Dominica positioned to become regional ‘ Silicon Valley ’- ICT Minister
Dominica is positioned to be the silicon valley of the Caribbean. That’s the sentiment of the Hon Minister for Information, Science, Telecommunication and Technology, Kelver Darroux.
The Information Minister made these remarks last Friday, June 3rd, at the official opening ceremony of Dominica’s first ICT Center for Excellence which is housed at the Dominica State College.
Among a list of six objectives outlined by the Minister, the center is meant to generate ICT knowledge and awareness of the latest technologies and create direct and indirect employment through ICT.
“To develop and produce world class ICT programmers; to offer short and long term courses in a variety of ICT subject matters; to train Government officials in ICT; to upgrade ICT faculty in all schools and the Dominica State College and to develop and expand e-learning initiatives,” he listed.
The center was established in collaboration with the Government of India, a country which has made significant headway in the area of information communication technology.
Three Indian IT specialists will remain at the center for the next two years to train at least 50 people from the public and private sectors in a ‘Train the Trainers’ programme.
“It is further anticipated that 500 hundred students will be trained in various ICT disciplines at the center over the initial two year period while our Indian friends will be assigned in Dominica. Correspondingly, the program also calls for the training of a minimum of 50 locals as trainers who will replace our Indian colleagues after the initial two year period.
“Phase 1 of the programme at the Center for Excellence is expected to run from June 13th to August 31st, 2016. The trainees will be IT professionals from both the public and private sectors including ICT teachers from secondary schools, system administrators and industry professionals.”
The center will deliver international certification in a number of ICT-related disciplines.
He continued, “The ICT Center for Excellence and innovation is expected to deliver the following certified courses and others: developing with Java Basic and Advanced; 3D animation with Maya; software business processes; basic and advanced Linux; communication and networking; web designing and applications; visual basics; relational database; advanced Linux administration and a host of others.”
Hon Darroux appealed to Dominicans to take full advantage of this the opportunity presented by Government.
According to census figures in 2001, only 8.6% of households in Dominica had internet connections. That figure rose to 44.5% in 2011.
The Dominica Labour Party administration, recognizing the importance of access to vital information has achieved a number of policy objectives for the advancement of the ICT sector in Dominica. This includes a National ICT Policy and Strategy, the National Cyber Security Strategy and the National Broadband Strategy.
The One Tablet Per Child Programme which began in September 2015 is another sterling example of Government’s pursuits to create universal access to information on the island.
With the Dominica Internet Exchange Point (IXP) launched in 2013, Government has facilitated the entry of even more internet service providers to the Dominican market.
In his remarks at the ceremony, Hon Darroux made an appeal to local internet providers to make the service even more affordable to Dominicans.
