The recently published ECLAC digital inclusion study has been getting some attention across the Caribbean region, as countries continue to grapple with how to narrow the widening digital divide. With ECLAC digital inclusion study Consultant, Kwesi Prescod and international Economist and ICT4D Consultant, Yacine Khelladi, the findings of the ECLAC study are discussed. However, the conversation then veers to the role of the telecoms regulator and the telcos in addressing digital inclusion, along with the impact of the human, social and economic challenges on digital inclusion and vice versa.

 

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Like financial inclusion, digital inclusion has been very topical in recent years, and there continues to be a growing concern about the widening divides across the Caribbean region. In late 2022, the United Nations (UN) Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) published the results of a study it had undertaken to investigate the extent to which the digital transformation frameworks and initiatives in Caribbean countries addressed digital inclusion.

To be fair, the findings, which were based on examining Caribbean 10 countries, were not surprising and echoed a longstanding observation and concern about limited data availability. However, the results were also an impetus to convene a recent meeting in collaboration with the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) to revisit ICT indicators and metrics Caribbean countries should be collecting.

In this podcast episode, digital inclusion and the ECLAC report are discussed.

 

Introducing our guests

Kwesi Prescod

Kwesi Prescod (BSc.Eng, MBA) has over twenty-five years of experience in ICT. Thanks to his extensive experience in the management, development and operations of 2G to 3.5G telecommunications networks on behalf of carriers and vendors alike, Kwesi has also contributed to the development of the ICT Policy in Trinidad and Tobago by playing a lead role in the regulatory reform necessary for telecoms sector liberalisation and e-commerce development. Additionally, he initiated the call to establish Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) and the associated ecosystem, which are key to national and regional Internet development and security.

Experienced in many roles within the ICT administrative space, Kwesi has also led the policy function of the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT), and established medium-term strategies to address Caribbean Forum — European Union Economic Partnership Agreements compliance, Digital Terrestrial Television migration, and the reform of Universal Service, price regulation and competition management regimes. He has also provided support to regional and international agencies in the development of intra-regional ICT policy frameworks. More recently, Kwesi co-authored the UN ECLAC’s study on Digital Inclusion within the digital transformation initiatives in the Caribbean.

Yacine Khelladi

Yacine Khelladi is an International Consultant, and an Economist, who specialises in ICT, Social and Human Development, ICT National Policies and Strategies, Project Monitoring and Evaluation, to name just a few areas. He is also the moderator of the Caribbean ICT Stakeholders Virtual Community (CIVIC), an online platform for sharing information, ideas and projects on ICT and ICT-related developments in the Caribbean.

Yacine is also the Founder of Fundación Taigüey, a non-governmental organisation that engages in grassroots community development, empowerment through the strategic use of ICTs, and knowledge networking. He has been based in the Dominican Republic for over 20 years.

 

 Insights into our conversation

To some degree, this conversation did not follow the typical path of discussions on digital inclusion, and accordingly, challenges some long-held beliefs and concepts on the subject and how it could be best addressed. To date, when considering strategies to address digital inclusion, the focus tends to be on telecoms, and specifically trying to encourage (or mandate!) the regulator and the telcos to do what is necessary to improve the situation.

However, with increased take-up of internet services across the Caribbean region being reported, there are still concerns that some segments of our societies remain digitally excluded, which suggests that infrastructure access – though not 100% in most countries – is not the only issue to be addressed.

  1. Kwesi: Please give us some background and context for this study commissioned by ECLAC, Digital inclusion in Caribbean digital transformation frameworks and initiatives.
  2. Yacine: What have been your observations on digital inclusion in the Caribbean region?
  3. Kwesi: In the report, there was a discussion on the ‘digital divides’ and their relationship to digital inclusion. Why ‘divides’, and what does that mean for inclusion?
  4. What is the difference between access and being able to leverage the internet?
  5. What is the relationship between human and social issues and digital inclusion?
  6. What is the role of the telecoms regulator in addressing digital inclusion?
  7. Do we need a standalone ministry of ICT or an ICT division in every ministry?

 

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Select links

Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that either were mentioned during the episode or otherwise, might be useful:

 

 

Images credit:  K Prescod; World Wide Web Foundation;  Discover Savsat (Unsplash); woodleywonderworks (flickr); Lukas (Pixabay)

Music credit: The Last Word (Oui Ma Chérie), by Andy Narrell

Podcast editing support:  Mayra Bonilla Lopez