A roundup of the latest ICT/technology news from across the Caribbean region for the period Monday 4 December to Sunday 10 December 2017.
Monday, 4 December 2017
Regional ICT ministers commit to ICT-enabled development
Regional – As the curtains closed on ICT Week – The Bahamas, participants and speakers were in high praise for the information disseminated, the rich discussions and the unfolding of development plans and initiatives during the Caribbean’s foremost ICT educational event… more
St Vincent To Host Cybersecurity Forum
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – Rising cyber crime is stoking growing concern among legislators, law enforcement officials, business leaders and millions of affected citizens across the Caribbean… more
Tuesday, 5 December 2017
Project Brings Technology Into Education
Bahamas – “This pilot eLearning Project was designed to involve ten public pre-schools, five of which are in New Providence and five in the Family of Islands,” he said… more
Expect more digital exams, says Jones
Barbados – GIVEN THE FAST-PACED technological world in which we live, it is necessary for Barbadian students to take more of their examinations digitally… more
Dominican Republic amends Orange-Tricom merger conditions
Dominican Republic – Just a couple of weeks after approving Altice’s request to merge its Orange Dominicana and Tricom units, Dominican Republic telecommunications watchdog Indotel has amended the conditions previously applied to the transaction… more
Guyana to Spend $37.6 Million on Deepening Broadband Penetration
Guyana – Guyana has set aside US$37.6 million to provide access to high-speed internet to more than 89,000 residents in 170 communities… more
JAMPRO to target BPO investors at Outsource to the Caribbean 2017
Jamaica – The Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) says that it will be targeting investors and other influencers in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector as Jamaica hosts the Outsource to the Caribbean (OCC) 2017 conference tomorrow… more
C&W Networks Wins ‘Best Network and Service Innovation in the Caribbean and Latin America’ Nasdaq:LBTYA
Regional – In another round of recognition for best infrastructure and customer service excellence, once again emerged with top billing, this time winning the award for Best Network and Service Innovation in the Caribbean and Latin America (CALA) Region… more
Wednesday, 6 December 2017
Flow partners with BVIEC to reconnect VG
British Virgin Islands – More communities on Virgin Gorda are being reconnected with electricity with the assistance of Flow BVI… more
APNU+AFC Govt. fails to deliver ICT promises in three consecutive years
Guyana – A consortium of “bluff” and “fluff” projects; that is People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Gillian Burton- Persaud’s description of Budget 2018… more
Airbnb launches Trips in Jamaica
Jamaica – Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett is elated that community tourism got a major boost after Jamaica’s tourism officials deepened ties recently with Airbnb, the world’s largest home lodgings platform… more
Dorsey enthusiastic about making a Square investment in Jamaica
Jamaica – Jack Dorsey, CEO and founder of both Twitter and Square, relishes the idea of opening up an office in Jamaica in the near future… more
Jamaicans tout benefits of national ID database
Jamaica – Jamaica is going through the looking glass, taking advantage of technology and launching a National Identification System (NIDS) in 2018, according to reports… more
Flow Customers to Select the next “Flow People’s Choice Award” From the 2017 CaribbeanTales Incubator Program proudly sponsored by Flow
Regional – Which top Caribbean television series concept will claim the Flow People’s Choice Awards selected from this year’s CaribbeanTales Incubator (CTI) program? … more
Guyana, other Caribbean countries tackle threats by violent extremists, cyber-criminals
Regional – Top military officers from across the Caribbean, North America and Europe are meeting in Guyana to, among other things, hammer out a strategy to address threats by trans-national extremist groups… more
bmobile expands channel with two new stores in Debe and POS
Trinidad and Tobago – bmobile has licensed two new channel partners to operate full service stores that provide customers with its entire range of mobile and residential services… more
TATT considers OTT… again
Trinidad and Tobago – In mid-November, the Telecommunications Authority held another consultation on over-the-top (OTT) services, the technologies that ride on an open internet and provide value for the digital channels that users pay for… more
Trinidad & Tobago’s TSTT renames Massy as Amplia
Trinidad and Tobago – Trinidad & Tobago’s state-run operator TSTT has rebranded its recently-acquired fixed line operator Massy Communications as Amplia Communications, reports local daily the Guardian… more
Thursday, 7 December 2017
Digicel delivers extraordinary business lesson at St. Leonard’s Boys
Barbados – Digicel Barbados is continuing to play its part in sharing expertise and knowledge to students about the exciting and developing telecommunications sector… more
Internet down for some Flow customers
Barbados – Customers across Barbados are experiencing internet outages… more
Faster internet with full restoration, Digicel promises
British Virgin Islands – Digicel BVI has announced that not only is it moving ahead with plans to fully restore its infrastructure that was hit hard by Hurricane Irma, but that faster internet speed is in the pipeline for its customers… more
Cyber security: a tale of two republics
Dominican Republic – The Czech Republic is one of the safest countries regarding cyber threats, according to a survey released Thurs by Chech Point, a multinational provider of hardware and software products for IT security, radio.cz reports… more
Cybercrime continues to be a serious threat — Montague
Jamaica – JAMAICA lost US$100 million to cybercrime in 2016, with 200 such cases reported, the Cybercrimes Unit of the Jamaica Constabulary Force has reported… more
Five questions with: Racquel Moses country manager, Microsoft T&T
Trinidad and Tobago – 1. Microsoft is a global giant of the technology industry. What role does the T&T market play from a corporate perspective?… more
Lecturer: IT knowledge critical to procurement process
Trinidad and Tobago – Government agencies must get their house in order when it comes to Information Technology in order to handle the setting up of procurement procedures under the Public Procurement and Disposal of Property Act 2015 when this legistation comes into effect… more
National E-commerce strategy launched
Trinidad and Tobago – Government wants to boost online transactions by the business community and is expected to introduce an e-commerce platform once the legislative framework is in place… more
Friday, 8 December 2017
Bahamas Launches Preschool Pilot eLearning Project
Bahamas – On Monday, The Bahamas officially launched the Government’s Over-the-Hill Rejuvenation Pre-Assessment Phase Programme with the first of its effort: a pilot eLearning project at the Willard Patton Preschool… more
Cuba authorises sending text messages to US phones
Cuba – Cuban telecommunications monopoly Etecsa Friday authorised Cubans to send text messages to the United States, lifting a restriction which has long frustrated the population… more
Operators scramble to get in order as drones’ regulations announced
Guyana – As regulators move to clamp down on the use of drones (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), a number of stakeholders have started meeting on the issue… more
Digicel responds to consumer complaints about data charges and poor customer service
Jamaica – A week after the Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC) turned the spotlight on Jamaica’s two major telecommunication service providers, Flow and Digicel, amid a spike in complaints from their customers, Digicel has reportedly promised changes… more
Colm Delves steps down as Digicel chief executive
Regional – Colm Delves is stepping down as chief executive of Digicel, Denis O’Brien’s Caribbean mobile phone company, after more than a dozen years at the helm… more
Digicel announces new Group CEO
Regional – Digicel announced the appointment of Alexander Matuschka Greiffenclau as Group Chief Executive with effect from February 2018… more
TelEm Group, Computech attend Dell EMC briefing on Technology Innovation.
Sint Maarten – Sint Maarten telephone company TELEM GROUP, represented by CEO Kendall Dupersoy and Senior IT Administrator Edgardo Lynch, were at DELL EMC Executive Briefing Center in Santa Clara California this week… more
Saturday, 9 December 2017
Digicel restores TV and internet in key locations
Dominica – Digicel has been successful in restoring Home TV and Internet services in key areas on the island… more
Digital transactions surpass branch transactions at Scotiabank
Jamaica – For the first time ever, Scotiabank has seen more users of digital banking platforms than people who actually walked into a branch over 25 per cent of transactions taking place online compared to 22 per cent in branch… more
FLOW’s fibre network hit by vandals again
Jamaica – TELECOMMUNICATIONS company FLOW says its fibre network has been hit by vandals again, which it said is threatening its ability to function properly, particularly in Montego Bay and its environs in St James, where the perpetrators struck this week… more
Sunday, 10 December 2017
Evolution Of Digital Technologies In The Humanities
Jamaica – The social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, are a part of our everyday lives, and they are also a manifestation of how digital technology has changed the way we live, work, study and play… more
Social media, traditional news media and fake news
Jamaica – Last week, one of Jamaica’s most senior journalists raised the issue of the veracity and accuracy of information purveyed by social media and suggested that the better option is to rely on the traditional news media because they adhere to standards which do not constrain social media… more
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