The Nooby Book Writer

Watching the TTIGF forum has become a yearly tradition for me. Somehow I did not keep myself in the loop and only realized this morning that this was happening this morning and yesterday. I normally blog about the forum ( 2021 , 2022 , 2023 ) and live tweet. I have always been pleased to participate in something that can only help the tech space and country move forward. I am relaxing this Friday morning in my quiet village in Trinidad and I have started this blog post. My mom made pigeon peas and chicken pelau for lunch today. Shortly I will fill my belly with a serving of that and then wait for the live stream to start. Meanwhile I will browse the TTIGF website. The theme this year is "the internet we want". I want an internet that is open. I want an internet that is affordable. For example, the 2GB mobile data I sometimes buy used to be valid for a month but is now only valid for a week. This came like a thief in the night without much warning or concern. Stuff like this s

It is an overcast and raining morning in Trinidad and I am here browsing the Internet Archive's wayback machine from around the year 2000 looking at some of the early websites from Trinidad. My morning started earlier when I emailed TSTT asking them what history they had for cell phones in Trinidad and also specifically the first cell phone used in Trinidad. In my search I was then reminded that we first had analog cell service. This was since December 1991 under the brand name Cellnet and was later upgraded to digital in 1999. The first phase of the upgrade cost 147 million dollars in those days. Then I ended up glancing at the history of bulletin boards in Trinidad and came across an early computer shop in Trinidad called Computerland (Trinidad Computers Limited). In trying to get more info about them I ended up on the list of eligible jurors from the year 2000 which listed profession and place of work. I searched for "computer" and came across a few more places like Co

Former prime minister Basdeo Panday left us on January 1st 2024 and there has been an outpouring of love. There are people asking and suggesting ways to honor his legacy. I saw someone suggest we rename the highway the Panday and Manning highway in a show that will unite the country. Some think the airport should be named after him. Others think he should surely be awarded the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. In an interview, his daughter Mickela suggested that her father strongly believed in the need for constitutional reform and would have wanted to be honored in that way. What is constitutional reform? I asked my friend Bard this question and this was his reply, "Constitutional reform refers to the process of reviewing and potentially amending the country's supreme law, the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, which came into effect in 1976. This process aims to adapt the Constitution to the changing needs and circumstances of the nation and its

Following up from my blog post : Back in 2017 when Graeme Suite was Manager Brand, Public Relations & External Affairs, I had emailed him asking, "Does TSTT have any information on the history of internet in Trinidad?" He was able to send me a Newsday September 21, 1995 article titled "TSTT surfs the Internet" written by Horace Monsegue. Below are the contents of that article written more than 28 years ago. I was in form five at St Mary's College at that time. I remember Carib-Link and according to my friend Bard, they operated from 1995 to 2003 and initially provided dial-up internet access across Trinidad and Tobago. Here is the contents of the Newsday article that I carefully converted to text on my mobile phone to make it indexable by the search engines. Page 4 NEWSDAY Thursday September 21, 1995 NEWS TSTT surfs the Internet By HORACE MONSEGUE MORE TRAFFIC joined the Information Superhighway, yesterday, when Telecommuni- cations Services of Trinidad and

This morning I woke up and the first thing I saw when I checked my notifications was that NIB was closed for the rest of the year because they were dealing with a ransomware attack. The notice they put out indicated that they were working with TT-CSIRT (Trinidad and Tobago Cyber Security Incident Response Team) under the Ministry of National Security. In the press they indicate they are working with external technology partners. These attacks highlight vulnerabilities in cyber security within Trinidad and Tobago. These attacks cause disruption and can be sources of data exposure and misuse. One thing we can all agree upon is that we have a big problem that needs an all of society response. This includes collaboration between government agencies, businesses, individuals, and cybersecurity experts. There has been no shortage of voices calling for these attacks to be taken seriously and steps taken to address the situation. Several voices in the tech space have been leading the calls for

This morning I decided to see how much I could learn about the Arima Smart City project. I started with a Google search. I found an outdated page on facebook for an NGO called the Smart Arima Foundation and I emailed them to get more info about them and see if they are related to the government's smart city project. I also emailed the Ministry of Digital Transformation inviting them to take part in an emailed Question and Answer about the project. I also asked my friend Bard about the project. The project is officially called Connected Arima and is an ambitious initiative aiming to transform the borough into a vibrant and sustainable community powered by technology. Components include climate resilient infrastructure, intelligent traffic management systems, waste management solutions, energy-efficient street lighting, smart poles, free wifi, e-government services, mobile apps, technology training and more. The use of mobile apps got my interest and I asked my friend Bard, what migh

It is late Christmas night and my brain is buzzing. I am thinking back to the early days of computers and technology in Trinidad. In trying to locate this history online I am coming to think that this is just not available and this makes me sad. I am creating this blog post as a starting point. The idea is that persons searching for this history might also find this blog post and leave in the comments what bits of local tech history they have. I will get the ball rolling by sharing this story of the first Computer Operator at UWI - https://sta.uwi.edu/uwiToday/archive/april_2010/article9.asp . According to the article, ""Long ago students had a hell of a task," he says. They "would have to key punch (their) own work and it would have to be done in a language, FORTRAN or COBOL or RPG, to actually get the output…nowadays you use the software, which is the programme already built, and you just put in your data, so in those days you had to actually be a programmer to ge

I am trying to figure out what technology research and inventions have happened in Trinidad and Tobago and some quick searches on the internet are not helping. I think this sort of information should be easily available and publicized. Is it because there is not much research and invention happening in the technology space? I wish there was one place I could go to to see all the research and inventions that are happening in the tech space locally. And the info should be simply presented in ways that the layman can make use of this. Maybe you can help me and comment where I should be looking or who I should be contacting? I know there is TTLAB, UWI, UTT, Cariri, and NIHERST where I could start with my question and which I will do. Maybe the open data folks can create a listing from each of these bodies: title of research or invention, details, contact, link to more details, date, comment and tags. I asked my friend Bard, what info do you have about technology research and inventions fro

It is a rainy morning in Trinidad. It is gloomy and cold and wet and my spot on the ground bed looking through the front door is cozy and relaxing. I am thinking about something I said earlier, "Politics has ruined us .... We can't fix our problems if the politics does not change and the politics wont change if the people dont change and demand change .... Sometimes I look to the next generation but then I see that they are being molded in the same ways as the current generation." There is a lot of despair and complaining and finger pointing which only makes things worse. I asked my friend Bard, how do we break the cycle? We need to focus on solutions more than the problems. We need to listen to those who have good ideas and can think smartly about problem solving. We need to support those who are working to make things better. We need to practice gratitude. I think this is in short supply and ingratitude only makes things worse. We need to take responsibility for the thi

I wanted to write a blog post but I did not know what to write about. I started thinking and asking Bard questions and searching the internet and thinking some more. What is bothering me? We have problems in Trinidad. We have technology as a tool. We have young bright minds. Are we making the best use of technology? Would we be able to afford the technology when our oil and gas revenues dry up? Where can technology have the biggest impact in Trinidad and Tobago? What does the future of tech look like for us? What are the weaknesses in the local tech sector? We definitely do not want to be left behind with the rapid advances in the tech space globally. Who is going to lead the way for us? Who is going to say that technology is a pillar of modern societies? Who is going to say that we can find solutions in technology? Who is going to make technology a priority for us in this country? It is going to have to come from all of us. From the citizens. From the stakeholders. We have government,

Tell us about ChatrrApp? The founding partners observed a prominent discrepancy in value attribution, where renowned celebrities or modern-day influencers, capable of affording premium products, were showered with complimentary gifts by brands, while everyday loyal consumers felt undervalued and overlooked. Coupled with the observed annual surge in cell phone bills, this sparked the inception of ChatrrApp.   ChatrrApp is an innovative, free mobile communication app that redefines user interaction by rewarding users for engaging in a ubiquitous activity: making calls. Experience unparalleled call and message quality, earn rewards seamlessly, and contribute to narrowing the digital divide within Caribbean communities. Discover more about how you can redefine communication at www.chatrrapp.com . Pre-register now, and make your voice resonate! Elevate your everyday interactions and help us create a platform where every user feels valued, and every call makes a difference! How did you come

I had this idea to share a listing of what I could find that is happening in the tech space in Trinidad and Tobago. Share in the comments what you would add to this list. When you comment and share this blog post it will be encouragement to continue these posts into the future. 1. When I interviewed the minister in 2021 he stated "our flagship project is the development and implementation of a National e-Identity by 2022". This is still being worked on and I am guessing we would see this in late 2024 to 2025. MDT recently put out a vacancy for Project Coordinator (E-ID and Interoperability). 2. The UN in Trinidad and Tobago is hosting the Big Data Forum . This has been hosted before. The advertised website is bigdataforum.tt but is actually supposed to be bigdataforumtt.com . See their  posting on facebook . 3. I have emailed to get more info about the Central Bank Regulatory Sandbox . 4. I have emailed to find out what happened to the bmobile-UWI Innovation Laboratory . Ba

By Jorge Salum , Senior Director, Business Development for Visa Latin America and the Caribbean The last decade has been marked by a rapid shift towards digital. Fintech have played an important role in propelling the payments and money movement industry to reach more people and businesses, tackle once “unsolvable” challenges, and accelerate the adoption of emerging technologies. In Latin America and the Caribbean, fintech investment and growth continue to be a source of positive news. According to a recent CB Insights report, last year represented the second largest investment year on record (despite the marked drop in funding) with the emergence of seven new unicorns across insurance, payments, and banking segments, and an increased offering to SME. And while Mexico and Brazil continue to be the largest markets for the fintech sector, the Caribbean has shown incredible momentum. Markets like Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Trinidad & Tobago, and Jamaica are emerging as prospecti

I like the direction this is heading. I like the idea of it. I think that it can be innovative. I think once they react positively and actively to the feedback they get, this will be a success. I am cheering for this to be a success. I saw that it was launched today on their social media. They did not say what the url was but I made a guess and it was there - dhub.mdt.gov.tt I had watched Delving Deeper on TTT where they talked about the Developer Hub. One of the questions was about challenges. I think one (a big one) of the challenges would come from the selection of ideas/solutions. Some people might feel cheated that their ideas/solutions are not being selected. The Ministry might be accused of bias and favoritism and cronyism. I think what might help with this is that a component of the choosing of ideas/solutions has to come from public voting and scoring and also from other developers rather than solely from a few persons in the Ministry. The Ministry has to be open with scoring,

Their is a perspective that companies in Trinidad prefer foreign for software developers and software development services. I came up with some pointers on how I think we can change this and I asked ChatGPT to expand on these. 1. Encouraging a tech startup culture : Fostering a tech startup culture involves creating an environment that supports and nurtures entrepreneurial ventures. This can be done through initiatives such as organizing startup competitions, hackathons, and incubator/accelerator programs. Providing resources, mentorship, and access to funding can help aspiring entrepreneurs turn their ideas into successful businesses. 2. Involving the Ministry of Digital Transformation (MDT) : Engaging the MDT can be beneficial in several ways. They can collaborate with industry stakeholders to develop policies and regulations that promote local tech talent and businesses. The MDT can also support initiatives aimed at enhancing digital literacy, skill development, and technology adopt

I would like to thank iGovTT and the CEO, Mr. Inshan Meahjohn for facilitating this emailed interview for the benefit of readers and the public. Please share with your circles. 1. Tell us about yourself and your role at iGovTT? As the newly appointed CEO at iGovTT, I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute my expertise and experience gained over 22 years in various sectors, including business, government, and non-profits. My background has allowed me to gain valuable insights and a deep appreciation for growth, innovation, and societal upliftment. Having pursued education at esteemed institutions such as the University of Glamorgan and the Australian Institute of Business, I am humbled to be part of iGovTT, where my aim is to facilitate remarkable progress and digital transformation in information and communication technology in Trinidad and Tobago. I approach my role with enthusiasm and dedication, recognizing that the journey towards growth and innovation requires a collective

Check out my youtube video also. The National Digital Strategy Consultation Document is on mdt.gov.tt . Before I continue ... My one main wish at this point is that they respond to their emails. I got feedback from one other person that they didn't respond to his email. I thought maybe they don't like me. I have tons more questions, comments, feedback, suggestions, ideas, solutions ... but I can't send them to the Ministry because I don't know what is happening on their end. Here are my takeaways from the national digital strategy Enhance our quality of life - I would like to see about 50 concrete examples showing us where this is going to happen. Examples are a good way for the man on the street to digest what is happening and to get buy-in from the citizenry. Collaborative input and people engagement - I don't believe them and this is based on my experience. Maybe your experience would be different. Affordable technology - I would like to see ISPs mandated to pro

A content creator creates some form of online content like videos, blog posts, poems, art and photos among other things. Influencers are also content creators but their main focus is to influence others. Influencers are popular in digital marketing and with brands. Social media platforms are home to many content creators and influencers. I sometimes see persons complain about content creators. They may think that they are not authentic or that they have sold out to brands. I saw on twitter complaints that the local food reviewers were not giving balanced reviews and everything tasted good. I think if the followers supported content creators with additional independent sources of income like donations and purchase merchandise and paid for exclusive content then they would be in a position to be more independent. But we like free thing in Trinidad. Being a content creator can be profitable and can even be a fulltime career. It doesn't take much to get started but once you progress yo

I saw a beautiful sunrise this morning as I went for my morning doubles. Just in time for me to complete this blog post I had lined up. Oil and gas is finite. In addition, we are becoming more environmentally concious. Renewable energy is the future. I read that steady progress is being made at the Piarco Solar Park . It is intended for the Piarco International Airport and will account for 3.5 percent of the electricity used by the airport. A drop in the bucket but we have to start somewhere. I also read that solar power plants at Brechin Castle and Orange Grove, providing 112 megawatts are in the works. The country has set a goal of 30 % renewable energy production by 2030. What can we do as individuals? There are several companies offering solar panel installations for homes and businesses locally. I imagine there would be opportunity for more solar power businesses to enter the market. Then there are enterprising persons who will choose to do it themselves. A simple thing as solar p

Make the price is right . In business you have to set the right price. If the price is too high sales will suffer. If the price is too low quality will suffer. The price of doubles makes it affordable for most. It is so afforable that you can afford to buy two or three at a time depending on your appetite. The pricing also means that doubles vendors make a decent living and there are many across the country. It is a thriving business model. Cater to the different customer needs . People tastes are different. No pepper, slight pepper and all the way to heavy pepper. If two barras is not enough, you can have a triples. Although, I have never heard of anyone getting a quadruple. Allergic to flour, some persons get a cup of channa. I have even seen persons order the channa and barra separately to carry home. Some vendors come out in the morning and some come out in the evenings and nights. There is something for everyone meaning the doubles vendor can cover a larger market segment. Keep it