ON an international basis, Jamaica is ahead of many of its trading partners and competitors around the world in terms of its 'e-readiness' or information technology infrastructure, according to a chief IT specialist.

Michael duQuesnay, chief executive of the state-run Central Information Technology Office (CITO), said the recognition given to Jamaica this year by the Economist Intelligent Unit as one of the 78 most advanced countries in the world - based on the development of the IT sector - proved that the country was doing well.

Speaking recently to Rotarians, duQuesnay said Jamaica was the only English-speaking Caribbean country chosen in the survey, which was regarded as the most important international measure of e-readiness.

The CITO head said as the technology advanced, it was envisioned that a common data backbone would be developed for the government of Jamaica, for the pooling and sharing of resources.

"Citizens want to see the government as providing one service for them as a unified set of transactions. In order to do that, the pieces of the government behind the scenes have to be joined together," he said.

The CITO seminar on wireless technology, to be held Thursday under the heading 'Demystifying Wireless for the Decision Maker', is another of the office's initiatives to familiarise Jamaicans with the global trends in IT and how they affect business.

The event, which will be directed towards executives and decision makers, is primarily educational. It is directed at persons in decision-making positions, faced with signing off on investment decisions about technology, but who are not always knowledgeable about the underlying components of the technology.

He said the seminar was an attempt to bridge the gaps and demystify the technology where wireless computing was concerned.

The CITO head said also advised that his agency was doing a major update of its 2002 national IT plan.

He said the office wants to ensure that the sector's advance was not accompanied by waste and duplication of efforts.

CITO was established in 2001 by a Cabinet decision stemming from the government's recognition of the need for a national IT plan and the realisation that IT could be a vehicle for economic development and growth.

CITO's job is advise, lead and build capacity in the IT sector, but with particular concentration on IT use in the public sector.

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