“It is my ministry’s and by extension, the Government’s intention that the National ICT Business and Innovation Symposium serve as a meeting of the minds for the local and regional stakeholders in the ICT sector and that from our shared experiences, we gain not only the vision for our burgeoning ICT sectors, but also gain insight as to how to make our vision a reality,” he said.
Griffith was delivering remarks at the launch of the symposium.
He said: “This event is held with a view to facilitating the development of the local and regional ICT sectors through the sharing of ideas and experiences between key players in the ICT arena. In this respect, its intent is forward-looking and therefore the theme chosen for the symposium this year, is fitting as we intend to explore what we, as a country and as a region, need to do to instigate the kind environment needed to promote the development and integration of ICT to the level we want in the future.”
Ronald Hinds, chairman of the State’s E-Business Roundtable, which serves as an adviser to the Government on matters related to the ICT sector, said the present administration has placed a great deal of significance on the development this area.
“In fact, ICT forms one of seven identified pillars in the Government’s framework for sustainable development of T&T. In this design, ICT will serve as the linchpin of T&T’s transition from an energy-based economy to a knowledge-based, service-driven one. This as the integration of ICT will complement and indeed, bolster service-driven industry by increasing both the scope and capacity of such industries to do business,” he said.
T&T, said Hinds, has made significant strides with respect to the integration of ICT into the daily lives of citizens. From the State’s decision to supply children entering secondary school with laptops through the e-Cal programme, to GovNett initiatives to make communication between Government ministries, as well as making agencies more efficient, Hinds was confident that T&T’s next generation will be ICT savvy.
“The Government of T&T is acutely aware of the fact that developing countries must access and integrate ICT to a significant degree if they are to stand as equals with larger economies in the global arena. Failure to do so will relegate us to an existence where our economies, business and peoples will always be at the disadvantage to more ICT-savvy countries.
“Government, therefore, seeks to create a climate that fosters the development and integration of ICT by this country and it is through events such as this National ICT Business and Innovation Symposium that these goals are being addressed,” Hinds said.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Sean Nero
Quelle/Source: Trinidad Guardian, 25.11.2012
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