Our tech enabled future in Trinidad and Tobago

Different persons from the ministry of digital transformation, including the minister, have been on local tv talking about the work that they are doing. I have watched the last ones posted to their social media and I want to share my takeaways mixed with my thoughts. I am a techie, a blogger and a citizen and this push to use tech to better our future excites and motivates me. There are 3 pillars being digital economy, digital society and digital government. At the heart of it we want prosperity for people and country. We want to make our lives easier. We are aiming for a connected country starting with the connected Arima project.

One concern that comes up often it that of loss of jobs. We should really be looking at this as a change of jobs and retraining to take up new and better jobs. Look at it as an opportunity more than a loss. When I think about digital government, I think efficiency, better customer service and cost savings. But are we measuring the success of the the things that we are doing? Are we learning and improving as we build? What are the key performance indicators? It is my opinion that we are not good at reporting back to the people. We should have an list of action items, responsible person, due date and status. We should be able to say with evidence if something was a success or failure.

I like the developers hub initiative. It is a great way to get local input and make use of the local talent that we have. It creates an enabling environment for brainstorming. I would like to see a yearly developer survey that can guide us. I would like to also see a channel for us to speak to big tech.

It is said that culture is one of the hardest things to change. What about persons intimidated by tech? The younger generation has to teach and help the older generation. The systems and processes has to be user friendly. There has to be some amount of hand holding as we move to newer ways of doing things. We have to close the digital divide and get tech and internet in everyone's hands. We have the recent digital inclusion survey to guide us. Broadband is seen as the next utility and internet is now considered a human right. The ministry is bringing tech to communities through the access centers.

National e-identity is coming. We can launch e-identity easily but the greater work is in developing systems and reengineering to use that e-identity. We need robust and up to date systems. Systems that are talking to each other. Paperless and online systems. The private sector is being encouraged to join in on the digital transformation journey. This is not an overnight journey. In my mind it is a continuous process. The ministry boasts about being agile and is talking about starting simple. We dont have to have all the answers to start. We don't want to be left behind. I encourage everyone to get on board. Think about changes you can make and ways that you can contribute.

It is a journey more than a destination and we get to learn as we go along. There will always be better ways to do things. Think in terms of people, process, tech and legislation. The strategy and roadmap is coming and we get to be part of this. I want to end with a piece from my blog post, Understanding Digital Transformation in Trinidad and Tobago - What I took from this was that technology is just the enabler. Technology is just the tool. We have to do a lot of non technology work to bring about digital transformation.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My notes from the book "Lessons from my life"

My notes from this book. If you are interested in what I noted then give the book a read. This is the best book I have read to date. I loved all of it and I will work to put what I learnt into practice. God bless the author Ahmad. Free on Amazon Kindle - https://a.co/4FW6x4L Faith is not theoretical, it must be lived by Focus on improvement Treat others as you would like to be treated Values-based vision guided by faith in God Aim to mitigate the daily struggles of others There is potential within us all Life comprises of faith as the inner dimension and practice as the outer dimension Believers must be exemplars The true value of the Quran is in its ability to change people's lives Islam is a religion of unity We must deal with differences of opinions in a civilised manner Do what you can and when you can because perfection is an attribute of God alone Believers are constant givers Success = the coming together of souls and ideas Humility is required for this type of work (dawah w
Read more

My notes from the book "Micro Habits"

My notes from this book. If you are interested in what I noted then give the book a read. I love self help books. Change begins with me. I love learning from others. I will review this list every morning and see how many I can accomplish and even add my own micro habits from time to time. Really has me thinking about how small steps can lead to big results. Free on Amazon Kindle - https://a.co/fzfRhjX Turning our life around takes time Small and manageable steps can help us avoid giving up early in the game Focus through minimising distractions and temptations Do some small exercise as soon as you wake up The effectiveness of working out in the morning is backed by several studies Morning workouts can help curb your appetite Try less sugar. Sugar masks the taste and flavour of the food. Try balancing on one leg at a time while doing a task like making a cup of tea - a great exercise for the brain apparently Have good posture when sitting Take regular breaks from staring at the screen D
Read more

Contentment

Last night my friend said to me I want to know what paradise is about I answered I think paradise can be imagined from this viewpoint [human existence] as everything you want The feeling [of having everything you want] that is and not the actual things ... [I imagine wants and things will be different in paradise] Contentment in this world can bring you closer to that [feeling] My friend said that was wisely said I woke up this morning and I decided to write and I remembered what I had said the night before. I decided to Google "paradise contentment hadith" and the first result that came up led me to this Al-Sarri ibn Hassan reported: Abdul Wahid ibn Zayd, may Allah have mercy on him, said, "Contentment is one of the greatest doors to Allah, the Paradise of this world, and the repose of the worshipers." And that is exactly what I was trying to say. Contentment is the Paradise of this world. Another way of thinking about contentment is thinking about gratitude. I not
Read more

Mask

I was scrolling through facebook and came across the Afritondo Short Story Prize 2025. The theme is "masks" and the first thing that I noticed is that the word mask contains the word ask. And that is what I will write about. There is a proverb that goes like this, "closed mouths do not get fed." Many of society teaches us that we must be strong. We must be able to stand on our own. We must fight our battles individually. No one cares. Everyone is busy fighting their own battles. We wear our battle masks to face the world full of problems and strife. We pretend that we are strong and that everything is going well. As someone who lives with mental illness and who has battled for more than twenty years, the best advise that I can give, is to ask for help. Take off the mask and ask. Ask for help from God. Ask for help from relatives. Ask for help from the professionals. Ask for help from the internet. Ask for help from the books. Ask for help from wherever help is avail
Read more

My Experience Setting Up FLOW's TG2492LG-FLO WIFI Modem

Image
Note : I get a lot of views on this blog post. It helps with future updates, if you message me stating what you need help with. See video on how to change password - Change Flow Trinidad Wifi Modem Password - TG2492LG-FLO I had one of the early purely modem devices for about 7 or more years now. I connected this to my Linksys router and I was set. The router is old and does not have all the features of modern routers but it worked. Did a house call the other day and saw that the person had the WIFI modem with their AVS setup. Then it occurred to me that I should switch out my modem for a WIFI modem. That way I wouldn't have to worry about buying a new router when it was time for that. Made some notes after setting up my device and I am sharing it on my blog here. I access the settings using the https link so that credentials entered are encrypted while communicating with the router - https://192.168.0.1/ The username is admin and the default password is printed on the bottom of the
Read more