Government Entities with ICT Needs Encouraged to Get in Touch with USF

The Universal Service Fund (USF) is encouraging government entities with information and communications technology (ICT) needs to make contact with the Fund to be a part of the Technology Advancement Programme (TAP).

The programme, which aims to train and place young people in organisations to conduct digitisation or to collect data in relation to the organisation’s specific field, began with the training phase on March 5, 2018.

After the three-month training period, participants from the programme will be placed in various entities to help them meet their ICT needs.

Marketing and Public Relations Manager at the USF, Deleen Powell, said that the Fund is already in discussions with some government agencies, but noted that there is still a need for additional entities.

She is encouraging entities that have the capacity to engage young people in any kind of training in relation to ICT to contact the USF, “because at the end of the day, it is all about national development”.

Additionally, Miss Powell said the USF is still encouraging persons to apply for the programme or make contact with the Fund, as they could be placed on a waiting list for the programme currently being administered, or for the second staging, noting that persons will be admitted based on the order in which they applied.

She explained that after this first staging of the TAP, the USF plans to have a second, which will be able to accommodate 2,000 persons.

The programme, which is being funded and executed by the USF, is currently catering to 1,000 persons.

It will last for 12 months, with the first three months focusing on training, conducted by the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU), and the last nine months being the placement phase.