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.

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