{"id":82244,"date":"2016-05-06T08:32:58","date_gmt":"2016-05-06T13:32:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=82244"},"modified":"2017-04-07T19:32:59","modified_gmt":"2017-04-08T00:32:59","slug":"3-country-considerations-local-content-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2016\/05\/3-country-considerations-local-content-online\/","title":{"rendered":"3 country considerations when trying to get more local content online"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many Caribbean countries would like their citizens to make more local content available on the Internet. However, what does that mean, and what could be a first step to achieve that goal?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\nFrom time to time, politicians and policymakers across the region call for more local content to be created and made available online. Those utterances tend to coincide with the launch of an Internet Exchange Point in a Caribbean country, but most recently, it was the Director of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission in Dominica, Craig Nesty, who was calling for more investment in capacity building and training in local content development, and in network deployment (Source: \u00a0<\/span>Dominica News Online<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

The impetus for Mr. Nesty\u2019s concern was the fact that although Dominica has excellent \u00a0connectivity, it is not being leveraged locally \u2013 which many would argue is also the case in most Caribbean countries. Further, he was of the view that unless Dominicans becomes producers of content, and not just merely consumers of content that is created elsewhere, Dominica has not \u201c<\/span>truly joined the Internet<\/span><\/i>\u201d and is not capitalising on the potential the medium offers (Source: \u00a0<\/span>Dominica News Online<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

The concerns raised by Mr. Nesty are valid, and resonate with ICT Pulse: we in Caribbean should become more than just mindless consumers of technology, but should should find our voice and have it heard. While Mr. Nesty sought to make some suggestions on what might be needed to foster more local content online in Dominica, below are matters that should be considered in trying to achieve that objective in the region.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Government should lead by example<\/span><\/h3>\n

Without a doubt, governments generate and store considerable volumes of information – across their ministries, department and agencies. However, much of it is stored in files and folders, and may even be archived either for future use or for posterity. However, with the thrust towards (more) Open Government, Caribbean governments could lead by example by making more of the information it stores and generates available online. Three areas readily come to mind: <\/span><\/p>\n