BUSINESS MONDAY - ICT SOLUTION

AN information technology specialist has pointed to at least one solution which Barbados can use to improve its ranking in the World Bank’s Doing Business Survey.

 

Philip Lewis, President of the Barbados ICT Professionals’ Association (BIPA), said that information communication and telecommunication (ICT) is one of the tools the country can deploy to tackle that 

problem.

 

He said that ICT is one of those areas which can be beneficial to the cause in improving Barbados’ ranking, which fell two places in the recent survey.

 

Lewis was speaking at a BIPA Mix and Mingle at the Three W’s Oval, University  of the West Indies, Cave Hill. 

 

It was revealed recently that the country continues to slide in that ranking, a point that many private sector representatives want to see improved.  

 

“We must all help Barbados  to go forward instead of going backwards. We have come too far in the 50 years since Independence to be going that way. The rating of 117 out of a total number of 180 countries is not a good ranking,” he declared.

 

ICT plays big role in business development

Lewis also underlined the role of ICT in business development, noting that the day prior to the Mix and Mingle, BIPA officials attended a function at the Small Business Incubator of the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation (BIDC), where they addressed small entrepreneurs.

 

“We talked to them about the technologies which small businesses should be using to improve their productivity and so on,” he recalled.

 

The BIPA president highlighted that it was a very useful discussion, which lasted three hours instead of the two hours that were planned. 

 

“This is basic stuff and really at the end of the day these small business owners really did not have this information which is very vital to their operations,” he remarked. 

 

Lewis said that BIPA does considerable work in Barbados, including with the Fair Trading Commission, the telecoms unit, among others; and in terms of informing legislation in Barbados as it relates to broadband strategy.

 

BIPA is a leading Barbados ICT Professional Association, and Lewis said that they continue to encourage other associations that deal in ICT to come forward.

 

Also giving brief remarks was David Noel, who heads up the local chapter for the Information System Security Association (ISSA). Noel said that they are an international group in several countries, 

focussing only on information security.

 

Lewis added that they have tried to make sure they work with all ICT stakeholders – both in the public and private sectors, and with the UWI.