By Sandor Panton, ContributorA RECENT Gleaner editorial (Saturday, January 24) lambastes the Government for not emphasising enough computer technology in the island's education system. With a Jamaican dollar that lost much of its worth in 2003, and an economy in trouble, this should really be seen as a call to action.
Yes, in 2003 the Ministry of Technology sought to attract increased investment in Jamaica's call centre/information technology enabled services sector, but many wonder, as I do, whether this is too little too late and whether we couldn't be doing a lot more.
For several years now, the Government has stated clearly through its Five-Year Strategic Information Technology Plan (You can visit the Ministry of Commerce, Science & Technology web site at www.mct.gov.jm to download the Plan) that it intends to help facilitate and promote e-commerce here, but whether or not this has really happened is quite debatable.
Hats off to Jamaica's two largest banks for finally ensuring in 2003 that on-line banking is now a reality, an option that will undoubtedly save on the need to line up in the banking halls for hours to pay bills and complete simple transactions. However, what about true J$ e-commerce? Yes, it seems certain banks may allow a select few merchants to offer real-time acceptance and processing of Jamaican credit cards for on-line purchases, but when will anyone with an idea and a plan be able to walk into a bank in Jamaica and sign up for this service?
A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY
In their opening message of the Five-Year Plan, Ministers Maxine Henry-Wilson, Phillip Paulwell and Burchell Whiteman stated, "Jamaica stands at the threshold of a golden opportunity. We can either act decisively and embrace it, or wait and be left behind." Ironically, although this statement was made over two years ago, one can't help but feel that nothing much has changed, and now we're really on the verge of being left behind.
Almost every year, there are new tax initiatives and other seemingly short-term plans being put into effect to help prop up the island's economy. But why hasn't the Government looked more seriously at Information Technology, and more specifically, E-Commerce, as an important part of whatever plans they may have for the country? Without a doubt, we need to be 'thinking big'. We have the bright minds, but in some cases the major inhibitors are a lack of resources and high overheads. Jamaica is capable of producing the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. We shouldn't just be selling T-shirts, hot pepper sauce and other Jamaica-specific items on-line, and the Government should be thinking of ways to encourage 'big thinking'.
According to the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) World Fact book, there are approximately 165.75 million Internet users in the United States of America. Rather looking at more short-run tax measures for the upcoming budget, maybe the Government should seek to encourage the investment of time and training in on-line ventures that have a global reach.
Imagine if one hundred, or even a paltry ten Jamaicans were able to sell one item worth US$1 to even a tenth of the USA's Internet population. It's not impractical to consider it, because it is happening right now with U.S. on-line retail sales expected to reach $65 billion this year (Jupiter Research Survey - http://www.jupiterresearch.com) - but we are being left behind.
