Moving forward fast

One of the components of Trinidad & Tobago achieving Vision 2020, is implementation of state-of-the-art digital technology at all ministries, departments, offices and sub-offices as well as statutory bodies and quasi-government organisations. In a rather discreet message, Quinten Questel, Director of the National e-Commerce Secretariat articulated, “It is time that government ministries, agencies and independent offices fastforward and accelerate into the digital future - to take full advantage of the real opportunities that the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector presents us to move forward individually, as a government and as a nation.”

Occasion was the recent launch of the Auditor General’s Web site, which Auditor General Jocelyn Thompson described as a day of “special significance” to her department. She said, “This Web site means more than a location on the worldwide Web.” It means that the public can now access the department’s reports from the comfort of their homes. And that is the department’s mandate. During the middle of last year, Prime Minister Patrick Manning challenged the Ministry of Administration and Public Information to develop a plan that would accelerate TT’s entry into this digital future. That challenge has been met and the Cabinet recently approved the “Trinidad and Tobago National Information and Communication Technology Strategy” or as it is more fondly referred to — fastforward. This comprehensive plan has been developed that leverages the power of people, innovation, education, information technology and infrastructure to accelerate social, economic and cultural development.

Questel put it this way, “The fastforward strategy complements and builds upon Vision 2020 and will play a central role in Trinidad and Tobago becoming a knowledge-based society and achieving the goal of developed country status. “It is a broad and far-reaching strategy that will provide tangible benefits for everyone within the country,” said Questel. “It has been designed in a highly inclusive and transparent manner, actively involving hundreds of people from civil society, government and the private sector,” he added.

The objectives of fastforward are -: provide all citizens with affordable Internet access; focus on the development of children and adult skills to ensure a sustainable solution and a vibrant future; promote citizen trust, access and interaction through good governance; and maximise the potential within all citizens and accelerate innovation to develop a knowledge-based society.

Questel took pains to point out however that “the fastforward plan by itself will not affect the transformation that we seek. Technology is merely a tool. For some it is mainly a ‘nice thing to have’ without understanding the value behind it. It is the use to which it is put, which will determine whether our society reaps the full benefits from its widespread availability.” One of the first initiatives of the new strategy is the implementation of the Communications Backbone Project. This initiative is expected to bring connectivity among 1126 government locations inclusive of Tobago.

This project is supposed to provide a Government Wide Area Network that would link all government ministries and agencies into a single network, enabling public officers to communicate via e-mail and to conduct e-messaging and e-scheduling activities throughout the public service. Such an infrastructure would then allow each ministry or department to communicate and share information through e-mail, audio, video and text messaging as well as Internet access. Questel said, “The fastforward plan charts a strategy for using ICTs as a tool to assist in public sector transformation.” It envisions that government service delivery standards improve and government becomes a model user of ICT and a catalyst for ICT acceleration.

Looking into the window of business, he said that fastforward would also address this sector, including the small business community. “Entrepreneurs need to grasp the opportunity articulated in the fastforward strategy. This is the chance to expand their horizons and to become truly global. By accelerating into the digital future using e-commerce and taking advantage of the opportunities that ICT brings, business will effectively make the entire world their virtual market.” Summing up the attributes of the plan, Questel said, “fastforward gives Trinidad and Tobago an excellent chance to further diversify its economy. It shall stimulate the introduction of new industries. Our entrepreneurs will be able to enter into data processing, software development, call centers and technology manufacturing.

We have here an excellent opportunity for new business development, new wealth creation and new levels of employment.” The Auditor General, in making a call for all government ministries, agencies, Regional Health Authorities and statutory boards/bodies to go digital said, “It is time we all move onwards to an IT environment. The world has evolved and evolution has made manual communication and storage, while not necessarily obsolete as yet, but certainly cumbersome and slow,” said  Thompson.