eGov Jamaica participated in the CSW/ FHC Cooperative Credit Union Limited 5k and mini exposition on November 16, 2019.
The event was part of the celebration of Civil Service Week from November 17 to 23, 2019, under the theme “Building and Sustaining a Culture of Excellence”.
Members of the eGov Jamaica team pose for a photo opportunity following their participation in the CSW/FHC Credit Union 5k.
The first cohort of students to be trained under the Universal Service Fund’s (USF) Technology Advancement Programme (TAP) 1000 initiative, will graduate and be placed in jobs within the next four weeks.
TAP 1000 is a training and job placement programme for unattached youth, which facilitated an initial 1,000 participants who were enrolled in computer-related courses from April to June 2018.
The USF’s Marketing and Public Relations Manager, Deleen Powell, tells JIS News that the programme equipped the participants with skills that will better enable them to be integrally involved in the global digital economy.
Read the full article online on Jamaica Information Service
Minister of Science and Technology Dr Andrew Wheatley has committed to providing $US40,000 (J$5.2m) to the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) to be used to procure tablets for educators.
Speaking at the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workshop hosted by the JTA this week, Wheatley said that it was important that teachers were equipped with the necessary tools to ensure that they were able to compete globally.
“As the ministry, we are doing our part to supply the technology to our schools. We are making sure that we fully work out the tablets-in-schools project by September. So, teachers, we will be equipping you,” Wheatley declared at the event, which was held at the Excelsior Community College in St Andrew.
Read the full article online in The Gleaner
Emancipation Park in St Andrew is to be equipped with free internet access come December.
The connectivity is courtesy of the Universal Service Fund (USF) under its Connect JA Free Public Wi-Fi project.
Under the project, seven free public Wi-Fi hotspots have been established at a cost of $124 million.
The USF says this complements its Community Access Point initiative which has seen to the establishment of 271 internet cafes in underserved communities island-wide.
Read the full article online in The Gleaner.
Dr Wayde Marr, president of the Vector Technology Institute
For many Jamaicans, renewal of one’s motor vehicle registration or certificate of fitness can take up to an hour or more, because of long lines at the offices of Tax Administration Jamaica. Depending on the hour, day or month, this experience can be time-consuming. However, according to information and communications technology (ICT) experts, the establishment of the ICT Authority will eliminate the long lines and help to ease doing business with government entities.
The ICT Authority will be a body, established by the ICT Act, to develop or drive a sustainable digital agenda in the government and wider society, thereby streamlining and consolidating the delivery and management of ICT services in all public bodies through a shared services model.
A bill to establish the ICT Authority was recently passed by the House of Representatives and is to be considered by the Senate for approval. It seeks to improve the use of technology and interoperability of systems and technologies across the government and to drive a sustainable digital agenda in the government and the wider society.
Read the full article online in The Gleaner