Guyana making strides in bridging digital divide – McCoy tells ITU conference

Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Public Affairs, Kwame McCoy, has highlighted the strides being made by the Guyana Government in bridging the digital divide in the country.
He was at the time addressing global leaders who gathered for the Plenipotentiary Conference 2022 of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) being held in Bucharest, Romania under the theme ‘Building Better Digital Future.’
The Conference is the highest policy-making body of the International Telecommunication Union. It is hosted every four years and is the key event at which ITU Member States decide on the future role of the organisation, thereby determining the organisation’s ability to influence and affect the development of information and communication technologies (ICTs) worldwide.
Whilst addressing a Ministerial Roundtable at the event, Minister McCoy explained that in keeping with its manifesto promises and governance policies, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has fully committed its energies and significant portions of the country’s resources to transforming the telecommunication landscape of Guyana and building a technological knowledge-based society, which ultimately seeks to bridge the digital divide among the citizens and regions.

“While we persevere at home with localized programmes and projects that will impact our own national transformation outlook, we are concomitantly engaged in bilateral cooperation and collective global efforts to build and promote common digital platforms for the benefit of all humanity.”
“The social restrictions that became necessary over the past two years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, provided Guyana with an opportunity for us to introspect and determine the gap areas which needed to be addressed towards the achievement of universal, secure, inclusive and affordable access to the internet for all citizens, residents and visitors alike,” he stated.
McCoy further told the global leaders that his government has launched a campaign to provide free internet service in public spaces, primarily focusing on underserved communities. So far, 300 sites have been established benefiting over 250,000 residents.
“As part of the master plan, our efforts at building a knowledge-based society are already well underway with the roll out of free Wi-Fi access and youth innovation campaigns across the country, establishment of ICT Hubs in both urban and hinterland communities, piloting of smart classrooms in schools across every region, national expansion of our dedicated learning television channel, and the launch of a world-class academic and skill-based online scholarships academy,” the minister noted.
According McCoy, digital social services platforms that support women and youth entrepreneurship and capacity building for enhanced cross-sector business and employment readiness growth, pension and other access for seniors, telemedicine services for indigenous communities across the hinterland, legal services, children and domestic violence protection services, legislative and law enforcement information and services, and critical flood control and transport infrastructure systems – have all gone digital within the last year.
In fact, he pointed to the announcement just this week that for the first-time citizens can book their travels online for river ferry services.
Additionally, the minister also outlined efforts to bridge the digital divide between the coastland and hinterland, stating that government built its own satellite ground station to provide connectivity services to over 160 locations in hinterland areas. The initiative benefits approximately 60,000 residents living in remote communities nationwide.
On the issue of building capacity, Minister McCoy stated that 20,000 world-class online academic and skill-based scholarships have been made available to citizens.
In closing, McCoy affirmed Guyana’s commitment to partnering with the ITU and individual member states for capacity building and collaborative approaches for Building Better Digital Future.
“As we redouble our efforts on the home front to emerge more digitally synced with the rest of the world while empowering our own citizens, we remain fully committed to regional and global solidarity in keeping with our legal and moral obligations to build frameworks that support an inclusive and sustainable digital future for all humanity,” he stated. (G8)