By: Staff Writer
June 24, 2022
Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness, challenged developing countries at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) that they must now become originators and creators of technology.
Mr Holness, addressing the CHOGM Business Forum, threw down a challenge to developing countries to get more engaged in the development of technology. “For the developing world, we need to start seeing ourselves as the originators and creators of technology. We need to start seeing ourselves as the innovators of technology and using technology to create economic value. The Internet, and digital technologies are critical drivers of wealth, creation, and prosperity in our society.”
It has long since been understood that the digital divide is huge in the Caribbean and Latin America. The World Bank estimates that less than 50 percent of LAC’s population has fixed broadband connectivity, and only 9.9 percent has high-quality fibre connectivity at home. While 87 percent of the population lives within range of a 4G signal, actual usage and penetration remains low at 37 percent. And only four out of 10 rural Latin Americans have connectivity options compared with 71 percent of the population in urban areas.
Government’s however must become more involved in providing for the atmosphere for investment in technology, something Mr Holness acknowledged: “Governments must be deliberate in ensuring that this public good is equitably accessible to all citizens. Otherwise, it could come to define a new dimension of poverty, that of knowledge, poverty, to bridge the divide, Jamaica has accelerated the build out of its national broadband backbone to facilitate the rollout of high speed internet across the island.
“Through our Universal Service Fund, we’re also providing free internet access points in major town centres, public spaces, parks and other community areas.”
The Universal Service Fund is an Agency under the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology mandated to ensure access to information and communication tools to facilitate development. In 2005, the USF began operation as the Universal Access Company Limited following a Ministerial Order which mandated that all domestic telecommunications providers are obligated to collect a universal service levy on all inbound telephone calls.
While more than just a work in progress, the USF has been more of a tool to deliver social benefits to the underserved than it has worked to build a vibrant technology sector. Being nearly 10 years old, it should have been able to show more than just building hotspots in poor and rural areas and should now be about building capacity for the development of high end technology. A testament to the limitation of government action however well intended.
He continued, “The Jamaican government is also actively developing the human resource capacity in ICT (Information Communication Technology). In collaboration with the private sector and international partners, we recently launched a coding Academy and started the process of mainstreaming coding in the public school system.”
Mr Holness also said: “One of the priorities of the Commonwealth must be to support and accelerate the digital development of all members, particularly in areas of governance and regulation. Each country within the Commonwealth must place significant emphasis on improving its telecommunications and ICT sectors and design bolder plans to digitize services and promote greater digital in inclusion in partnership with our private sectors and innovators.
“Eliminating digital inequality must have at its core in gender equality, the goal of which is to maximize social inclusion by enhancing the participation of women and girls in all areas of development and supporting women entrepreneurship in digital business and work. Digital technologies also provide an attractive avenue for boys and young men who have been left out of the formal education system and have become drawn into antisocial behaviour.”
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) training must be driven very vigorously and support for the next generation of coders and software developers must be used to support to facilitate the inclusion of all. “Attention must be paid to the need and concerns of persons with disabilities in accessing and using digital technology.”