IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Created from a year of consultation with industry specialists and stakeholders, policymakers, academics and a wide range of other contributors, I believe many of the details deserve further explanation, as this plan that will drive this all-important sector.

As such, Jamaica should focus its resources on developing the infrastructure of such sectors as information technology where opportunities are most likely to be available.

Campus Director, The University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona, Western Jamaica Campus (WJC), Dr Patrick Prendergast, says innovative models and approaches are needed to enhance the process of developing sustainable cities and communities in Jamaica and the rest of the region, in order to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

“Our cities are among the fastest growing economic and social enterprises requiring new levels of thinking and application towards public health and safety, crime control, traffic congestion, water and wastewater management and coastal management.

Our policymakers talk a lot about the role acquisition of ICT skill sets - and continued upskilling - would play in ramping the national economy to the global knowledge economy. We seem to understand that our e-governance initiatives would both push and pull dissemination of the baseline technologies and practices inherent to mastery.

The countdown to a smarter, more connected Jamaica has begun. Six years after the visionary blueprint was unveiled in 2016, New Kingston's Smart City Demonstration Project is now on the verge of becoming a reality, with its roll-out this year, extended through 2033.

The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) and project development firm Tuatara Group have collaborated, promising to redefine urban living across five crucial domains: smart digital services, energy, transportation and mobility, environment, and health.

The tax department collected $3.4 billion in taxes through its online channel last year, 47 per cent or $1.6 billion more than it collected in 2009, and more than 1,000 times more than the $582,000 collected seven years ago.

Meris Haughton, director, communications Tax Administration Services Department (TASD) told Sunday Finance that the efforts at expanding the Tax Department's e-services will continue to generate improved collections over the course of the calendar year 2011.

I recently visited the US, and while checking in at the airport to return home, I observed several Jamaicans being denied boarding by the agent because of insufficient documentation. The critical documentations that were absent was either the approved travel authorisation or evidence of a negative COVID-19 antigen or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. Both are required. What was revealing about travelling was the level of digital transformation that has taken place as a consequence of the pandemic.

Digital transformation is the adoption of digital technologies to transform services or businesses or replacing outdated digital technologies with upgraded technology. We have already witnessed the impact of digital transformation on education, with emergency online teaching and learning taking place since March 2020.

Speaking at a JIS ‘Think Tank’ on June 20, at the agency’s head office, in Kingston, Chief Executive Officer of the Public Sector Transformation Unit (PSTU), Patricia Sinclair McCalla, said the unit is looking at adopting this system of “shared services” used in the public sector in Singapore and other countries, such as the United Kingdom (UK) and Canada.

The operating systems of society are undergoing profound transformation, including a fast-approaching future when computer chips will be near zero in cost and connected sensor devices will be widely deployed, fuelling exponential ‘datafication’ and the Internet of all things. Another feature of the changed society is that, even quicker than governments, technology companies are able to know our age, our diseases, our political and religious views, sexual orientation and proclivities, family, friends, associates, enemies, consumption habits – designed to benefit advertising-driven business models.

This is the background against which we are to contemplate what it means to be a smart city. The response is a matter of perspective. The techno-rational concept which I have just described comes at a huge economic cost, estimated to be in the region of $1.6 trillion. This is a dehumanising and illusive universe for the vast majority of cities which cannot afford to provide even basic services much more the acquisition cost and recurring expenditure required for smart city infrastructure. This portends perpetuation and widening of the global digital divide which separates people and communities on the basis of historical inequities.

Taiwan is continuing to assist St Lucia ‎with the financing of a major project aimed at expanding access to technology across the country.

Taiwanese Ambassador James Chang, Friday presented Prime Minister Kenny Anthony with a cheque of EC$1.2 million (One EC dollar =US$0.37 cents) which will go towards the completion of two new community access centers.

The IT access centres will enhance the southern communities of Micoud and Vieux Fort by providing centrally located facilities for the access to Information and Communications Technology (ICT.)

He said that the government has made available some US$20 million for that purpose, and he would be seeking to access more money specifically for the development of space within that sector.

In emphasizing the feasibility of the venture, Minister Paulwell pointed out that Jamaica is well placed as the hub of the region in terms of access to the infrastructure for providing data services, and that fact should be used effectively.

This week I am focusing on another area that many Jamaicans may not have considered: Telemedicine and Telehealth. Telemedicine is most often defined as "the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications to improve, maintain or assist patients' health status" and "Telehealth" is a term that usually encompasses more than clinical services, covering continuing education, remote monitoring of vital signs and more.

The United States has allocated US $1.4 million towards strengthening the governments Information and Communications Technology (ICT) service provider – eGov Jamaica Limited.

The money has been drawn from the US$37.6-million Strategic Public Sector Transformation Project, which seeks to strengthen public resource management and support selected public-sector institutions in facilitating a more enabling environment for private-sector growth.

Today, many people are talking about ‘smart cities’ in the world. In fact, pilot projects are going on in some places while in advanced regions concrete projects are being implemented. As Japan has tackled smart-city development for more than 10 years, I am pleased to share with a receptive Jamaican audience Japan’s experience of developing smart cities for future reference of smart-city development in Jamaica.

...Says one vision, cohesive road map needed

The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) is throwing its full support behind the build-out of a digital society as government and corporates ramp up their respective digital transformation agendas.

Speaking at a Jamaica Observer Business Forum last week, Jackie Sharpe, PSOJ vice-president, said that the lobby group is so far pleased with the number of steps being taken to roll-out and/or onboard new digital services. In keeping with United Nations standards, she said the country was en route to developing the three foundational catalyst which comprised data exchange processes, a digital legal identity and digital payments.

The project, which is being developed in collaboration with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), provides a platform for identity management and will be operated under the laws of Jamaica.

"Telemedicine represents a priceless opportunity to broaden access and affordability to modern health-care outcomes," said Health Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson, in his comments about the telemedicine trial and the impact of the availability of telemedicine solutions here. "Jamaicans here and in the diaspora, as well as others overseas, may now seek to take advantage of opportunities to get premium care in tandem, or not, with a vacation experience on our shores. It also offers tremendous potential as a conduit for information and technology transfer and the forging of public-private partnerships in health between Jamaica and the global community."

“It is very disturbing that the country has again declined in rankings in yet another major global ICT report,” Dr Wheatley said Monday.

?He explained that the UN e-Government survey is a benchmarking report that demonstrates the state of affairs in Governments' ICT strategies and reforms.