{"id":153189,"date":"2020-06-03T06:00:20","date_gmt":"2020-06-03T11:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=153189"},"modified":"2020-06-03T06:15:42","modified_gmt":"2020-06-03T11:15:42","slug":"ictp-108-clouds-governments-improving-service-delivery-eamonn-sheehy-cloud-carib","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2020\/06\/ictp-108-clouds-governments-improving-service-delivery-eamonn-sheehy-cloud-carib\/","title":{"rendered":"ICTP 108:  Clouds, governments and improving service delivery, with Eamonn Sheehy, of Cloud Carib"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Although Caribbean governments have been engaging in e-government initiatives for at least a decade, most of them would have received a failing grade, due to their inability to engage their clients and to facilitate transactions efficiently and effectively when work from home (WFH) arrangements that had been instituted to reduce the rate of infection of COVID-19. Eamonn Sheehy is the Director, Public Sector, of Cloud Carib, and in light of the pandemic and the 2020 hurricane season, he shares his thoughts and opinions on what Caribbean governments ought to do to improve their systems and to avoid the marked deterioration in their processes and services, which would augur well, not only as we navigate our way out of this pandemic, but also achieve longer term improvements in government service delivery.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/833166349&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div style=\"font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc; line-break: anywhere; word-break: normal; overflow: hidden; white-space: nowrap; text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-weight: 100;\"><a style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" title=\"ICT Pulse Podcast\" href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-673719274\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ICT Pulse Podcast<\/a> \u00b7 <a style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" title=\"ICTP 108: Clouds, governments and improving service delivery, with Eamonn Sheehy, of Cloud Carib\" href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-673719274\/ictp-108-clouds-governments\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ICTP 108: Clouds, governments and improving service delivery, with Eamonn Sheehy, of Cloud Carib<\/a><\/div>\n<p><strong>This episode is also available in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/ict-pulse-podcast\/id1373550291\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple iTunes<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/playmusic.app.goo.gl\/?ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&amp;isi=691797987&amp;ius=googleplaymusic&amp;apn=com.google.android.music&amp;link=https:\/\/play.google.com\/music\/m\/Icau5acn2xiyl5yjuh7orl2mt54?t%3DICT_Pulse_Podcast%26pcampaignid%3DMKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Google Play Music<\/a> and on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stitcher.com\/podcast\/ict-pulse-podcast?refid=stpr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stitcher<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Over the past two or so months, it has been frustrating, to nearly impossible, to get much out of many governments, especially those in the Caribbean region. Consistent with the practice worldwide, Caribbean governments introduced a broad range of restrictions and interventions to try to manage the rate of infection of the Novel Coronavirus, including work-from home arrangements. However, and to varying degrees, the governments themselves were not able to maintain their standards of operation: \u00a0phones not being answered, considerable delays in getting transactions completed, considerably lower productivity, were just a few of the experiences so many of us had.<\/p>\n<p>Although we are not yet at the end of the pandemic, governments are eager to get back to business. Lockdowns, curfews and work-from-home arrangements are being lifted (or lessened), with the hope that economies, which effectively had ground to a halt, can now be jump started back to life. However, noting that the isolation measures may need to be reinstated sometime in the future, it would be prudent for Caribbean governments to revisit the measures they had implemented to allow public servants to work from home, and identify key deficiencies and vulnerabilities, along with suitable remediation. In other words, the urgent and perhaps chaotic approach that had been implemented a few months ago ought to be replaced with a more considered and cogent posture.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Introducing our guest<\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_153192\" style=\"width: 392px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-153192\" data-attachment-id=\"153192\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2020\/06\/ictp-108-clouds-governments-improving-service-delivery-eamonn-sheehy-cloud-carib\/eamonn-sheehy-cloud-carib\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Eamonn-Sheehy-Cloud-Carib.jpeg?fit=800%2C727&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"800,727\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Eamonn Sheehy (Cloud Carib)\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Eamonn Sheehy&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Eamonn-Sheehy-Cloud-Carib.jpeg?fit=300%2C273&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Eamonn-Sheehy-Cloud-Carib.jpeg?fit=800%2C727&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-153192 \" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fgd.dfv.mybluehost.me\/.website_c81a1e61\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Eamonn-Sheehy-Cloud-Carib-300x273.jpeg?resize=382%2C347&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"382\" height=\"347\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Eamonn-Sheehy-Cloud-Carib.jpeg?resize=300%2C273&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Eamonn-Sheehy-Cloud-Carib.jpeg?resize=768%2C698&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Eamonn-Sheehy-Cloud-Carib.jpeg?w=800&amp;ssl=1 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 382px) 100vw, 382px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-153192\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eamonn Sheehy<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Our guest today is <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/eamonn-sheehy-b6a32b3\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Eamonn Sheehy<\/a><\/strong>, Director, Public Sector, of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cloudcarib.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Cloud Carib<\/strong><\/a>, a cloud and managed services firm, headquartered in the Bahamas. Eamonn has over 30 years\u2019 experience in public sector information technology matters. During his career Eamonn has worked for the Irish Revenue Commissioners, the European\u00a0 Commission and the World Customs Organization (WCO). He has covered a variety of roles from systems analyst in the implementation team for the Irish Revenue Commissioners\u2019 Customs Automated Electronic Processing (AEP) system, to Senior Technical Officer for Trade Facilitation (focused on IT matters) and Head of Information Systems and Telecommunications Service (ISTS) at the WCO. As head of ISTS his remit was to implement transformative ICT strategies for the organisation.<\/p>\n<p>Since 2006 Eamonn has been based in the Caribbean operating as an independent consultant on government IT matters, with particular focus on revenue related systems. He has also conducted a number of significant Customs and trade facilitation studies in the CARICOM region. His most recent assignment prior to joining Cloud Carib was as senior advisor to the Bahamas Ministry of Finance. His areas of coverage included Customs Modernization, automation of Value Added Tax (VAT) and Business Licence. He also acted as Service Authority on behalf of the Ministry of Finance during the development and roll out of the Bahamas\u2019 government private cloud.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Key interview questions<\/h3>\n<p>Below are key questions posed to Eamonn during the course of our conversation:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>What does cloud and managed services mean? What types of cloud and managed services does Cloud Carib?<\/li>\n<li>To what degree do Caribbean public sector versus private sector entities use the services Cloud Carib offers?<\/li>\n<li>One the big issues for Caribbean governments in relation to the use of cloud services is jurisdiction \u2013 where their data will be stored, and who might have jurisdiction over it. How might this issue be addressed?<\/li>\n<li>To what degree do the still limited (or non-existent) data protection frameworks in the Caribbean region affect services and\/or a prospective market for Caribbean data centres?<\/li>\n<li>What are some of the areas you believe governments ought to be more amenable to leveraging technology?<\/li>\n<li>Over the past few years, you have also been making an argument that for successful realisation of the CARICOM Single ICT Space, cloud computing needs to be a central pillar. Why?<\/li>\n<li>With the start of the North Atlantic Hurricane Season, and the heightened focus on business continuity these days, how does Cloud Carib prepare for the hurricane season, and to facilitating business continuity of its customers?<\/li>\n<li>What should be some of the key considerations of organisations in order to quickly recover should we experience adverse weather?<\/li>\n<li>What kinds of trends have you been seeing in cloud computing or cloud based services?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We would love to hear from you!<\/p>\n<p>Do leave us a comment either here beneath this article, or on our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ICTPulse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Facebook<\/strong><\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/ict-pulse-consulting-limited\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>LinkedIn<\/strong><\/a> pages, or via Twitter, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ICTPulse\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>@ICTPulse<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Select links<\/h3>\n<p>Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that either were mentioned during the episode, or otherwise, might be useful:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/eamonn-sheehy-b6a32b3\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Eamonn Sheehy<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cloudcarib.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cloud Carib<\/a><\/li>\n<li>ICT Pulse Podcast episode, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/2LmPksl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ICTP 006: Embracing the cloud, with Scott MacKenzie of Cloud Carib<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/uptimeinstitute.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Uptime Institute<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/CLOUD_Act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Patriot_Act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">USA Patriot Act<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Image credits:\u00a0 Gerd Altmann (<a href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pixabay<\/a>);\u00a0 Cloud Carib\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Music credit:\u00a0 Ray Holman<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Although Caribbean governments have been engaging in e-government initiatives for at least a decade, most of them would have received a failing grade, due to their inability to engage their 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