to the tune of more than $1 million for the next half decade to address several needs of the Customs Automated Processing System (CAPS)… more
Grenada PM addresses virtual start of CARICOM Population and Housing Census
Caribbean – Grenada’s Prime Minister, Dr Keith Mitchell, Tuesday said that it is imperative for the Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries to collect the data that will allow them to assess the magnitude of the impact of climate change as well as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and other occurrences, so as “to better plan for our future, to adjust to this new normal”… more
Cayman Islands Government launches new single sign-on solution
Cayman Islands – The Cayman Islands eGovernment Unit and Computer Services Department announced today that its new online user authentication platform went live with its first Government eService. The solution is a key foundational component in the eGovernment strategy of enhancing the Cayman Islands’ digital infrastructure in order to securely access Government services… more
Grenada to use WiPay technology for uniform grants
Grenada – LOCAL fintech company, WiPay, has taken its payment technology to Grenada and the company is providing the technical support for the Keith Mitchell administration’s drive to launch a pilot digital uniform assistance programme… more
‘Amazon-like’ website being developed to market Guyana’s products internationally
Guyana – An “Amazon-like” e-commerce website will soon be launched to market local products made by small businesses to international buyers, President Irfaan Ali announced on Friday… more
IBEX offering more than 5,000 jobs
Jamaica – Following the opening of IBEX in Portmore, St. Catherine recently, the business process outsourcing (BPO) company has offered more than 5,000 jobs across the country… more
Samsung Lottery Scam hits St. Kitts and Nevis
Saint Kitts and Nevis – THE latest online scam has hit the Federation as unsuspecting persons have been circulating messages purportedly from mobile giant Samsung, indicating that locals were part of the company’s promotion and would have won US$800,000… more
Wednesday, 4 August 2021
Government of Belize working to make school textbooks digital
Belize – The Government of Belize is aiming to lighten the load of students and their families, through a project that will produce digital copies of school textbooks… more
Ministry of Health working to get rural communities ready for online learning
Belize – Last year, many rural communities in Belize had great difficulty with students receiving online instruction due to limited access to the internet either because of infrastructure or finances. Today, Minister of Education, Culture, Science, and Technology Francis Fonseca, said that his ministry is working tirelessly to address those challenges… more
Pilot program launched to digitize Know Your Customer process for financial institutions in the Caribbean
Dominica – Technology company ShareRing have today announced a pilot program to digitize the KYC (Know Your Customer) process for financial institutions based in the Caribbean region… more
Labor Arbitrage Drove itel’s Guyana Acquisition
Guyana – Last week, Jamaica’s itel announced its acquisition of Guyana’s Emerge BPO. The move gives itel a presence in Guyana and Honduras, and the ability to leverage a handful of at-home agents in the US… more
Cybersecurity road map — Patch up the holes
Jamaica – The only patching I knew about was how to patch a bicycle or car tyre as a child. The idea and concept are still the same for technology hardware and software, with our reliance on all things digital at an all-time high… more
Jamaicans to benefit from digital skills programme
Jamaica – The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information and Microsoft, last week Tuesday, signed a memorandum of understanding which will benefit over 150,000 Jamaicans… more
Lynk up — NCB pushes mobile wallet
Jamaica – Jamaica -based financial conglomerate NCB Financial Group (NCBFG) is pushing deeper into the payment services business with the expected launch of Lynk, the company’s mobile wallet offering, before the end of this year… more
NICHOLAS KEE: One tech at a time
Jamaica – NICHOLAS Kee is a Jamaican tech genius who has been in the space for approximately 15 years. He helped many corporate businesses with HR solutions… more
Sagicor inks US$2 million deal with tech company IBM
Jamaica – Sagicor Group Jamaica has inked a US$2 million deal with US-based technology company IBM for the adoption of new technologies… more
Winning gold in technology
Jamaica – Jamaica made historic strides in track and field at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, over the last two weeks… more
ECCB extends digital cash to St Vincent
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) announced on July 30 its DCash digital currency was now circulating in St Vincent and the Grenadines… more
Subterfuge: The new standard of privacy
Trinidad and Tobago – Ian Fleming’s fictional character “Double-O-Seven” has dominated the literary world for decades and has somehow managed to successfully break women’s hearts over several generations… more
TTSEC launches investor protection app
Trinidad and Tobago – The Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission (TTSEC) yesterday launched a new mobile app that makes it much easier to report investment scams and make complaints about dodgy investment practices… more
Thursday, 5 August 2021
BTC’s Half-Year Better Via 16% Revenue Rise
Bahamas – The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) enjoyed a 16.3 percent year-over-year increase in 2021 second quarter revenues, it was revealed yesterday, despite losing close to 3,000 prepaid mobile subscribers… more
E-Kyash and E-Governance; What Do They Have in Common?
Belize – What does the introduction of E-Kyash mean for government’s transition to e-governance? In attendance at this morning’s launch was Minister of Sports and E-governance, Kevin Bernard… more
E-Kyash Makes Banking History in Belize
Belize – As many as seven hundred and fifty businesses in various sectors across the country have signed up to participate in Belize Bank’s new E-Kyash platform… more
A strategy for 5G in the Caribbean
Caribbean – At CANTO’s 36th Annual Conference last week, a panel of experts gathered to discuss “How 5G can be rolled out in the Caribbean… more
CARPHA, Republic Bank Limited collaborate on technological advancement and innovations
Caribbean – Tourism is the major economic driver for many Caribbean countries and territories in which the Republic Bank group operates… more
CENSUS TO MAKE FULL USE OF TECHNOLOGY
Caribbean – Technology will be a main feature in the data collection as the countries across the Caribbean undertake their population and housing census over the coming months… more
Winners of Byte the π : Caribbean Hackathon announced
Caribbean – The virtual hackathon event was organized in collaboration with the Developing the Caribbean (DevCa) initiative, The Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI) of Trinidad and Tobago, the Institute of Law and Economics (ILE) of Jamaica, the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB), the Ministry of Youth, Sports & E-Governance of Belize, The Belize Trade and Investment Development Service (BELTRAIDE), The Belize Tourism Board (BTB), and the OAS National Office in Belize; with the financial support of Citi Foundation and the United States of America Embassy in Belmopan… more
Our major ISP is fumbling around, only competition will wake GTT
Guyana – Dear Editor, Many of us often have cause to suspend our TV or Internet Services for many reasons such as short travel away from home… more
UHWI to fix multimillion-dollar software glitch
Jamaica – Crucial security features are to be installed on a problematic multimillion-dollar software that’s exposed hundreds of thousands of patient data for the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) to potential abuse… more
Digital Payment system has to be modernised
Trinidad and Tobago – It’s probably not an understatement that T&T’s regulatory environment for digital payments has traditionally been extremely conservative, barely reactive, and by and large, uncooperative with MSMEs and new entrants/disruptors – especially those in the FinTech and Digital Financial Services (DFS) sector, says ICT and Digital Economy Strategist Tracy Hackshaw… more
Flow, Digital Transformation Ministry discuss plan for Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago – Telecommunications company Flow and the Ministry of Digital Transformation have partnered to develop a digital transformation plan for Trinidad and Tobago… more
T&T Central Bank takes closer look at digital currency
Trinidad and Tobago – The Central Bank of T&T is actively looking at the feasibility of issuing a digital currency here… more
Friday, 6 August 2021
Belize Bank launches first ‘digital wallet’ E-Kyash application in San Pedro Town
Belize – An online service that allows users to transfer money, purchase items, and pay bills online has been launched in the country by Belize Bank… more
CWC head kicks off CANTO with candid fireside chat
Caribbean – The 36th annual CANTO Trade and Virtual Exhibition kicked-off on Wednesday, with headline sponsor C&W Communications (CWC) hosting the first day of the three-day virtual event… more
GTT donates smartphones to Linden co-op society
Guyana – The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) yesterday donated six Blu G70 smartphones, SIMs and $1,000 Top Up on each phone to the Future Economic Development Strategy Cooperative Society Limited (FEDS) in Linden… more
Caribbean designated as ’emerging market’ for data privacy by IAPP
Jamaica – Jamaica has been positioned to improve its capacity for information privacy management through the recent designation of the Caribbean as having ’emerging market’ status, granted by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP)… more
Google joins in celebrating Jamaica’s Independence Day
Jamaica – Google, the United States-based multinational technology company that specialises in Internet-related services and products, on Friday recognised the 59th anniversary of Jamaica’s Independence… more
Itel Jamaica operations expanding to Guyana
Jamaica – With successive oil finds incrementally enhancing Guyana’s portfolio as the new investment haven, external perceptions of the country as the owner of one of the more sluggish economies in the Caribbean have disappeared, virtually overnight, to be replaced with the image of a country with overwhelming investment potential… more
tTech records $107-million revenues for second quarter
Jamaica – Managed IT services and consulting company tTech Limited is reporting unaudited revenues of $107.9 million for its second quarter ended June 30, 2021… more
Flow, Digital Transformation Ministry discuss plan for Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago – Telecommunications company Flow and the Ministry of Digital Transformation have partnered to develop a digital transformation plan for Trinidad and Tobago… more
Justice Seepersad’s ruling on Fixed Number Portability
Trinidad and Tobago – The finding delivered by Justice Frank Seepersad on July 28 was clear, “The Court hereby declares that TSTT is legally obligated to implement FNP (Fixed Number Portability) and the parties shall be heard on the issue of costs… more
Saturday, 7 August 2021
Belize will support financial sustainability of MSMEs in the face of COVID-19 crisis
Belize – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a US$15 million operation to support the sustainability of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Belize. The project will help to protect employment and promote the economic recovery of MSMEs through access to production-oriented finance… more
E-learning Jamaica to provide 7,000 tablets for national census
Jamaica – E-learning Jamaica Limited has been procuring electronic devices to be used in the 2022 National Census… more
Sunday, 8 August 2021
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Image credits: rawpixel.com (Pexels); GK Capital; Wikipedia; SeekVectorLogo; The Eleutheran; Wikipedia; Wikimedia Commons;
Compilation support: Mayra Bonilla Lopez
