Chief executive officer of the Universal Service Fund (USF) Charlton McFarlane has indicated that he and his team are on a mission “to institutionalise a digital-first mindset” among children.

One of the main methods they are seeking to accomplish this is through information and communications technology (ICT) Clubs in schools.

“What we want is a Jamaica where we move from being consumers of technology to producers of the technology. When I was in school there was this club that was an entrepreneurial club, and businesses came out of it in a short time. We want to mobilise students around getting excited about ICT, from the programming standpoint, the hardware standpoint, and all of those things,” McFarlane said during last week’s Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange, which was held at the newspaper’s offices in St Andrew.

He told reporters and editors that there are currently 28 ICT Clubs in schools, and he would love to expand that number to many more institutions.

“We started ICT Clubs in schools in 2022. We have only 28 schools so far, simply because of budget. In Jamaica many things have to start and get going before persons come on board. I think if we look far and wide, that experience is something that is right across the board.

“What we have been doing is trying to push it in schools. We have ICT Club day, where we invite over 100 schools. We only have 28 clubs, but we invited over 100 schools so they can see the benefits of what an ICT Club has to offer. Out of that, we have gotten 15 expressions of interest from other schools that don’t have a club, but they want to start the club,” McFarlane said.

He said the initiative is one they’ve started from scratch, and the USF is funding it.

“We have to be very frugal. I spoke about financing issues that we have at USF, so while we wouldn’t mind an exponential increase, at this point I am not sure an exponential increase in the numbers is something we could absorb. We are slowly building out the ICT Clubs,” he added.

USF has done quite a lot so far, in terms of supporting the 28 ICT Clubs in schools, according to the CEO.

“We support it by providing schools with devices so that when students come to club sessions they can actually get devices to use. We support it by providing schools with funding to host ICT activities, ICT days, and technology fairs; that is what we do. We also support it by having competitions within the schools and also inter-school competitions.

“Right now we are partnering with the European Union for an ICT video competition. In fact, right now members of my team, along with members of the EU team, are judging the entries, and the grand prize out of that is a trip to Brussels, [Belgium]. In essence, that is what we are trying to do,” McFarlane said.

The European Union (EU) and USF Short Video Competition was launched in February, inviting active ICT Club members in high schools to create an exciting short video, giving them a chance to win many prizes.

This competition seeks to promote digital innovation, boost digital literacy among Jamaica’s youth, give students a chance to apply ICT knowledge to real-world situations, encourage critical thinking, teamwork, and leadership, and help students build digital skills for future careers. It also seeks to increase awareness of the EU’s partnership with Jamaica in expanding ICT access for social and economic development.