ICT Top of Agenda at BIZTECH Conference

The application of information communication technology (ICT), to enhance governance at the corporate and national levels, is being aggressively explored at the BIZTECH 2008 Annual Conference, which got underway on October 24, at the Ritz Carlton Golf and Spa Resort in Montego Bay, St. James.
The conference, which ends today (October 25), is being held under the theme – ‘Telecommunications: Backbone for National Development’. Some 200 industry professionals and business decision makers are participating.
In his address at the opening ceremony, President of the Jamaica Computer Society, Nigel Henry, said that telecommunication is at the heart of most economic activities, and plays a critical role in national development.
“The Jamaica Computer Society (JCS) takes the view that Jamaica has no choice but to embrace telecommunication, as the country is positioned as part of a global economy in which telecommunication is a cornerstone. We support any initiative for improving the social condition of Jamaicans and we also believe that we can make quantum leaps forward by using telecommunication and information technology to our benefit,” Mr. Henry said.
He expressed the hope that at the end of the conference, concrete proposals on how people could make effective contributions to the development of Jamaica, would be put forward to the Government.
President of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Lloyd B. Smith, in his remarks, noted that Jamaica “had tremendous potential in the ICT sector, which should be exploited speedily.”
“We now need to realise that by using ICT, we can in fact become not just little, but ‘tallawah’, because we have the potential as a great people. We know as a fact that over the past decade, we have witnessed a rapid diffusion of information technology to all areas of human activity, that has served to accelerate change in the economy and the society at large. We must now take the advantage here that presents itself to us as a country, despite the many and varied challenges,” Mr. Smith said.
He urged the conference to devise a Plan Of Action, during the deliberations, aimed at effectively repositioning Jamaica as a full-fledged information society.