IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The Cabinet of Barbados will soon be asked to approve the approach that has been recommended to implement the national knowledge management system.

So says Minister of Labour, Social Security and Human Resource Development, Senator Dr. Esther Byer-Suckoo. She told deputy permanent secretaries and heads of departments attending the opening ceremony yesterday morning of the Certified Knowledge Manager Training Workshop, being conducted by the US-based Knowledge Management (KM) Institute, which was held in the Warrens Suite of Baobab Towers, that the top priority would be the creation of an appropriate strategic and high level policy framework.

The Barbados government Wednesday announced plans to establish the relevant institutional infrastructure to ensure that greater levels of efficiency, productivity and international competitiveness are achieved.

Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Chris Sinckler, addressing the launch of the Barbados Electronic Single Window (BESW), said that the Freundel Stuart government, through the Barbados Competitiveness Programme (BCP), had taken steps to reinvigorate the Commission on Competitiveness and to establish a supporting Technical Unit.

Government today signed an agreement with telecommunications provider Digicel Business that will see the eventual connectivity of all government data and networks.

The $2.4 million deal will set up a Fiber Optic Wide Area Network (WAN) in the public sector that Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of the Civil service Allyson Forte said would provide the infrastructure for government to implement its human resource development strategy and e-government programmes.

This is coming from Secretary General of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), Bernadette Lewis who spoke at the Opening Ceremony of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) ICT Road Show recently at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre (LESC).

She said that this message which was stated in a recent report of the World Economic Forum reveals that “the productivity of a country determines its ability to sustain a high level of income.

The increase in internet penetration has been highly beneficial in bridging the digital divide in Barbados. This has allowed those who were formerly unable to connect with others worldwide the ability to do so. Some of the main challenges to achieving full connectivity include limited digital literacy, frequent disconnections, vulnerability to major cyber incidents and a shortage of local websites.

Still, significant progress has been made. Barbados has modernized its public sector through improved digital channels. The digital divide in Barbados is also narrowing thanks to the accelerated pace of digital transformation, led partly by the UNDP. This effort targets government institutions, strategic partners, businesses and the youth.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Dame Billie Miller made this disclosure at the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Regional Connect Workshop e-Business And e-Government In The Caribbean last Monday at Grand Barbados Beach Resort.

This assertion was made recently by Prime Minister David Thompson as he delivered the feature address at the recently held 67th Annual Delegates’ Conference of the Barbados Workers’ Union at “Solidarity House”.

By next year, the tedious task of going to multiple offices, filling out numerous forms and standing in long lines will be a thing of the past for exporters and importers in Barbados, who will soon be able to submit their information online in a new paperless environment.

These processes will be streamlined through the implementation of the Barbados Electronic Single Window, an initiative of the Barbados Competitiveness Programme (BCP). The ESW began in June 2015 and is expected to be completed by January 2017.

Premier Alden McLaughlin spoke at the Central Bank Meets Blockchain Conference in Barbados today on what officials said was the “ongoing successes of the Cayman Islands in its continuing work to improve e-government services and embrace digital technologies and industries”. McLaughlin joined a number of other speakers at the conference, including Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley. He reportedly told the conference that the Cayman Islands had taken a regional leadership role “in progressive reforms” with the development of legislation, regulation and policy in relation to e-government and digital technology.

McLaughlin noted that Prime Minister Mottley had committed to follow many of the e-government initiatives that Cayman is adopting, as well as “the encouragement we are providing to attract companies that operate in the digital sector”.