Closing the Digital Divide in Jamaica by Donovan Reynolds



Outside of my commitments as CEO of Kingstonmouth.com., I am communication officer for the Universal Service Fund (USF) a quasi-governmental organization. Its mission is to positively impact Jamaica’s socio-economic development by enabling a knowledge-based society through universal access to the Internet and digital inclusion.

ICT training nationally  can be  an enabler of and inhibitor to national development in lesser developing countries, as the less fortunate do not have the economic  resources to pay for ICT training. Consequently, there is  a yawning gap between the digitally-haves and the digitally have-nots. Meanwhile, anecdotal evidence from the classified advertisement pages suggest that the job market for graduates who understand the technical and human sides of information technology is steadily growing in Jamaica.

The Universal Service Fund aims to engage “unattached” young people on the margins of society through provision of a one-year ICT programme, regardless of their educational background. Upon successful completion of the programme, participants will be certified by the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) and the HEART Trust/NTA and will receive a certificate of completion from the USF.
 Since its introduction two years ago, 890 young persons have been impacted by the programme. The programme is near the end of its second cycle and is already planning for its third cycle of trainees. There is presently  a 75% successful completion rate, potentially changing lives and so many futures for these young Jamaican men and women.
It is important to increase capacity for ICT uptake among the workforce in developing nations. More specifically, governments of developing nations in their policy planning should ensure that the investment in ICT closes the digital divide in the age of the fast paced global digital revolution.

The Digital Revolution  also known as the Third Industrial Revolution  is the shift from mechanical and analogue electronic technology to digital electronics. This began from the late 1950s to the late 1970s, with the adoption and proliferation of digital computers and digital record keeping that continues to the present day. This revolution has created a new normal for the global workforce as it requires new categories of jobs, infrastructure and consumer goods reliant upon a range of ICT skills.

Hot on the heels of the third revolution is the fourth .The fourth industrial revolution is the current and developing environment in which disruptive technologies and trends such as the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) are changing the way we live and work.  In a developing country like Jamaica, investment in new technology and research and development is residual to the size of the economy and vulnerabilities such as climate change and the economic fall out from the corona Virus (Covid-19). Currently, people in Jamaica  and around the world are turning to the internet for their work and to stay connected as the COVID-19 outbreak forces people to stay home and away from the office and crowd.

The Covid- 19 pandemic has challenged domestic economies across the globe and focused nation states on the economic versus health dilemma. However, new economic opportunities around online training and new ICT bases technologies to fight the virus is emerging. The pandemic presents a cog in the wheel of the 3rd and 4th industrial revolution as many IT jobs have been put on hold. None- the -less we at Kingstonmouth.com believe that the pace of digitalization will quicken after new antibodies, drugs, and vaccines are available to the public, hopefully within the next 18 months.

At Kingstonmouth.com we assert that the Internet is not a luxury; every Jamaican household must have broadband access however ambitious it may sound. According to former US president  Bill Clinton,“It is dangerously destabilizing to have half the world on the cutting edge of technology while the other half struggles on the bare edge of survival.” That is why I am happy to be working for the Universal Service Fund, whose purpose is to close the digital divide in Jamaica.

This article is written by Donovan Reynolds, a trained Diplomat and CEO of Kingstonmouth.com. He has an interest in Human Rights, Politics, Diplomacy and Public Relations. The article is edited by Ann Smith a Social Activist and the Managing Editor of Kingstonmouth.com. Persons wishing to comment on this article may email us at Kingstonmouth.com or on our Facebook and Twitter page.


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