A roundup of the latest ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region for the period Monday 3 January to Sunday 9 January 2022.

Monday, 3 January 2022

Bahamas chartered the course for digital currencies in 2021

Bahamas – Despite plethora fiscal and economic challenges, The Bahamas still managed, in the midst of a pandemic, to make a name for itself as a small nation leading the way in digital currencies… more

Government commissions subsea cable feasibility study

Cayman Islands – The Ministry of Planning, Agriculture, Housing and Infrastructure is seeking proposals from consulting firms for a commercial and technical feasibility study that will investigate the potential to update Cayman’s international telecommunications infrastructure… more

Claro began to notify that in February operators will turn off 2G and 3G networks

Dominican Republic – The telecommunications company Claro Dominicana began to notify its clients that as of February of this year, 2022, users of the 2G and 3G networks will not work for “Roaming” services on their trips to the United States… more

‘Bank of Jamaica completes first CBDC pilot

Jamaica – The Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) has successfully completed its f central bank digital currency (CBDC), targeting a national rollout in the first quarter of 2022… more

BOJ reports digital currency pilot success

Jamaica – The Bank of Jamaica, BOJ, says its trial run for the roll-out of its still unbranded central bank digital currency, CBDC, has been a success despite its take-up by only one financial institution… more

Pat’ Walters indelible footprints in the sands of time

Saint Kitts and Nevis – PATRICIA WALTERS CREATED HISTORY when she took over the reins of Cable and Wireless (C&W) in St Kitts and Nevis several years ago… more

bmobile rewards Entrepreneurs in Tobago Virtual Expo

Trinidad and Tobago – bmobile continues to encourage, support and reward entrepreneurship in Trinidad and Tobago through a continued partnership with the THA Division of Community Development, Enterprise Development and Labour. The alliance resulted in the contribution of several mobile devices to further enhance the growth of category winners in a Virtual Business Expo… more

Tuesday, 4 January 2022

Central Television and Internet and Centaur Cable to acquire Southern Cable Network, establishing national duopoly

Belize – There has been a quiet shake-up in the cable industry over the last few months, with one former giant acquired by a rival and another major player being jointly acquired by two others… more

Minister of Public Utilities Un-Phased by Cable Monopoly

Belize – Central Cable & Internet and Centaur Cable have now become the dominant players in Belize’s cable industry… more

Phishing gets subtle, more worrisome

Caribbean – On December 01, PrivSec Global, which hosts a series of forums examining issues of digital privacy, cybersecurity and identity protection hosted a webinar on ‘Deepsea Phishing… more

Government Commissions Subsea Cable Feasibility Study

Haulage company touts new mobile app

Jamaica – Haulage company Will Deliver Limited has launched a mobile app, providing an option it says will enable companies and persons to find the lowest cost truck or van to transport their goods… more

Wednesday, 5 January 2022

#BTColumn – Election list leak problematic

Barbados – On 27 December 2021, the Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Amor Mottley scheduled a snap election for 19 January 2022… more

Barbados Builds Its Own Online Travel Booking Platform to Be a Game Changer

Barbados – When the pandemic hit, the hospitality and tourism industry in the Caribbean wasn’t just hurt by the absence of visitors… more

Why we should care about digital vulnerability

Caribbean – If you are a business leader with little knowledge of the technical intricacies around cybersecurity, you may be wondering why the term “log4j” is suddenly everywhere… more

200-year-old Mount Airy Primary & Infant School is now fibre fast

Jamaica – Students and educators at the Mount Airy Primary & Infant School in Negril, Westmoreland are excited as they are now enjoying internet speeds up to 100 Mbps courtesy of the Flow Foundation… more

Jamaica Adopts NextGen TV

Jamaica – The Advanced Television Systems Committee has announced that the Caribbean island nation of Jamaica has adopted the ATSC 3.0/NextGen TV standard, making it the third nation in the world—after S. Korea and the United States—to adopt the advanced over the air standard… more

New year, new mindset

Jamaica – It’s a great time of year for leaders to think about showing up in their organisations. With an all-time high demand for innovation and velocity in execution, the traditional Caribbean way of easy does it will not get the needle moving… more

TV transitioning

Jamaica – Jamaica has embarked on transitioning its television industry to the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) standards for digital television transmission over terrestrial, cable, and satellite networks… more

WiPay to up the ante in 2022

Jamaica – PAYMENT service provider WiPay is seeking to raise the stakes in its business this year as the regional firm looks to add new products and services and even expand into new territories… more

WORK IS UNDERWAY FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AN URBAN TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN THE KINGSTON METROPOLITAN REGION (KMR)

Jamaica – Commuters will soon benefit from a new Urban Traffic Management System (UTMS) that will reduce travel times and fuel consumption by 30% through improved traffic control management in the KMR… more

Thursday, 6 January 2022

New firm to be conduit for investing in web3 economy

Bahamas – A new investment firm called Agio is launching its platform this month and is set on breaking barriers by providing a conduit to investing in the web3 economy… more

Barbados in the Metaverse

Barbados – The Metaverse. What is it? How do Barbadians benefit? Last month the world took note when Barbados announced and signed off on becoming the first country to adopt the Metaverse… more

Businesses urged not to lag; move to online

Barbados – Operators of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are being encouraged to get on board with digital payment systems or risk being left behind… more

Grave concern over leaked data

Barbados – On December 29th, 2021, a preliminary list of all eligible voters in Barbados was posted on the Barbados Government Information Service (GIS) website… more

Amber Group cops 2021 excellence in international business award

Jamaica – The Amber Group has been awarded the 2021 Caribbean Council’s Excellence in International Business Award… more

Internet woes handicap some schools

Jamaica – Some primary school administrators in the Corporate Area are appealing to the Government to help them balance face-to-face classes with online classes by providing them with reliable Internet and Wi-Fi connectivity… more

TelEm Group urging customers to make payments online to counter new COVID-19 surge.

Sint Maarten – In line with Government’s call for the general population to redouble their efforts to contain the latest surge of the COVID-19 virus on St. Maarten, telecommunication provider, TelEm Group is urging customers to visit company locations as little as possible until further notice and to pay their bills online as much as possible… more

Friday, 7 January 2022

Passport applications going fully online

Barbados – The process for Barbadian passport applications will soon move to a 100 per cent online process, says Acting Chief Immigration Officer, Margaret Inniss… more

Cayman govt consults on new subsea cable

Cayman Islands – The Ministry of Planning, Agriculture, Housing and Infrastructure of the Cayman Islands has launched a tender requesting proposals from consultancies to prepare a feasibility study into the possibility of rolling out a new submarine fibre-optic cable, reports the Cayman Compass… more

BPIAJ recognises C&W Business as an industry pioneer

Jamaica – C&W Wireless Business Jamaica was recently recognised as a pioneer in the bsiness process outsourcing (BPO)/global services sector, having received one of two Business Processing Industry Association of Jamaica (BPIAJ) Industry Pioneer Awards, at the annual BPIAJ Awards Ceremony, which was held at the AC Marriott Hotel in Kingston. The Port Authority of Jamaica won the other award… more

Tablets Being Procured For 2022 Population And Housing Census

Jamaica – A total of 7,525 tablets are being procured for use in conducting the 2022 Population and Housing Census… more

Toco vandals cut TSTT cable

Trinidad and Tobago – DOZENS of residents of Cumana, Sans Souci and L’Anse Noire in Toco were left without mobil phone and Internet services after vandals severed dozens of overhead TSTT (Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago) cables early yesterday morning… more

Saturday, 8 January 2022

WiPay CEO launches US neobank

Caribbean – ALMOST as soon as he moved into his new home in Miami in August last year, WiPay founder and CEO, Aldwyn Wayne, got busy executing an aspiration he has had for years: establishing a neobank, a financial institution without physical branches that is driven by technology and artificial intelligence and offers customers lower-cost services than traditional banks… more

Wi-Fi portal installed in East Kingston community

Jamaica – The Universal Service Fund (USF) yesterday launched another ‘Community Connect’ Wi-Fi portal at the McIntyre Villa Community Centre in Kingston and urged residents and especially students to make the best use of the technology… more

Sunday, 9 January 2022

Monetising the digital future

Jamaica – “The future is digital,” so said Alicia Lyttle, CEO of Pow Social and Internet Income, who believes that the novel coronavirus pandemic has presented opportunities for Jamaicans to become digital entrepreneurs… more

Image credits: Ono Kosuki (Pexels); Wikipedia; Wikipedia; JTDA website; Wikipedia; Wikipedia

Roundup: for the week ending 9 January 2022