ICT in public sector to boast with US$1.5M Centre of Excellence

A state of the art ICT Centre of Excellence was commissioned on Thursday and will serve as the principal institution to offer high-quality specialised ICT training to public servants.
The US$1.5 million facility, which is located on the University of Guyana’s Turkeyen campus, houses two laboratories as well as a classroom and is an initiative between the Guyana and Indian governments.
The establishment of the Centre for Excellence in Information Technology (CEIT) allowed Guyana to lean on India – a leading ICT innovator, in its quest to improve public service delivery. The project was conceptualized during a visit by former President Donald Ramotar to India.
According to outgoing Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Venkatachalam Mahalingam, this initiative is part of his country’s drive to boost the ICT sector within friendly bilateral states. He noted that this Centre of Excellence is the second that India has aided in setting in the Caribbean region.
In addition to the equipment for the labs and classroom, India also provided three specialist to conduct training as well as over 1000 manual books.
Meanwhile, President David Granger expressed gratitude to the Indian Government and in particular High Commissioner Mahalingam, whose five year tour in Guyana has ended, for his efforts to not only strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries but also push Guyana’s development through projects such as the establishment of the centre.
According to President Granger, this is another milestone added to the legacy that Mahalingam will be leaving behind. He noted that the facility will see Guyana becoming more agile in the ICT sector.
However, the Head of State is cognizant that the country is lagging behind in the ICT sector within the Caribbean region. In fact, he outlined that in terms of connectivity, Guyana is ranked 117 out of 193 countries with only 36 per cent of citizens using the Internet.
To this end, President Granger underscored the importance of having a technologically-literate and digitally-skilled society, which he added is central to the development of a ‘digital state’ which will see the hinterland region also benefitting from internet connectivity.
According to the President, ICT is a functional and practical response to the challenge of the digital deficit in Guyana and the establishment of the Centre is a step in the right direction which will see a number of persons trained in the sector.
Meanwhile, Public Telecommunications Minister, Cathy Hughes, in her remarks posited that the world is rapidly changing and technology is replacing all traditions. Against this backdrop, the Minister noted that the public servants who will receive ICT advanced training at CEIT will be expected to keep Government’s online presence user-friendly and up to date.
A 2016 MoU signed between the two countries saw the Indian government contributing US$1 million into the project including the provision of hardware for the labs and classroom.
The first batch of training commenced in April.