Transcript Integration, Measurements and Policy Development
Connecting Trinidad & Tobago Through ICTs
Mr. John Mollenthiel
Deputy National Chief Information Officer 14 th July 2008
Vision 2020 – National Strategic Plan
•
By the year 2020
,
Trinidad and Tobago will be a united, resilient, productive, innovative and prosperous nation with a disciplined, caring, fun-loving society, comprising healthy, happy and well-educated people and built on the enduring attributes of self-reliance, respect, equity and integrity
… •
Vision 2020
has five (5) Developmental Priorities: – Developing Innovative People – Nurturing a Caring Society – Enabling Competitive Business – Governing effectively – Investing in Sound Infrastructure & Environment
fastforward
– National ICT Strategy
National ICT Vision “
Trinidad and Tobago is in a prominent position in the global information society through real and lasting improvements in social , economic and cultural development caused by the deployment and usage of information and communications technology”
• Efforts to date have focused primarily on “ Connectivity ” • Refreshing for the period 2009 – 2013 with a focus on “Usage & Uptake ”
fastforward
– Stated Objectives
2005 2006 2008 2008 2008
Telecommunications Sector opened up to full competition All appropriate Government information available on-line All schools with computers and high-speed Internet access All libraries with computers and high-speed Internet access Community Connection Programme in place
2008
All appropriate Government services available on-line
2008
Over 50% of homes with PCs and Internet access
2008 2008
Over 50% of population “regular Internet users” Over 50% of businesses on-line and seeing business benefits
“
Telecoms
”… Liberalized Environment
• Multiple concessions granted for: – – – –
mobile
services
cable/fixed line
services
international
services
radio
services • National Broadband Strategy to foster: – Robust regulatory environment – Optimal domestic routing
(IXP)
– Augmentation of international bandwidth capacity – Competitive domestic hosting environment
(hosting clusters, Payment Service Provider, Certificate Authority)
– Development of domestic e-Content
“
Government
”… Effective & Efficient
• Government Communications Backbone
(
Gov NeTT
) – Common network connecting all Ministries; serves as the preferred platform for inter / intra-Ministerial communication & collaboration – Supports enterprise-wide application deployment (e.g. human resource management, payroll, electronic document management)
“
Government
”… Effective & Efficient
government at your service
–
tt
connect Online
e-Government Portal (Internet) –
tt
connect Service Centre
common counters (in Person) –
ttconnect Hotline
toll-free call service (Telephone)
“
Business
”… Competitive • Focus on the SMEs
– B2B e-Marketplaces •
smeXchange
•
Enterprise NeTT
– Business modernization training (business planning, quality management, web design, etc.)
• e-Business Roundtable
– a private sector led partnership with government that aims to map out a strategy for economic growth and success
“
Business
”… Competitive
• Developing a National e-Payment Strategy to facilitate online payments • Administration of the
.tt
country code Top Level Domain • Fiscal Incentives to encourage the adoption of ICTs • Electronic Transactions & Data Protection Bills awaiting legislation • Technology Parks to play a key role in developing the country’s ICT sector (e.g. e-TecK and the Tamana InTech Park)
“
Community
”… Connected & Caring
• All public libraries already outfitted with computers and Internet access • Establishing Community Access Centres / Telecentres across the country to: – Provide access to technology, the Internet and relevant training – Encourage development of local content / tailored content to suit the needs of the community (fishing, agriculture, etc.) • Computer Refurbishment – Establishing a programme to refurbish used computers for distribution to communities and schools – Considerations for e-Waste and other environmental concerns associated with the disposal of
“
Education
”… Innovative People
• Primary & Secondary – Educating through the use of / in the use of ICTs (teachers and students) – ICT added to the curriculum – Computer labs in every school • Free Tertiary Education • The University of Trinidad and Tobago ( UTT ) established to build domestic capacity in key areas, including ICTs • College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago ( COSTATT )
“
Education
”… Innovative People
• Skills training / Job experience through a series of national programmes – On-the Job-Trainee (OJT) – Multi-user Skills Training (MuST) • This can provide the necessary technical skills for the CACs – Youth Training & Employment Partnership Programme (YTEPP) • Mobile ICT Learning Centres (YTEPP’s Bus )
Conclusion & Final Thoughts
Trinidad and Tobago recognizes the importance of ICT for the development of the Caribbean region: • A strong Caribbean voice needed at International Fora such as WSIS, the eLAC process, and the ITU • Need for benchmarking in the Caribbean to better assess development in the region • Need to collectively address common ICT challenges such as the Digital Divide, Regional Connectivity and ICT knowledge transfer • Trinidad and Tobago represents Caribbean interests on the ITU Council and is a member of the Commonwealth Connects Steering Committee