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Young People Invited to View Animation Showcase at Mo’bay Expo

By: , September 28, 2013

The Key Point:

UTech will be displaying their animation programmes and some of the output of those programmes.
Young People Invited to View Animation Showcase at Mo’bay Expo
Director of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Luz Longsworth, addresses a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Think Tank held on September 26, at the Montego Bay Regional Office, St. James. The Think Tank was to provide details about the Chamber’s ‘Expo 2013,’ which is scheduled to be held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre from October 11 to 13.

The Facts

  • The aim is to attract young people to this very lucrative industry.
  • The Government has selected the animation industry as a growth area for employment creation and foreign exchange earnings.

The Full Story

Talented young people in western Jamaica are being invited to come out and view the animation showcase, which will be held as part of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Expo 2013 next month.

Director of the Chamber, Dr. Luz Longsworth, who is also Director for the University of the West Indies’ (UWI) Western Jamaica campus, said that her institution and the University of Technology (UTech) will be displaying their animation programmes and some of the output of those programmes.

She said that the aim is to attract young people to this very lucrative industry. “You are talking about a US$200 billion industry that is global. You can sit at home with a computer and do something very productive and lucrative, and participate in the industry,” she stated.

Dr. Longsworth was speaking on September 26 at a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Think Tank at the agency’s Montego Bay Regional Office, to provide details about the Chamber’s  Expo, which will be held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre from October 11 to 13.

The Government has selected the animation industry as a growth area for employment creation and foreign exchange earnings. The Work Bank has joined in the effort, and the Government is spearheading moves for educational institutions to offer formal training in the area. The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) will, in 2014, start offering an animation curriculum.

“Animation is not just on the horizon, but is bubbling right now. There is an excellent partnership happening at the moment with an overseas animation company, as well as local companies and the universities in doing training,” Dr. Longsworth stated.

She said the industry is expected to attract a lot of young people, who are skilled in art and computer technology, noting that already “we have seen a lot of talent here in Western Jamaica.”

“We want them to come to the Expo; it is free, so there is no reason for them not to come and see what opportunities abound for them. There is a world of opportunity that will be shown on the 11 to 13 of October,” Dr. Longsworth stated.

President of the Chamber, Nathan Robb, also made a call for talented young people to maximize the opportunities being offered in the expanding global animation industry.

“It is an opportunity for them, and even though they may not have formal skills…I would appeal to young persons, to take whatever opportunities exist to better themselves, and to look to the long-term rather than the immediate,” he said.

Last Updated: October 18, 2013

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