THE United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the Universal Service Fund (USF) has closed the gap which prevented the residents of 10 communities across Jamaica from accessing the Internet.

This was done through the provision of 17 Internet sites along with Wi-Fi connectivity for communities Constant Spring, St Andrew; Brown’s Town, St Ann; Albion, St Thomas; Spring Gardens, Trelawny; Castleton, Portland; Granville, St James; Claremont District, Hanover; Burnt Savannah, Westmoreland; Ballard Valley, St Elizabeth; and Thompson Town, Clarendon.

Schools and centres in these communities also benefited from computer donations. The cost of the project was $US 300, 000, which was made available by the UNDP.

Daniel Dawes, CEO of USF, shared that over $2 billion has been spent so far on the national broadband initiative and thanked UNDP for approaching his team with their contribution which will help to remove the barriers to Internet connectivity for Jamaicans.

“These 17 sites outfitted were not new sites. These are sites we have been having problems with in terms of functionality and other variables. A place down in Trelawny, we have been trying for years to get that site up and running. We had major problems treating with that site. Today, it is fully functional. If at all you have the fiscal space, I do ask that we continue the partnership because it is about the Jamaican people. We must do all that we can to ensure this transformational experience. The Universal Service Fund is not as awashed with money as in 2005. I do ask that the partnership be continued.”

In a video presentation, a female resident of Priestmans River in Portland, one of the communities that have benefited, shared that the Internet challenges were tremendous.

“We have had unstable Wi-Fi for quite some time and so it affected business and it also affected our students because they were not able to get their homework done.”

A representative of St Christopher’s School for the Deaf, another institution which has benefited from the partnership with between USF and UNDP, said not having Internet was a struggle in the classroom with the children.

“The children tend to be visual. When we had the other computers, the Internet was disconnecting a lot, so now with UNDP setting up the new computers and the Wi-Fi, we are happy. Now we have the opportunity to do the planning to include technology in our teaching.”

In the meantime, UNDP Country Representative Denise Antonio described funding of the project as a modest donation that will empower young people especially.

“This is positively impacting communities. This broadband access is vital to prepare future leaders, to bring a very tech-savvy and innovative mindset to solving future challenges. We know that this digital divide fuels inequalities and we need to make sure that we are one-of-a-kind on this vital digital public services opportunity that exists.

“The first recommendation of the digital readiness assessment tool was to adopt a proactive policy to increase the availability of information technology professionals in the country. We really have to do that in order to be a digital society. The second one was increasing support for company’s digital transformation and start-ups. Then last of the recommendations was mainstreaming inclusively in all digital policies and projects for vulnerable populations identified as the elderly, special groups and those who have special needs.”

Further, Antonio said another key recommendation was to conduct a national digital skills gap analysis, which will be supported by the UNDP and will be completed by June this year.