Gov’t to Promote ICT Initiatives – Mullings

Minister of Energy, Mining and Telecommunications, Clive Mullings, has said that the government would be moving to promote and enhance information and communication technology (ICT) initiatives, with the overall objective of modernizing the country’s infrastructure.
“Telecommunications is one of the major emphases for the government at this time. The policy is intended to utilize telecommunications as an instrument for national development and to improve the global competitiveness of local industries,” the Minister said. “We have to modernize our infrastructure and attract the kind of investment that is global in nature and first world in calibre. Businesses would then become more competitive and of course there would be better prices and our consumers will in fact enjoy that, as we get to the inefficiencies and even them out,” the Minister said.
Mr. Mullings was addressing the 10th anniversary reception of FIRM Insurance Brokers, held at the Montego Bay Yacht Club on September 20.
The Minister informed that efforts were now being made through an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) funded project, to bring all avenues of government into a kind of spectrum where there could be a level of consistency in terms of salaries, personnel and emphasis.
“At this point in time we do not have such degree of consistency and this is one of the challenges we face and we must hasten to deal with it to make government more responsive to the people. Change is constant and we must always realize that to be competitive and be ahead of the rest, we must always be thinking and seek always to listen, so that we do not deprive ourselves of the dynamics of information and the benefits of the thoughts of others,” Mr. Mullings stressed.
The Telecommunications Minister commended FIRM Insurance Brokers on its 10th anniversary of solid business contribution to Jamaica and the West, in particular, and challenged the company to utilize available technologies to improve services to customers.
“I want to congratulate you on the work you have done and the growth you have accomplished . however, I want to challenge you, in keeping with your mission of utilizing technology as a key enabler in the pursuit of achieving a low cost, high value-added service model, as you move into the second decade of insurance brokerage, to take advantage of the available technology and offer fulsome services on line, allowing clients to pay for transactions on-line,” Mr. Mullings said.
FIRM is the acronym for Fully Integrated Risk Management and is an insurance brokerage company, which is managed by a team of highly trained professionals. It began operations on March 1, 1997.