WITH characteristic marketing splash and corporate largesse, Digicel last week celebrated 10 very successful years in Jamaica as a tangible reminder of the impressive gains in the telecommunications sector since the market was opened to competition and innovation in 2000.

But two other bits of news suggested that Jamaica still has a long way to go from almost universal mobile penetration to the next level of using information and communication technology (ICT) to promote much-needed human and economic development and competitiveness in the global knowledge society.

One development came in the form of new research showing low levels of Internet and computer usage in Jamaican homes, clear signs of what this newspaper called our “technological backwardness” in its editorial Wednesday.

The other was new global data revealing that over the last four years, Jamaica has dropped 28 places on the World Economic Forum’s Networked Readiness Index (NRI), a measure which compares the level of preparedness for investment and development of the ICT sector as well as its actual usage in more than 138 countries.

The latest NRI ranking, released last week, showed that Jamaica fell seven places to 73. In 2006-2007, Jamaica was ranked 45th, placing the country second only to 27th-place Barbados in the region.

Opposition spokesman on energy Phillip Paulwell who, as minister of industry and commerce in the previous administration, led the overhauling of the nation’s telecommunications sector, said Jamaica’s slide in the latest NRI was “very disturbing and disconcerting” coming in just four years.

Taken together, the two pieces of data are a clarion call on the Government to create and implement a new national ICT strategy to build on the gains of the past decade and create a platform for ICT-enabled transformation of Jamaica from the economic backwaters to the mainstream of development. The data point us in the new policy direction. Question is whether we will follow.

In the islandwide survey of broadband and ICT indicators in Jamaica, a team of researchers led by Professor Hopeton Dunn, director of the Telecommunications Policy and Management Programme (TPM) at the Mona School of Business, UWI, found that only 15 per cent of households have access to the Internet at home and only 24 per cent of households have access to computers in their homes.

The three top activities on the Internet were sending and receiving e-mail (76.9 per cent), social networking (71.7 per cent) and formal education (65.4 per cent). At the bottom of the list were purchasing/ordering goods (14.7 per cent), interfacing with government (11 per cent) and Internet banking (8.4 per cent).

Lowest use of the Internet and computer was among persons with limited to low education; persons of lower socio-economic occupations, the unemployed.

The main reasons for the low numbers, according to Professor Dunn, include the high cost of the equipment, high cost of Internet service, lack of interest and the fact that it is not available in some areas.

Just over half (52.6 per cent) of households with Internet access had fixed broadband access while 33.4 per cent had mobile broadband access.

Dunn said the numbers should be cause for concern since the Internet is what he described as the central hub for education and economic analysis.

That ever-present cellphone

Unsurprisingly, the cellphone is everywhere, with 92 per cent having access to mobile phones. Some 74.5 per cent of mobile phone users are aware of mobile Internet but have never used it; and only 14 per cent of those who accessed the Internet did so via mobile phone.

The survey showed Digicel as the dominant player in the market with 88.2 per cent of mobile phone users having a Digicel phone (even if they had others). This compared with 18.4 per cent for LIME and 15 per cent for Claro.

In this context, the recent announcement that Claro — after sinking huge chunks of cash into technology and marketing — was pulling out of Jamaica and selling off its local business to Digicel could lead to greater market dominance and reduced competition.

Government cannot, and should not, prevent the merger. But they can, and should, use regulatory interventions to prevent abuse of dominance by addressing some long-standing issues like number portability and the fees for making calls between providers. Consumers should not be punished for switching or calling across platforms.

Minister with responsibility for information and telecommunications Daryl Vaz has not responded directly to the developments, but told journalists last Wednesday about initiatives aimed at improving Jamaica’s competitiveness through the application of ICT.

One initiative is the pending selection of a consultant (by the end of April) to develop a blueprint for GovNet, envisioned as a Government-wide communications network for the seamless transfer of information between Government agencies and other stakeholders and for the provision of online services to the public at minimal cost.

Another proposal is the establishment of an islandwide broadband network which will provide Internet access connectivity to all public high schools, libraries and select post offices of 100 megabytes capacities. Cabinet awarded the contract to service providers Flow and LIME, and the project is scheduled to be completed by June 2012.

Overarching policy framework

Beyond these steps, however, there is an urgent need for an overarching policy framework that has the same vision and boldness that marked the break-up of the old Cable and Wireless monopoly just over a decade ago.

The Observer editorial captured the essence of what’s needed: “There must be a national technology policy which infuses all aspects of public policy, supported by public sector investment and a tax regime that encourages private sector investments in new technology. The national technology strategy must be continuously updated and Jamaica’s performance monitored and compared with global trends with the objective, not of keeping up, but of improving.”

Of course, it has to be built on a sound education platform, including strong planks of science and technology.

In the current edition of MSB Business Review (which I edit as an associate teaching fellow at Mona School of Business) an article by MSB executive director Evan Duggan and lecturer Herman Athias draws attention to countries like Brazil, China, India, Ireland, Israel, Malaysia, Singapore, the Republic of Korea and Uruguay that “have given ICT the highest priority in their development strategies and have derived considerable benefits from this decision”.

They asserted: “The Republic of Korea is a particularly useful benchmark because it demonstrates the pivotal requirements for such a transformation and illustrates the tenacity required to sustain it.

“The bedrock of this incredible success story is (1) the strong and sustained political commitment to the development of an appropriate ICT agenda and industry supported by comprehensive policy and strategy, and (2) the public/private partnership and the collaborative creation of a promotion fund to facilitate ICT innovation in products, services and infrastructure.”

Their argument is that harnessing the transformational impacts of ICT is not a quick fix but involves a range of complementary activities including a “forward-looking” ICT policy and regulatory framework, investment in education to supply the requisite skills and competences, and Korean-like partnership involving the political directorate, public agencies and the private sector.

We have talked enough in the first decade of ICT transition. Now we have to put it to work.

kcr@cwjamaica.com