-during meeting with U.S. Senator and Telecoms Minister

THE importance of connectivity and easy access to the internet were topics on the agenda during a meeting among a visiting U.S. Senator representing the district of Virginia, Richard Black, his U.S. colleagues and Minister of Public Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes.

According to a press statement from the Ministry of Public Telecommunications, Senator Black was accompanied by Guyana-born Mayor of Purcellville, Virginia, Kwasi Fraser and four technology and business specialists, during a courtesy call to Minister Hughes, on Tuesday.

“The visitors enjoyed a lively discussion with Minister Hughes on the absolute importance of connectivity and easy access to the Internet to the development of a country,” said the ministry.

This subject is the forte of Guyana-born Ian G. Hall, who is now President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ATISS, a global company that specialises in IT security, data analytics, and policy and strategy development. He has worked as a consultant to the United States Department of Defence and joined the Senator’s delegation to Guyana.
Data Architect and Cloud Technologist, Darren Culbreath, was also a member of the delegation, as was George Mallon of Mallon Oil, and Kirk D. Mitchell, a global procurement specialist.

According to the Ministry of Public Telecommunications’ website, the ministry was created in January 2016 and its first order of business was to assess and analyse the capacity of the then four-year-old fibre optic cable in Georgetown, and the LTE network along the coastland from Berbice to the Essequibo Coast.

The pace stepped up in the latter part of 2016 when the ministry began to connect every secondary school within reach of the networks.  At the end of that year, the computer laboratories at 101 secondary schools on the coast and in the hinterland had been connected.

Simultaneously, building on the initiative of President David Granger, the ministry converted the previous OLPF into the One Laptop Per Teacher initiative.  The schedule for distribution in Regions One to 10 and other specifics were designed and managed by the Ministry of Education.

“We are also creating jobs, avenues for our citizens who possess skills in ICT to earn. MoPT staged one Hackathon in 2016.  The three similar events planned for 2017/8 should generate additional tech-based public service programmes and applications that will make our citizens’ lives easier and safer, e.g. the ability to apply for passports or birth certificates from post offices or ICT hubs in their communities,” said the ministry.

The ministry said concrete plans are in place to increase broadband and expand internet connectivity in Kwakwani, Bushlot Village, Linden, Bartica, the Essequibo Islands, the North West district and far inland regions.