IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Minister of the People and Social Development Dr. Glenn Ramadharsingh announced the launch as he said there have been several reports of the elderly being robbed of their pensions, as well as instances where their cheques were lost in the mail. The new system will see benefits deposited directly into recipient bank accounts.

The scheme is part of the country’s ‘Direct Deposit’ initiative being launched by the Ministry of the People and Social Development.

The biometric card scheme aims to allow senior citizens access to all their social benefits which should significantly reduce incidents of fraud, as well as provide a more secure system for the socially vulnerable.

In their 2020 election manifesto, the government of Trinidad & Tobago excited many with the thought of national innovation, by anchoring its 5-year strategic plan on the creation of a digital society. The movement towards national digitalisation has been inevitable since the explosion of the Internet in the latter half of the 90s. Early adopters, such as Estonia, have shown the world the realisable benefits of the approach.

However, for Trinidad & Tobago, the movement is nothing short of a necessity. Within the last decade, national progress has stalled, and the last administration was forced to shift focus over to restoring economic stability after the ripple effects of the global recession of 2008/2009 eventually took their toll.

At a breakfast meeting on September 17, 2008 the IDB will affirm the provision of funding to support Government’s Public Service Transformation Agenda.

Possibilities for Government to collaborate with Estonia on the enhancement of T&T’s electronic-Government (e-Government) initiatives were discussed yesterday by Prime Minister Keith Rowley and Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid.

The talks were part of bilateral discussions between both at yesterday’s Caricom 30th Inter-Sessional meeting in St Kitts. Estonia, formerly part of the Soviet Union, is located in Northern Europe. It includes more than 1,500 islands.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley believes the new Ministry of Digital Transformation and a drive towards technology will create new opportunities for businesses. He spoke about the importance of using technology to transform the public service and the economy in an interview last Thursday on Brighter Morning with Bhoe Live, hosted by Dr Bhoe Tewarie on MultiCultural Television (MCTV) and U97.5FM.

Days earlier, Dr Rowley had announced the creation of a dedicated Ministry of Digital Transformation—a portfolio previously part of a ministry that also included Public Administration—and put Hassel Bacchus at the helm.

Health Minister Jerry Narace spoke about the e-card at the forum “Innovative Solutions to Healthcare” aboard the Serenade of the Seas where the Commonwealth Business Forum continued yesterday. Improvements in health quality, patient safety, reduction in health costs and informed decision making are the expected benefits.

A pilot programme for the e-card will take place at the Siparia Health Centre, St Joseph Morvant Centre, Caanan, St James DHF and other facilities.

The ministry says the National Health Services Plan, of which the e-card will be part, will be ready within three years.

The card would also monitor the Chronic Disease Assistance Programme (CDAP), he said. “The project will start on a pilot basis in March and then it will be rolled out to the entire country by the third or fourth quarter of next year,” Narace said, during a telephone interview yesterday. “This is intended to be the first real major transformation tool in healthcare,” he added.

This according to Minister of Health, Jerry Narace as he spoke about government’s $70 million investment into the e-health initiative scheduled to commence in 2012.

The upcoming forum to take place on 19 to 20 Nov., aims to discuss the need for a public private peoples partnership approach to ensure that the right frameworks and incentives are put in place to achieve affordable broadband connectivity in the Caribbean island states.

In keeping with the tenets of Government’s Vision 2020 operational plan, Taylor said: “The Government of Trinidad and Tobago is focused on creating a public sector in which the ‘delivery of predictable, world class and technologically savvy services to our people’ is the norm rather than the exception.” Public institutions must be high performance professional entities effectively and efficiently meeting the needs of all their clients.”

“You will soon be able to choose their preferred mode of access - where they want it, how they want it, and when they want it as each channel becomes operational,” he said in an address at the official launch of the ttconnect suite of services at the Chaguanas Service Centre.

A multi-sectoral delegation from Trinidad and Tobago will this week travel to East Africa to share technology development experiences with counterparts at an international conference in Harare, Zimbabwe.

The TT delegation includes Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Administration, Ms Arlene McComie; CEO of the Trinidad & Tobago ICT Company, Mr. Cleveland Thomas; Managing Director of Teleios Systems and Deputy Chairman of the e-Business Round Table, Mr. Ronald Hinds; and Secretary General of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union, Ms. Bernadette Lewis.

Speaking earlier this week on behalf of Minister Ken Valley, at the launch of the newly redesigned Business Development Company's (BDC) website, Leacock said that all Ministries are taking steps to be e-connected.

With just under one year at the helm, Arima mayor Cagney Casimire said his community has an opportunity to "adopt and adapt," and "pivot with optimism, as it seeks to embrace the digital age."

The Borough of Arima celebrated its 133rd anniversary on Thursday.

Casimire, in a message to Arima burgesses, said he "takes great pride in the borough (and describes) our space as quaint and idyllic.

Julian Belgrave, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) country representative, has said the Connected Arima initiative is the first of its kind in the West Indies and possibly Central America. He said there was interest in replicating the initiative in other Caribbean countries.

Belgrave was addressing over 50 Arima businessmen at a consultation with the Arima local economic development unit and the office of the MP, Pennelope Beckles-Robinson, the Arima Borough Corporation and the IDB.

Transformation is about people, and in his role as the new Minister in the Ministry of Public Administration and Digital Transformation, Hassel Bacchus said one of his focuses will be the impact of technology on citizens.

“This (digital) transformation is not entirely new. There have been (previous) announcements on thrusts and implementation both from government to government, government to business and government to citizens.