A new Information and Communications Technology Hub was commissioned at the ‘E’ Field Sophia Community Centre by Minister of Public Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes on Friday. The hub is expected to benefit approximately 3,500 residents, the Department of Public Information (DPI) said.
The project is a collaboration between the administration’s E-Government Unit, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Community Development Council.
Hughes urged the residents to take advantage of the opportunity available. “Parents, grandfathers, aunties, we are not leaving you behind. This hub is also for you.”
The Minister said that in the next ten years 70 percent of the jobs that are going to be available in Guyana and all over the world are going to demand computer knowledge.
Besides having access to online government services Hughes said the hubs will ease the financial burden of parents having to purchase textbooks since they are available online. DPI said that she also advised small business operators in the community to utilise the internet to boost their ventures by selling their products online.
“All the ladies doing catering, making pepper sauce, sewing, you can be selling your products not only on the road. You can now have a Facebook page where everyone can place orders for your products,” Hughes told residents.
Residents of ‘E’ Field Sophia welcomed the initiative. Student, Ashanti Dickie told DPI “It will benefit us because sometimes at home we do not have internet access. Now we can come here to do our work and submit our assignments on time,” she said.
Akeem Cave who is a member of the Community Family and Youth Resilience Programme said he has been doing research on photography and video designing and with the hub, he now has the opportunity to share his knowledge with others.
