MORE than 530 Guyanese have been trained in various fields as the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme continues to offer critical skills to Guyanese, National Data Management Authority (NDMA) General Manager Francis Simmons has said.

Through the ITEC programme, Guyanese have been trained in areas including hydrology, engineering, cyber technology, management, education, agriculture, horticulture, banking and financial services, auditing and environmental protection.

At a luncheon held at the Marriott Hotel on Tuesday by the Indian High Commission to commemorate the programme’s 55th anniversary, Simmons acknowledged that the skills garnered by Guyanese through this programme are necessary to advance Guyana’s technological development.

“I believe it is an important programme, because it enables past participants to network, stay in touch and hopefully collaborate across the various government organisations towards the actualisation of their various goals,” he said.

The NDMA has oversight for the national broadband project and the general manager underscored that the skills obtained can be used by Guyanese to enable the nexus between the business and technological realms.

“It is here that participants who have benefitted will come in by bringing their knowledge to bear in an effort to articulate those business processes conducted by government in a way that can be interpreted and consumed by Information Technology (IT) professionals, who can then develop and identify the necessary software to carry out the various processes online,” Simmons said.

He added: “As a matter of fact, these critical skills are in short supply and will be one of the main challenges that we as a government will encounter on our road to electronic governance.”

He took the opportunity to also request that ITEC add a course in system analysts to the myriad of courses Guyanese are offered. This would augment efforts geared towards strengthening the local technological sector, Simmons said.

Auditor General Deodat Sharma affirmed that the ITEC augments the local skills sector.

“This programme has not only benefitted our country, but has benefited the audit office… We have had 71 employees trained under the ITEC programme in various disciplines,” Sharma related.

He also shared that over the last two years, nine staff members from the audit office had benefitted from various levels of training in auditing. One of the workers, Rushell Fowler, has even done work dealing with preparedness for oil- spill response, according to Sharma.

Indian High Commissioner to Guyana Venkatachalam Mahalingam, said the ITEC programme is just one of the many collaborative initiatives his country has with Guyana.

According to him, the programme is offered in many countries, but it is usually difficult choosing candidates for the programme because proficiency in the English language is a requirement.

In Guyana; however, this problem does not exist and there is greater leeway for more persons to benefit; and many of the local ITEC alumni have rose to prominent positions in Guyanese society, according to Mahalingam.

One of the beneficiaries, Sherry Kissoon, said with technology rapidly developing, IT audits have become increasingly important. The training has been instrumental in her work at the CARICOM Secretariat