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Minister of Science, Technology and Commerce, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, says Government will be calling on local technology experts to provide content for the Schools Tablet Computer Programme. He noted that most of the material can be developed here in Jamaica and it will provide an opportunity for small software developers and applications (apps) programmers to participate “in what will be...

Fourteen additional energy efficiency and renewable energy devices can now be imported into Jamaica duty free. This follows the suspension of the Common External Tariff (CET) on these items by the Council for Trade and Econom­ic Development (COTED). Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Minister, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, made the disclosure during his contribution to the 2013/14 Budget Debate recently, in...

The Government is moving ahead with its E-Government (E-Gov) initiative, aimed at using Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to improve service delivery within the public sector. Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, said the transition to E-Government is now underway in earnest and at the end of next month, the Government will complete the winding up...

Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining (STEM), Hon. Phillip Paulwell, says that the Clarendon Alumina Partners (CAP) will no longer be a financial burden on Jamaica. He stated that “the Consolidated Fund will no longer be supporting CAP” adding that “very soon the entity will operate on its own”. The Minister was addressing Government’s decision to retain its stake...

Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Phillip Paulwell says he intends to start granting licences for electric power wheeling in July. In his Budget Debate presentation in Parliament on Wednesday, April 24, the Minister, noted that this is another policy initiative of the administration “to make our energy sector more robust and realise efficiencies”. He explained that “wheeling”...

The Government is moving forward with the divestment of the Petroleum Company of Jamaica (PETCOM). Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Philip Paulwell, in his Budget Debate presentation on April 24, said that an enterprise team headed by Chairman of Petrojam, Erwin Jones, has been established to handle the process. He informed that a valuation of the company’s...

Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, has announced that the bauxite and alumina company, Alpart, in Nain, St. Elizabeth, should resume operations in the first quarter of 2016, following completion of the refinery’s new energy infrastructure. The re-opening will come some seven years after production ceased at the plant, due to a decline in the global...

Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining (STEM), Hon. Phillip Paulwell, says the computer tablets to be issued to students will have security features to prevent criminals from stealing them. Under the Schools Tablet Computer Programme, some 30,000 devices will be distributed to students and teachers from 30 institutions across the island, through phase II of the E-Learning Programme. Speaking...

The Government is encouraging companies, including small contractors, to bid on projects under the $2 billion public sector energy efficiency programme. The programme, being jointly undertaken with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), seeks to improve energy efficiency in the public sector by replacing aged and inefficient equipment; retrofitting infrastructural deficiencies; and instilling behavioural change that promotes efficiency and conservation. Making...

Thousands of tablet computers are to be distributed to students and teachers from 30 institutions across the island, under a pilot programme starting in September. This was disclosed by Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, during his contribution to the 2013/14 Budget Debate on Thursday, April 24m in Gordon House. “We will begin E-Learning II, with...

The Government, during this fiscal year, will be increasing the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the education sector, as part of efforts to bridge the digital divide and enhance knowledge. This was disclosed by Minister of Education, Rev. the Hon. Ronald Thwaites, during the opening of an ‘ICT in Education’ capacity building workshop on Monday, April 22,...

The Government, through the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), will be making some US $20 million available this financial year, to facilitate the construction of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) centres. Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. the Hon. Peter Phillips, who made the announcement as he opened the 2013/14 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on April 18,...