It is not only what you do and when, but when in relation to what others are doing that counts in a world which has undergone rapid globalisation.

If an entity lags behind in technology it will soon be marginalised, as in the case of BlackBerry, or indeed may not survive, eg Kodak, because every government, country, firm and individual is trying to advance technologically as rapidly as possible.

The market for higher education services is, like everything else, a global one. In this respect, every university is exposed to global competition, and with modern international telecommunications and information management technologies consumers can chose from a wide range of institutions, either to attend physically or by Internet.

Someone in Jamaica can do a law degree by attending the University of the West Indies (UWI) or University of Technology or any of several overseas universities online. The MBA programme at UWI has to compete with several universities that deliver their product in Jamaica. UWI’s medical school has to contend with St George’s University in Grenada.

Our local institutions have no protectionist barriers and very little and decreasing locational advantages. An increasing number of universities, including the world’s most renowned are offering more and more of their courses on the Internet.

Since Wednesday, November 6, 2013 there has been an avalanche of self-congratulatory plaudits about the UWI’s first telemedicine transmission. This was carried out by the region’s only dedicated research and education network, C@ribNET.

The telecast originated from the Mona Campus and was broadcast to medical students and faculty at the Open Campus sites in Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados. This is commendable, but indicates how far off the pace the UWI and Caricom are in the global education market. This is 2013 when numerous universities have been doing it for years.

It is sad too, that we have only one education and research network as a region whose only real resources is its educated labour force.

The premier regional university and Caricom are even further behind in telemedicine, ie increasing access to and delivery of health services quickly, conveniently and at affordable costs through the use of modern technology. Not enough has been done since the inaugural conference held in July, 2004, almost a decade ago.

The snail pace of establishing telemedicine services and telemedicine education is illustrated by the fact that the first use of telemedicine dates back to 1989 when the first interactive telemedicine system took place using standard telephone lines. The industry was sufficiently well-established that an American Telemedicine Association was formed in 1993. No surprise, since the telemedicine market is estimated at US$1 billion and growing rapidly.

This belated telemedicine breakthrough by UWI needs to be ramped up quickly and substantially. It can lower the cost of training doctors and nurses, improve the quality of teaching and improve the quality and speed of delivery of medical treatment. In so doing it will contribute significantly to maintaining (some say restoring) and enhancing UWI as a global brand in medicine and healthcare.

The race is not for the swift, it is for the swiftest. The UWI’s first telemedicine broadcast is not an achievement to crow about but merely an eddy in the global technological backwater.