Government is Committed to Knowledge-Based Society – Technology Minister

Minister of Science, Energy and Technology, Dr. the Hon. Andrew Wheatley, says the Government is committed to a knowledge-based digital society whereby Jamaicans, particularly youth, have greater access to technology.

To this end, he said, barriers of access have been removed from approximately 250 government and educational websites.

“I must thank our telecoms partners for ensuring that (the more than) 250 government websites are now zero-rated,” he said.

Dr. Wheatley was speaking at the launch of 29 new Xerox products at the Spanish Court Hotel in New Kingston today (August 22).

He said by ensuring that those barriers are removed, a child at home can now access essential websites and educational material online through their personal devices or the ones provided through the Government’s Tablets in Schools initiative.

Meanwhile, he said the Government remains resolute in its 10-point information and communications technology (ICT) plan to improve efficiency in Government, not only within the different ministries, departments and agencies but also the citizen-Government relationship.

“We will be doing this by ensuring greater openness in Government by making more information available online, and by ensuring that Government will have more records and business processes digitised for greater administrative efficiency,” the Minister noted.

“We also intend to achieve this by enhancing citizen to Government interaction and by enhancing business to Government interaction, because we believe that the private sector must assist in driving economic growth and development,” he added.

Dr. Wheatley said technologies such as Xerox ConnectKey, and companies such as Productive Business Solutions (PBS) are “critical private-sector partners in the realisation of these goals”.

“It is this technology that will transform the experience of our employees, giving them the freedom to solve problems, to be more productive and to take on new challenges. Today’s launch and our exposure to ConnectKey will, more or less, enable us to become masters of the workplace and, by extension, masters of the world,” he said.

He said ConnectKey will revolutionise the way in which business processes are executed and will make business more efficient and smarter.

General Manager, PBS, Michael Lewis, noted that the new devices will change the way in which people work.

“Historically, they were single-function stand-alone devices that could either print or copy; then we had all-in-one multifunction devices that could print and copy and even scan and fax documents,” he said.

For more than 40 years, PBS Jamaica, formerly Xerox Jamaica Limited, has been the local Xerox Authorised Partner and has offered world-class technology in document management and print solutions to a wide spectrum of companies across several industries.

In 2002, the Facey Group of Companies acquired Xerox Jamaica, making it a member of the PBS Group. PBS operates in 13 countries across Central America and the Caribbean.

The launch of the 29 new printing solutions is the biggest of new products in Xerox’s history and will revolutionise workplace productivity with next-generation features, instant cloud and mobile connectivity. It is the biggest advancement in its 110-year history.