Georgetown, Guyana – (May 9, 2016) The E-Governance Unit within the Ministry of Public Telecommunications has received a boost from the Governments of India and China, in the form of specialised training in several areas of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), to further strengthen the capacity of the Unit.
This will advance the Unit’s ability to provide ICT services to the country through the enhanced skill-set.
On April 29, Mr. Kyle Craig, an Assistant ICT Engineer in the Infrastructure Department of the Unit, returned from India, after spending two months at the Centre for Excellence in Telecommunications and Technology Management (CETTM). This training was made possible under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC), which exists between that country and the Government of Guyana. Three other staff members from the Unit are still in India, participating in other relevant training, while a team of six is currently in preparation mode to travel to China for training in similar areas. The training sessions usually last between two to three months. Mr. Craig was trained in Optical Fibre Cable Systems and Modern Transport Telecom Technologies.
“In simple terms, it helps a person with a technical background to get in-depth knowledge [on] how fibres work. In India, we not only had an experience of how the science really works but we went a little further to the other technologies, which help to make it what it is,” Mr. Craig shared, in an invited comment.
Mr. Floyd Levi, Presidential Advisor on E-Governance and Head of the Unit, in an invited comment, said that the training could not be timelier or more welcomed, since it fits directly into the agenda of the organisation, which has overall responsibility for the fulfilment of Government’s ICT needs.
“The training opportunities that we are exploring fit into our immediate priorities. There are four priorities and the first one is to define what the Government’s ICT requirements are and to develop, operate and maintain Information Systems and infrastructures to support those needs. Secondly, we want to recruit, train and retain ICT professionals to ensure that we can execute these priorities. The third priority is to coordinate a holistic approach for the use of ICTs in improving service delivery to the public, while the fourth one is ensuring that the availability function, the continuity and the integrity of Government information systems. So this training is fulfilling part of priority number two for us,” Mr. Levi said.
He noted that the training provided to Craig and the other staffers encompasses the advance technologies that the Unit is currently operating. It will therefore add capacity and strength to what exists, he said.
“It is very exciting and very fitting that we have had this opportunity to have someone trained at this high level because this opportunity is not readily available to us and so we appreciate the effort that the Indian Government has made to give us this training because it is not readily available in Guyana nor the Caribbean,” Mr. Levi said.
Mr. Levi further said that he expects that the knowledge and skills gained from those training sessions, will be passed on to the other departments in the organisation so that the vision of a high performance organisation that serves as the ICT vanguard for the delivery of efficient Government services across the Public Sector, can become a reality.
“These persons will be coming back as what we call ’subject matter experts’ and they will now be required to ensure that this knowledge is disseminated to the other staff in their department, who did not get the opportunity to go to India,” the Presidential Advisor noted.
In the meantime, however, continuous on-the-job trainings, especially in the areas of cyber security and project management have been on-going.
The other staffers benefiting from the training courses in India are Mr. Hillhier Emptage – Certificate Programme in Operations Management, Mr. Devon Abrams – Specialised Training Programme in Network Integration and Support and Ms. Asena Marques – Certificate Course in Network Security.
Additionally, the team that is preparing to depart for China later this month will undergo two months training.
Mr. Quincy Allen from the Unit will participate in a seminar on the Construction of Broadband Access Networks for Developing Countries; Mr. Kevon Smith will participate in the seminar on Telecommunication Network Planning and Optimisation for Developing Countries; Mr. Sachin Persaud in the seminar on Smart Grid and Telecommunication Network Administration for Developing Countries; Mr. Lloyd Marks – the seminar on Development of Information and Telecommunication Technology for Developing Countries, Mr. Malcolm Williams – the seminar in E-Government for Developing Countries and Mr. Clarence Garraway – the Training Course on Information Technology Application for Developing Countries.
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