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Government's plan to begin oil and gas exploration is on track with five companies having already made proposals to conduct analysis of exploration data. Ambassador Peter King, Special Advisor to the Minister of Commerce, Science and Technology, said the successful candidate would be named next week. A budget of US$100,000 has been provided for the initiative. He was speaking at...

Work will begin by late November on the provision of electricity for 500 new households in rural areas across the island, under the government's Rural Electrification Programme (REP). In an interview with JIS News, Chief Engineer of the REP, Samuel Marshall said the Programme was now going through the process of selecting the areas where some 35 kilometers of distribution...

Minister of Commerce, Science and Technology, Phillip Paulwell is to submit a proposal to Cabinet to put in place an affirmative action approach so that local players in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector can be awarded contracts. "We are now looking at putting forward a policy that is designed to provide for, especially the newer members in this sector,...

Vice President of Wireless Business Unit at The Lewis Group (TLG), Norman Anderson, has said that wireless technology was critical to helping the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) meet and overcome its challenges. Mr. Anderson was addressing the Regional Telecommunications Conference organised by the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organisations (CANTO) in The Bahamas, just ahead of the recently concluded, 24th Meeting...

Jamaica's Information Technology (IT) sector is set to benefit from a low cost technology system, the Net Integrator, which will soon be available on the local market at a cost of US$5,000 to US$15,000. The Net Integrator is a complete small office network in-a-box with several unique and special features built-on to take care of all office networking, web hosting...

Jamaican businesses are being encouraged to enhance their employees' competencies in information technology (IT) through certification by the International Computer Drivers Licence (ICDL) programme. This, as a number of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) took part in a sensitization seminar on the ICDL certification programme, which is being promoted by the Jamaica Computer Society Education Foundation (JCSEF). The seminar took place...

Executive Director of the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO), Loreen Walker has said that the new Patents and Designs Bill now before Parliament will extend the term of a patent from 14 to 20 years. However, while inventors were being allowed a longer period of protection for their work, the Bill now requires that they pay an annual fee to...

Minister of Commerce, Science and Technology, Phillip Paulwell has said that the Government was making strides in the development of the country's Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, despite various challenges. The Minister was speaking this week at a signing ceremony for a loan agreement between the Government and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for an ICT project. Pointing to...

Basic school children in Southwest Clarendon are to benefit from 10 computers donated by JAMALCo, the bauxite and alumina company in the parish. The computers were handed over recently at a ceremony held at the Clarendon Early Childhood Resource Centre in Four Paths. This donation is being complemented by a training programme launched this week, under which basic school teachers...

Pro Vice Chancellor and Dean of Graduate Studies and Research at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona, Professor Errol Morrison has said that a research consortium, consisting of four major tertiary institutions and one research institution, aimed at prioritizing the research portfolio mainly in the areas of health, culture and the environment, was recently established in Jamaica. The...