YOUNG people are leading the charge in Guyana’s digital transformation, and Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, is calling on them to take full advantage of training opportunities in the evolving digital space.

Speaking at a recent press conference, Jagdeo—who also serves as the General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party—highlighted the government’s ongoing efforts to establish a robust framework to support a modern, digitised financial sector.

Describing Guyana’s financial system as long overdue for modernisation, the Vice President reiterated the administration’s commitment to pulling the sector “out of the stone ages,” with continued investments and policy initiatives aimed at fostering innovation and accessibility.

“With our plan on the digital society, all the things we are doing and we are putting together in this term, a lot of the pieces, the building blocks,” the Vice President said. He also pointed to other projects such as digitising the airport, automating the functions of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the safe country project and the e-ticketing system.

He outlined a vision of a modern and efficient society driven by financial technology (fintech), emphasising that the evolving landscape presents significant opportunities for young people—not only to secure employment but also to offer vital services in the digital economy.

The Vice President noted that the government anticipates a growing demand for skills in tech-driven sectors and encouraged young people to position themselves accordingly.

The banking and financial sector, he said, remains a key area of focus for the administration as it seeks to empower citizens amid the sweeping economic transformation underway across the country. Ensuring access to financing, he added, is central to enabling the establishment and growth of both small and large businesses and to advancing the economic empowerment of households and individuals.

Under the stewardship of the PPP/C Government, Guyana’s financial sector has shown significant improvements in recent years in key performance indicators, reflecting a strengthening economy and robust regulatory oversight.

Jagdeo also pointed out that the government has met and discussed how to mainstream Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The Vice President said: “We met with a group that would mainstream, and in fact, our ideas to mainstream AI. But think about AI now and how many Guyanese can be trained in this, but also provide; they make money from going this route, by using apps in AI; apps to help with a whole range of things.

“Using AI to create individualised tutors, maybe for every child. Every child can then have a personalised tutor that can assess all their weaknesses simply by the tests that they do, some baseline tests and then tailor a programme to address the need of that particular child. It’s so exciting. So that is where we’re going in the next term.”

The Vice President shifted his attention to the need for the transition into qualitative issues.

“If we have innovation hubs, we don’t want these innovation hubs to be run by foreigners necessarily, and we have them all around the country to assist people to move into business development. But there is lots of work to be done still. To get this happening, we have to modernise the mindset of people, including those in the state sector. We have to create frameworks. We have to do a whole range of stuff,” he said.