THE quality of a product can be affected directly by the factors of production that helped to create the said product. Likewise, the quality of work produced by our Guyanese intellectuals and creatives can be affected by the type of e-services and mediums that are available in Guyana. We can’t have a conversation on how to improve e-learning, online businesses or even online media without first establishing areas of weakness in e-services along with its interrelating hubs.

COVID-19 has forced the majority of us to convert our working environments to online mediums. Now, I would not consider myself a technological expert, but one does not need to be an expert on how certain factors may or may not affect the outcome and quality of work of any kind.

The majority of us rely on our work for incomes to provide for our families; due to the pandemic, much of our work relies on the usage of the internet; our internet depends on the type and/or the service provider; the internet/ service provider relies on power supply to work. This is an equation that looks simple on paper, but in reality, when one of these factors is disrupted, so will be the rest. This will not only affect the quality and quantity of work produced, but it can also affect other interconnecting factors such as financial dependency. “Time is money” to many after all. For the sake of practicality, I’ll use my personal experiences to explain such a dilemma.

I am currently the owner of a small business, a student at the University of Guyana and I am also a writer. All three of these responsibilities require me to use the internet and power-supply services daily. I cannot provide my business’ services and products to our online customers without these services. I cannot access UG’s online classrooms/resources to complete the work that’s required of me without these services. I cannot write this article and/or produce quality and well-written articles without these services.

Yes, some may argue that these services may not all be terrible and work can still be done. However, I am sure those persons will not take into consideration the mental strain this puts on the people who depend on such services to work efficiently.

A different type of frustration gets to you when you stare for minutes at the reconnecting circle when sending off a time-sensitive email. Let’s not forget how demotivating it is for students to be “bounced” out of class due to a power outage. Even when these connections are stable again, that concentration you had on the task at hand was disrupted and can prove difficult to regain. This conversation is not only subjective to students or writers like me. The owner of the local food stand by your corner depends on the power to store and/or prepare her food.

The electrician won’t be able to fix electrical issues if there’s no electricity, to begin with. These services affect every single one of us in one way or another—even if we don’t directly depend on them. From the quality of the food you buy from the stand to the quality of news articles you read in the newspapers. I plead with those in authority to consider the sentiments of this article when decisions are being made as it relates to these services. Our oil is the envy of many, but our e-services aren’t and that’s a shame. It’s about time we consider how to improve such.