KINGSTON, Jamaica — Hundreds of Jamaicans are currently being trained under the free Skills for the Future Programme by the Flow Foundation, in partnership with the Caribbean School of Data (CSOD).

This was disclosed at a recent virtual event for participants in and facilitators of the programme.

The Skills for the Future Programme provides foundation knowledge in digital and data literacy and is currently being executed through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Flow Foundation and the Mona School of Business and Management.

Speaking to the background for the Flow Foundation to drive this programme, Executive Director Kayon Mitchell, said the pandemic further highlighted the digital knowledge gap that exists.

“As more businesses and schools transitioned to the digital space, it was clear that many were not prepared with the necessary skills-set or means to operate in the online space.  Given Flow’s work in connecting more unserved and underserved communities to the digital world, it is very important for us to equip as many Jamaicans as possible to participate in this fast-evolving global digital economy,” Mitchell said.

She said the Foundation is underwriting the cost to roll out this programme to approximately 4,000 Jamaicans across the island.

Director of the Centre of Innovation at the Mona School of Business and Management, Dr Maurice McNaughton, provided an overview of CSOD while emphasising that “digital has become the dominant mode of engagement whether in commerce, social interaction, or economic activity”.

He noted that “without digital literacy and data skills, we are going to be seriously challenged to be competitive as individuals, as a society, as an economy in today’s world”.

The curriculum is free for participants, online, self-paced, and is estimated to take students 12 weeks (three months) to complete.  The Foundation said each group of students is supported by a trained facilitator to ensure they stay on track and have the tools they need to complete the programme.

The Foundation said the programme consists of four courses — Foundations of Being Digital, Productivity for Digital Workers, Social Media and Web Applications, and Data Fundamentals, the Skills for the Future Programme — which are covered under 16 modules, with a final capstone project that requires students to demonstrate critical thinking and problem solving while applying the knowledge gained, and digital skills to a given business scenario.

Participants will be presented with a certificate of achievement upon completion of the programme at which time, they should be able to pursue careers in the areas of SEO clerk/online ad monitor, mobile/web app tester, data processor and market researcher, the Foundation said.

Okenya Barrett, a graduate of the Data Collectors Programme and current facilitator of the Skills for the Future Programme, shared her experience with the programme, saying: “A couple of months ago, I would have said, ‘Yes, I am digitally literate. I mean I use social media, I can use a computer — that’s being digitally literate, right?’ Then I took part in this programme and it opened my eyes. I wasn’t even close to being digitally educated.”

“Now, I can proudly speak of the whole new set of skills that I have acquired as a result of this programme. I am confident that I am now truly digitally literate, and I really see the value of this and its importance to my future as well as that of my family’s well-being,” she added.