Chief Executive Officer of the local IT Company Brain Street Lance Hinds says the new government should undertake a cost/benefit analysis of the damaged e-governance cable, “to determine whether it should be maintained as against whether it should be scrapped and consideration given to purchasing bandwidth from commercial providers at concessional prices.”
The former PPP/C administration had attracted heated criticism, when with only a few weeks left before the general elections earlier this month that removed it from office, it handed the privately-owned Dax Engineering the right to manage and maintain the state-owned fibre-optic cable with lucrative concessions relating to use of the cable and to taxes.
With the new government now in the process of re-examining several of the various agreements struck between its predecessor and several private sector operators, it is now highly unlikely that the agreement will go through.
Hinds has told Stabroek Business that as far as creating an enhanced local ICT infrastructure is concerned “there is the equally important matter of the need for a comprehensive multi-stakeholder ICT strategic plan designed to create a diversified and knowledge-intensive economy,” a facility which he said “lies at the core of building international competitiveness stimulating new areas of economic growth moving up the value chain.”
According to Hinds, innovation, high productivity levels and entrepreneurship are critical to national development and these could only be realized by creating a sound education base on which they could thrive. Accordingly, and even as the new political administration continues to unfurl its configuration of government ministries to meet what it considers to its service delivery needs to the country, Hinds is calling for “ the creation of a ministry responsible for industry, science and technology.
“While one senses that the new administration is seeking to keep the number of ministries down to a minimum this is not something that we can avoid and longer.
It is simply a matter of moving to create a vibrant, science, technology and innovation sector that can serve to kick start some other critical facets of the country’s economy.”
The serving President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry told Stabroek Business that it was time the government and private sector come to a fuller understanding of the role of a knowledge-intensive economy. “It lies at the core of building international competitiveness, stimulating new areas of economic growth and moving up the value chain. Innovation, high productivity levels and entrepreneurship are critical to national development,” Hinds added.
