{"id":2650,"date":"2011-12-30T10:25:22","date_gmt":"2011-12-30T15:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=2650"},"modified":"2011-12-30T10:25:22","modified_gmt":"2011-12-30T15:25:22","slug":"a-look-back-on-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2011\/12\/a-look-back-on-2011\/","title":{"rendered":"A look back on 2011\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

As 2011 draws a close, we look back on some of the important themes and topics covered in ICT Pulse\u2019s first year\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In 2011,\u00a0the world\u00a0witnessed a number of significant events in ICT and technology. Among other things, we began to recognise the impact of social media and communications technology to mobilise people and disseminate information, especially in times of civil unrest, such as those experienced in North Africa, the Middle East, and in the UK<\/a>. We also had the first e-G8 Forum<\/a> in France in May, which was held to inform the G8\u2019s discussions on the Internet.<\/p>\n

Closer to home, we had the sale of the third mobile operator in Jamaica<\/a>, Claro, to Digicel, and continuing efforts towards telecoms liberalisation in Guyana. Additionally, LIME has been repositioning itself to launch 4G services, and to offer triple play<\/a> (voice, Internet and subscriber TV) in the coming year.<\/p>\n

The above are just a few of the events that have shaped the ICT\/tech industry this year, and to varying degrees they were covered by ICT Pulse. However, since this our last post for 2011, it is opportune to highlight a few of the important themes and topics we discussed during the year.<\/p>\n

1. Cloud computing<\/h4>\n

One of our first articles was on cloud computing \u2013 Is it really in the clouds?\u00a0How 5 stated trends in Cloud Computing really stack up<\/a> \u2013 and occasionally throughout the year, we continued the discussion. When we first decided to tackle the subject, we noted the overwhelming views that clouds would revolutionise computing. However, since the technology was still in its infancy, we wanted to highlight some of the outstanding issues and questions <\/a>the average user should ask before accessing <\/a>those services.<\/p>\n

2. Long Term Evolution (LTE)<\/h4>\n

LTE, one of the 4G technology standards that is being developed, was another topic that we discussed very early in the life of ICT Pulse (See: Evolving Over the Long Term: Considerations towards implementing LTE<\/a>). Although mobile operators have been stating that they are offering 4G, in the strictest sense, that is not the case. However our look at this upcoming technology led to an important post differentiating some of the most widely used mobile technologies and comparing their download speed against each other \u2013 EDGE, WiMAX, 3G or 4G \u2013 what\u2019s the difference?<\/a><\/p>\n

3. Privacy, cyber crime and cyber security<\/h4>\n

Throughout the year, we regularly highlighted privacy, cyber crime and cyber security. We suggested ways users could protect their privacy<\/a>, and that of their children<\/a> online, and improve the security of their smartphones<\/a>. Additionally, we discussed the fact that privacy is increasingly becoming an illusion (See: Giving up the ghost: Is privacy just an illusion?<\/a>).<\/p>\n

On the subjects of cyber crime and cyber security, our participation in the Caribbean Internet Governance Forum<\/a> in Trinidad and Tobago was particularly insightful. Of particular note is the fact that the Caribbean is seen as highly susceptible to security threats. We are not as aware as we should be, which is compounded by the absence of Computer Emergency Response Teams<\/a> in most countries.<\/p>\n

4. Green ICTs<\/h4>\n

We discussed the greening of ICTs <\/a>in April, primarily to coincide with Earth Day. With energy costs continually increasing and most economies are still recovering from the global financial crisis, there is a growing emphasis on realising efficiencies and cost savings. We therefore suggested options to reduce your computing carbon footprint<\/a>, and examined the pros and cons of teleworking<\/a>.<\/p>\n

5. Regional and international surveys<\/h4>\n

Launched in May, we presented the results of a number of surveys with a focus on the English-speaking Caribbean. The topics covered included: mobile<\/a> and Internet prices<\/a> and affordability<\/a>; national e-readiness<\/a>; and the status of e-government<\/a>. Some of the results were drawn from reports prepared by internationally recognised organisations, such as the World Economic Forum and the International Telecommunications Union, but most were produced in-house based on our own research and analysis.<\/p>\n

6. Internet Governance<\/h4>\n

Throughout the year we had very specific discussions on Internet Governance (IG), for example in preparation for the IG Forum <\/a>held in Kenya in September. However the topic covers a broad range of issues, such as privacy, cyber crime, intellectual property, cyber security, telecoms\/ICT policy and regulation. Most recently, we discussed the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act<\/a>, which as been getting widespread publicity and is a cause of grave concern for a number industry stakeholders.<\/p>\n

7. Health risks<\/h4>\n

The possible health risks<\/a> associated with mobile\/cellular phone use came to the fore following statements from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), that labelled cellular phones as \u201cpossibly carcinogenic to humans<\/em>\u201d. We discussed some of the health risks identified so far and some of the unresolved concerns. In follow-up articles, we compared radiation levels<\/a> of some of the popular mobile phones in the region, and examined health and environmental risks<\/a> associated with e-waste.<\/p>\n

8. Regional news<\/h4>\n

In August we began our weekly roundup <\/a>of the tech and ICT news across the Caribbean. Posts are published on Mondays, and comprise excerpts of newsworthy items drawn from publicly available regional and international sources.\u00a0 Prior to launching our Roundup, we might have thought the Caribbean a pretty boring place with regard to tech\/ICT developments, but these weekly updates have highlighted the breadth and depth of activity that is regularly occurring in the region.<\/p>\n

9. Barbados\u2019 free Wi-Fi rollout<\/h4>\n

Earlier in the year, the Barbados Entrepreneurship Foundation<\/a> (BEF) launched an initiative to achieve 100% island wide Wi-Fi coverage<\/a> by 11 November 2011. We were quite intrigued by this project and had to recognise the BEF\u2019s resourcefulness and vision, especially since no other Caribbean country had undertaken a similar programme. On 11 November<\/a>, we checked back with the BEF. \u00a0As at that date, 25% geographic coverage, but 50% of Barbados\u2019s population could access free Wi-Fi. The rollout continues and to varying degrees thanks to this project, Barbados is already experiencing a number positive changes,which undoubtedly will continue.<\/p>\n

10. Steve Jobs<\/h4>\n

Last but not least, is Steve Jobs, co-founder, Chairman and former CEO of Apple. His untimely passing in October sent shockwaves worldwide, but also caused us to reflect his impact on technology and on business. The insights we shared <\/a>may have\u00a0been particularly useful to tech entrepreneurs, who are often inspired Jobs\u2019 and Apple\u2019s accomplishments, and continue to look to his legacy for guidance.<\/p>\n

Which were our best posts best for 2011?<\/em><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

To all our readers and supporters, the very best<\/em> wish<\/em>es for 2012!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

____________<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As 2011 draws a close, we look back on some of the important themes and topics covered in ICT Pulse\u2019s first year\u2026 In 2011,\u00a0the world\u00a0witnessed a number of significant events […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17,27,11,33,77],"tags":[30,71,3,56,38,59,14,32,43,78,66],"class_list":["post-2650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-caribbean","category-computing","category-ict-tech","category-lists","category-news","tag-4g","tag-businesses","tag-cloud-computing","tag-conservation","tag-data-protection","tag-digital-divide","tag-ict4d","tag-information-society","tag-internet-governance","tag-news-roundup","tag-wi-fi","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2iE1G-GK","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2650"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2678,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2650\/revisions\/2678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}