A roundup of the latest ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region for the period Monday 29 November to Sunday 5 December 2021.
Monday, 29 November 2021
Bitt to Deploy Stablecoin in Central America
Barbados – Global fintech company, Bitt, will deploy a stablecoin for a government-owned national bank in Central America by the end of 2021… more
Caribbean countries adopt first-ever global agreement on the ethics of AI
Caribbean – The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) says the Caribbean and all other member states have adopted an historic agreement that defines the common values and principles needed to ensure the healthy development of artificial intelligence (AI)… more
SiliconCaribe to host first Future of Caribbean Money event
Caribbean – Prime Minister of The Bahamas, Philip Davis, CEOs, entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers and tech community leaders will gather at SiliconCaribe’s first annual Future of Caribbean Money (FOCMNY) event on December 8 and 9… more
Technology now making it easier for seniors
Caribbean – THE dynamic and expansive nature of the Internet makes it easier for consumers of information and services to communicate and do business… more
Claro to expand coverage in 11 Dominican localities
Dominican Republic – The Dominican Institute of Telecommunications (Indotel) said Claro Dominicana has committed to extending its mobile network to 11 localities throughout the Dominican Republic, equivalent to around half of the country’s population, as part of the concession contract signed in the wake of the 5G spectrum tender held last month… more
New mobile learning app helping women grow their businesses
Guyana – HerVenture; the mobile learning app launched last September, as part of efforts to help female entrepreneurs in Guyana grow their businesses, is moving rapidly towards its target of reaching 3000 Guyanese women in business… more
Antonio Brown is passionate about technology and the environment
Jamaica – The 2021 NCB Foundation scholarship recipients are all pursuing degrees in digital programmes… more
Buju Banton Creates His First NFT Artwork on The First and Largest NFT Platform
Jamaica – Buju Banton teams up with CrimsonTide Ltd. to continue his legendary work by entering the NFT space with an Artwork titled “Indigenous” listed at 7 ETH… more
Chief Justice takes telephone service providers to task in Klansman trial
Jamaica – Indications that the police had faced “challenges” in obtaining call data records integral to the ongoing trial of 33 alleged members of the St Catherine-based Klansman gang from the two mobile service providers riled trial judge Chief Justice Bryan Sykes on Monday morning… more
tTech records steady growth for third quarter
Jamaica – Managed IT services provider tTech Limited is reporting an unaudited after-tax profit of $6.7 million for its third quarter ended September 30, 2021, a 21.8 per cent increase over 2020’s $5.5 million… more
Shoppers are back in store, online
Trinidad and Tobago – Americans are spending freely and going back to store shopping, knocking out some of the momentum in online sales from last year when Americans were making many of their purchases exclusively via the Internet… more
Tuesday, 30 November 2021
Digicel goes digital with Deep Blue One
Caribbean – Natalie Bannerman speaks to Peter Hobbs, group director of international and wholesale business at Digicel Group, about the company’s Deep Blue One subsea cable and what it means as part of Digicel’s digital-first roadmap… more
Central Bank Digital Currency To Facilitate Financial Inclusion
Jamaica – Deputy Governor of the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ), Natalie Haynes, says Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) implementation is consistent with the Government’s overall financial inclusion strategy… more
Big data can help energy sector, Young tells UN-TT forum
Trinidad and Tobago – BIG data can help to improve efficiency across many spheres of the domestic energy sector, Energy Minister Stuart Young said on Tuesday… more
Young: Corruption major reason for pushback on technology
Trinidad and Tobago – MINISTER in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young has identified “corruption in the status quo” as a major reason for resistance to technological change in the workplace… more
Wednesday, 1 December 2021
BYE-BYE, BRANCHES: Scotiabank to consolidate two bank locations in early 2022; another to take on digital model
Bahamas – Scotiabank has revealed that it plans to consolidate two of its New Providence branches into its main branch in the first quarter of 2022… more
Try local expertise too
Caribbean – As we get closer to the end of 2021 executives everywhere finalise budgets and strategies for the year ahead. It’s usually a crazy, busy time that, for some, equals high stress and lots of negotiations with their team on what should be the highest priority… more
Electronic retailers fulfilling demand despite global chip shortage
Jamaica – At least three local electronic retailers are admitting that the global shortage of semiconductor microchips has affected the availability of certain electronic items this holiday shopping season… more
Huawei graduates ICT students
Jamaica – Twenty-nine Jamaican students from The University of the West Indies (UWI) and University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) graduated from Huawei’s Seeds of the Future programme in 2021… more
Productivity rises with remote working — PwC survey
Jamaica – New research from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) shows that as many companies have boosted workforce productivity and performance during the novel coronavirus pandemic, cultural and leadership speed bumps have arisen that are inhibiting the creation of strong workforce strategies… more
Tech firms join forces to digitise MSMEs
Jamaica – Information technology support firms Ingenuity Technologies and Intcomex has partnered with the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) to deliver digital solutions to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the Caribbean… more
Technology-based learning here to stay, says Williams
Jamaica – Education Minister Fayval Williams has reasserted her support for blended classroom learning and has lobbied that administrators maintain that option in the new year, even as more schools reopen for face-to-face classes… more
Toll Authority donates 100 tablets to rural students
Jamaica – Students from several rural schools across the island are to benefit from a donation of 100 tablets by the Toll Authority of Jamaica… more
NESC certifies 16 parents in Digital Literacy
Trinidad and Tobago – Sixteen parents from the community of Mayaro graduated with certifications in Digital Literacy, Microsoft Word and Microsoft excel last Saturday. The programme was developed by the National Energy Skills Centre (NESC) for parents whose children are engaged in e-learning… more
Thursday, 2 December 2021
Sebas Raises $19m For E-Commerce Purchase
Bahamas – Sebas Bastian raised nearly $19m from investors to finance the acquisition of an e-commerce platform that he yesterday said will become an “Amazon like” presence in The Bahamas and region… more
Gov’t Presses Ahead With National Broadband Plan
Jamaica – The Government is pressing ahead with the National Broadband Initiative, which aims to have every household and every community connected to the Internet… more
Guardsman Armoured is now Beryllium; to focus on finance/tech services
Jamaica – Guardsman Armoured, the company best known for transporting cash to and from financial institutions and businesses in its secure vehicles, has been renamed Beryllium, signalling its greater focus on high-risk finance and technology services… more
Scan to pay
Jamaica – Wipay is eyeing a bigger role in the digital payment market with its Scan2pay technology, using QR codes to make payments… more
Sint Maarten launch of Payroll Pro HRM mobile app.
Sint Maarten – Antek IT Solutions hosted a breakfast event on Thursday, December 2nd to showcase the latest advancement from Gamma IT Solutions the developer of the most popular Payroll HRM application in the Dutch Caribbean… more
10 Digicel jobs T&T nationals can apply for now
Trinidad and Tobago – Digicel is a communications and entertainment provider with operations in 32 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and Asia Pacific… more
CAF, Unicef donate 460 laptops to Education Ministry
Trinidad and Tobago – Unicef and CAF Development Bank of Latin America have partnered to donated 460 laptop devices to the Ministry of Education… more
Imbert sees big data transforming T&T’s economy
Trinidad and Tobago – Data could be the new oil for this country says Finance Minister Colm Imbert… more
Friday, 3 December 2021
Police going digital
Barbados – The Barbados Police Service will soon transition to a digitized information system along with the police forces in several other Caribbean countries… more
OECS launches Entrepreneurs Incubation and Acceleration Programme- TECHIE
Caribbean – The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States(OECS) Commission has welcomed the first cohort of entrepreneurs to its incubation and acceleration programme:Technology Competitiveness hub for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (TECHIE)… more
‘Blackouts’ a bother in Guyana as people need to access online learning, work – World Bank
Guyana – With the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in disruptions to working and attending school physically, online services have become important… more
Vreed-en-Hoop linked to GTT Fibre
Guyana – From today, residents and businesses in Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara are expected to access GTT’s Fibre internet service… more
Beryllium enters BPO sector
Jamaica – Beryllium Limited, the newly created entity which takes over from Guardsman Armoured Limited in both name and business, is seeking to expand its services portfolio to include business processing outsourcing (BPO)… more
JSE to continue technology and process upgrades
Jamaica – Marlene Street Forrest, managing director of the Jamaica Stock Exchange Group (JSEG), indicates that the JSE and its subsidiary will continue to emphasise process improvements, adding to what has been done in the last several years… more
WiPay transforms delivery services market with scan to pay
Jamaica – Regional fintech company WiPay, through its scan to pay app, is seeking to revolutionise the way transactions are done within the thriving delivery service market… more
NTRC to launch National ICT survey 2021
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – The National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (NTRC)has said it will be conducting a National ICT survey in St Vincent and the Grenadines from December 4-20, 2021… more
Saturday, 4 December 2021
EBC to demonstrate new data-collection technology in Tobago on Saturday
Trinidad and Tobago – The Election and Boundaries Commission (EBC) will be hosting a small demonstration of the new technology that will be introduced as a pilot project for the Tobago House of Assembly election on December 6… more
Flow introduces a retail ‘Store on Wheels’
Trinidad and Tobago – Flow rolled out its newest initiative on November 26, a new ‘Store on Wheels,’ part of the Company’s revolutionizing of its retail experience… more
A New Era Of E-commerce
Trinidad and Tobago – The Wallstarr empire recently launched its platform in Trinidad & Tobago and it is already a tremendous success… more
The Digital Transformation Plan
Trinidad and Tobago – In a country where several businesses still do not allow for LINX transactions, Finance Minister Colm Imbert raised a few eyebrows recently when he gave a target for Trinidad and Tobago to become a cashless society… more
Sunday, 5 December 2021
C&W Communications joins Microsoft Direct Cloud Solution Provider Program
Caribbean – C&W Communications (C&W) earlier this week announced that it has joined the Microsoft Direct Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program to bring greater choice and new capabilities of value-added for its business customers… more
5G-Ready?
Jamaica – At the height of the novel coronavirus pandemic rumours began circulating that there was a possible link between 5G Technology and the cause and spread of the virus, and that 5G had, in fact, entered Jamaica in a clandestine way. Both claims were wrong and unfounded… more
C&W Business hailed for pioneering role at BPO awards
Jamaica – The global services sector recently recognised C&W Wireless Business Jamaica as a trailblazer in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector by presenting the company with one of its Industry Pioneer awards… more
KPMG outsourcing unit doubles workforce, adds second location
Jamaica – KPMG Jamaica has doubled its outsourcing workforce from 250 to 500 in a year, and is still in the process of hiring more people, having co-invested in expanded facilities… more
The future of work reimagined
Trinidad and Tobago – Almost two years into working from home since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, commentators have said that in reimagining the future of work, there needs to be a clear consensus on how traditional workplace operations are to fit into new normal work arrangements… more
Image credits: Mars Hill Church (flickr); Future of Caribbean Money; Wikimedia Commons; Wikimedia Commons; Wikipedia; Guyana Chronicle; Marketing Magazine
