A roundup of the latest ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region for the period Monday 4 May to Sunday 10 May 2015.
Monday, 4 May 2015
BTC leading the way with women in ICT
Bahamas – According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN specialized agency for information and communication technology (ICT), less than 30% of persons in the ICT sector worldwide are women… more
Evans: BTC employees awaiting outcome of redundancy process
Bahamas – Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) President Bernard Evans has stated that a “doom and gloom” mood has settled over Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) employees as they await the outcome of the company’s “tedious” redundancy process… more
Brazil to Guyana fibre optic cable… Dax contract is born out of corrupt intentions – Lawyers
Guyana – Most, if not all contracts between Government and any contractor for any national project are supposed to have certain central conditions… more
Fibre optic cable giveaway
Guyana – By its shadowy and opaque standards of governance cemented over the last 15 years or so, it came as no surprise that the PPP government stealthily signed a deal with a local contractor to “rehabilitate” the controversial fibre optic cable project… more
Telecommunications Firm Commits To Social Cause
Jamaica – Telecommunications firm Flow has a binding moral obligation to the well-being of the people of Jamaica, hence its big effort in health, fitness and great causes such as the MoBay City Run, which it is one of the main sponsors… more
LIME Network Upgrades
Saint Kitts and Nevis – LIME is pleased to advise of an upgrade our Regional MPLS network. This upgrade will allow us to offer new features and enhanced network performance… more
Mind Change: How digital technologies are leaving their mark on our brains
Trinidad and Tobago – Are computers and cyberspace changing our brains? … more
TATT puts focus on consumers
Trinidad and Tobago – In a space of just ten years, the number of mobile phone subscribers in T&T has increased from 530,000 subscribers in 2004 to 1,980,000 subscribers as at December 2014… more
Tuesday, 5 May 2015
URCA challenges CBL’s push to build cell towers
Bahamas – Amid an ongoing row between Cable Bahamas Ltd. (CBL) and the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) over the construction of new cellular towers, an URCA official has challenged the cable giant over a perceived rush to produce new towers without adequate justification… more
World War 1 Exhibition Using Android & Apple Apps, Now On At Barbados Museum
Barbados – On the occasion of the commemoration of the Centenary of the Great War, the Institut Français and its partners have created an interactive exhibition simply entitled ‘14-18‘ which mixes paper and numeric materials… more
TV regulators seek new formula for local content
Cayman Islands – Television regulators are contemplating collecting fees from cable companies to create a universal service fund to help pay for the production of “public service broadcasting.” … more
National Discussion on Mobile Apps Industry development
Dominica – The Ministry of Information, Science Telecommunications and Technology will on Wednesday 6 May 2015 host a national consultation on the development of the Mobile Apps Industry in Dominica with a UWI Consulting Team… more
St. Joseph MP Contributes To Primary School ICT Education
Dominica – The Ministry of Information, Science Telecommunication and Technology as part of its mandate to continue ICT education has made a significant contribution to the Kelleb Laurent Primary School in St. Joseph… more
Age Appropiate Learning Technology Being Provided In Schools
Jamaica – Minister of Education, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, says the Ministry will continue to introduce age appropriate learning technology in schools islandwide, including smart boards, tablet computers, virtual education, among others… more
New Top Up App From Digicel
Regional – Digicel has announced the official launch of its convenient Top Up App which delivers a fast, reliable and convenient way for customers from abroad to send minutes to their family and friends living in the Caribbean anytime… more
IS hacks St. Vincent government Web site
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – Hackers claiming to represent Islamic State (IS) terrorist organisation commandeered the official Web site of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines government to post a message accusing US and NATO Forces of “organised butchery.” … more
Emailgate questions remain 2 years later
Trinidad and Tobago – Two years later the question remains: were the alleged emailgate exchanges true or not? … more
TATT encourages disabled young women to pursue tech careers
Trinidad and Tobago – A local telecommunications industry official is encouraging disabled young women to pursue careers in technology sector… more
Wednesday, 6 May 2015
BTC wins gold and silver in international phone book awards
Bahamas – Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) has won gold and silver medals in the highly competitive regional, Telephone Directory awards competition held by The Association of Directory Publishers (ADP), an international trade association serving the Yellow Pages industry since 1898… more
High School Students enjoy a ‘High-Tech’ Day Exploring Careers in the ICT Sector
Bahamas – Students and teachers from more than 15 high schools throughout New Providence joined more than 100,000 young women worldwide in celebrating Girls in Information and Communications Technology ( ICT) Day) recently… more
Gamers on board
Barbados – A MATRIX is defined as an environment or material in which something develops…. more
Online government services progressing
Cayman Islands – A new steering committee hopes to launch an Internet portal this year that would move many Cayman Islands government services online… more
Government Says Computers For All Schools
Dominica – The Government of Dominica is on a mission to ensure that all schools on the island are equipped with computers… more
Govt. lies about free fibre optic cable repairs
Guyana – Government’s claim that Dax Contracting Services would be repairing the Brazil fibre optic cable at no cost to taxpayers, is false and misleading… more
Barnett To Invest In Dormitory Housing For BPO Workers
Jamaica – The two international business process outsourcing (BPO) companies, Xerox and Advanced Call Centre Technologies (ACCT), will officially open new plants at the Barnett Tech Park in Montego Bay today… more
Impending action against cable companies not prompted by Obama visit, says OPM
Jamaica – A statement from the Office of the Prime Minister Wednesday said the recent visit to Jamaica by the United States President Barack Obama did not prompt impending regulatory action pertaining to unlicensable cable channels… more
C&W Communications Announces New Brands
Regional – Following the completion of the merger of Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) and Columbus International on 31 March 2015, CWC today announces new corporate and consumer-facing brands for the combined Group, which will be rolled out in the coming months in markets where the necessary regulatory approvals have been obtained… more
The power of the ambient video background and web forms that work
Regional – OVER the last few years we have seen the emergence of video backgrounds slowly making their debut… more
St Lucia gov’t moving to strengthen cyber-security
Saint Lucia – The St Lucia government says it is moving to strengthen cyber-security in light of the recent attack on the official web site of the St Vincent and the Grenadines government… more
PM says hacking of website hasn’t compromised government
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves Tuesday said that the email system of his administration was not compromised when the website was hacked on Sunday… more
Thursday, 7 May 2015
“URCA stifles Cable Bahamas’ licensed services”
Bahamas – Cable Bahamas wishes to clarify that its recent tower construction is part of the expansion of its existing licensed services… more
San Pedro Central Park Wired for Free Wi-Fi Service
Belize – The San Pedro Town Council has outfitted Central Park in downtown San Pedro, Ambergris Caye with equipment to provide free WiFi service to island residents… more
Nexus 2015: Cuba’s Internet Infrastructure Lags Behind, But It Can Scale Up Its Telecom Offerings
Cuba – Since December 17, when President Obama announced the normalization of U.S. relations with Cuba, there has been a frenzy of speculation over how foreign investment will target the island… more
Cable thieves leave LIME customers sour
Jamaica – Another case of cable theft has left LIME customers in Linstead, St Catherine, and surrounding areas without proper Internet and telephone services… more
Grace Kennedy, Cable Operators And Unashamedly Ethical
Jamaica – According to The Gleaner of April 2, the Court of Appeal in a judgment written by Justice Hazel Harris in the case Paymaster vs Grace Kennedy concluded that Paymaster didn’t own the software on which its operations function… more
Sectoral Debate: Health Records To Put In Electronic Format
Jamaica – A system to digitise health records and have them accessible on an electronic platform is being piloted in Jamaica’s health sector… more
Cable & Wireless Communications Recognized as Avaya Central America and the Caribbean Mid-Market Partner of the Year
Regional – Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) today announced it has been recognized as Avaya Central America and the Caribbean Mid-Market Partner of the Year for 2014… more
Case for court technology
Regional – It may not be a widely known fact, but courts throughout the Caribbean have been investing heavily and making great advances in leveraging technology to improve the administration of justice… more
What’s Next for Caribbean Cable?
Regional – I was shocked at Gary Sinclair’s seeming honesty and openness as he responded to Journalist Dionne Jackson Miller’s probing questions about cable TV and copyright infringements… more
To Mom, With Love From Digicel SKN
Saint Kitts and Nevis – At Digicel, we are quite aware that no present can be equal to the gift of life that our Moms have blessed us with, but, we will attempt to get as close as possible to saying “Thank You” this Mother’s Day! … more
HBO producing exclusive content at the St Lucia Jazz and Arts Festival for the second year
Saint Lucia – HBO has teamed up with the Saint Lucia Tourist Board to showcase the best of the 2015 Saint Lucia Jazz and Arts Festival, where a production crew is live on-site to capture interviews and exclusive footage of musical performances, tourist attractions and fashion events. This marks the second HBO-produced special in Saint Lucia… more
Friday, 8 May 2015
Telecom investments hit new record
Cayman Islands – Telecommunication equipment imports are up by more than $10 million over the past five years, led by investments to roll out fiber Internet and television connections, according to foreign trade data from the Economics and Statistics Office… more
BUSINESS BYTE: CWC Business Solutions launches MyOffice in Dominica
Dominica – Cable & Wireless (CWC) Business Solutions has teamed up with global business solutions providers, Avaya, Juniper and BlackBerry, to retrofit offices across Dominica with new state-of-the art telephone systems… more
New exchange platform of inter-institutional data
Haiti – At the initiative of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) under the leadership of Secretary General of the Primature, in collaboration with the General Coordinator of the OMRH, a working meeting was held at the Primature around the establishment of a government electronic platform called X-Road… more
Senator Riche concerned about technology access in elections
Haiti – Sitting Senator Andris Riche lamented over the institution of an online registration system for candidates for elections in Haiti this fall. The senior-most senator, representing Grand’Anse, said he was taking up the cause of farmers and citizens living in rural areas who are not accustomed to such technologies… more
Kerr-Jarretts Unveil New Tech Park
Jamaica – Montego Bay power couple, Mark and Paula Kerr-Jarrett, and their partners in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector – Xerox and Advanced Call Centre Technologies (ACT) – unveiled the new Barnett Tech Park on Wednesday…more
Local banks gear up for new card security system
Jamaica – LOCAL banking institutions are now being questioned about their readiness in implementing a security system to reduce credit and debit card fraud, as liability shifts from banks to merchants over the next five months… more
LIME Brand Axed, Flow Elevated In Unfolding Telecoms Merger
Regional – Cable & Wireless Communications (C&W) will kill the LIME brand and elevate Flow, a decision that group director of communications and culture, Grace Silvera, said was based on customers’ votes… more
CWU: TSTT retirees suffering over expired medical plan
Trinidad and Tobago – The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has claimed that the failure by Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) to finalise a new medical plan provider is costing retirees their lives… more
ICT community centres soon
Trinidad and Tobago – GOVERNMENT is planning to set up 42 fully functional Information and Communication Technology (ICT) centres across the country where people who do not have access to computers and the internet can go and use the internet and become familiar with it… more
Data: V.I. has retail jobs but lags in tech
US Virgin Islands – According to federal government data, more people in the Virgin Islands go to work in retail sales each day than in any other reported profession… more
Saturday, 9 May 2015
Seamless phone-to-phone text messaging launched to and from US and Cuba
Cuba – SMS Cuba has launched seamless text messaging services between the United States and Cuba… more
ECTEL To Host 15th Anniversary Conference
Regional – PRIME Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony, will be the featured speaker when the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL), convenes its 15th Anniversary Conference here Monday… more
Trend Media Inks Caribbean Distribution Deal With Shazam & Celtra
Regional – As it marks its one year anniversary, leading Caribbean digital media group Trend Media, publisher of the popular Caribbean news app and website Loop News, has announced a partnership agreement with digital technology giants Shazam and Celtra… more
Sunday, 10 May 2015
Former Digicel exec facing larceny charge
Jamaica – A former Digicel executive was last Wednesday placed before the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court for reportedly defrauding the company of 1,000 SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards last August… more
Pharma Company Bioprist Buys Former Jockey Factories For BPO Operation
Jamaica – Hanover is to get its first business process outsourcing (BPO) operation, with the potential of creating jobs for about 2,000 persons by 2016.. more
Xerox To Open Three New Call Centres In New Kingston
Jamaica – Xerox in Jamaica is expanding its operations in Kingston with the addition of three call centres that are expected to create 860 jobs… more
Image credits: filipe ferreira (flickr); Wikipedia; Marketing Magazine; Wikipedia; ECTEL
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