Minister McCoy tells ITU that Gov’t making strides in bridging digital divide

Public Affairs Minister, Kwame McCoy declared that the Guyana Government is making strides to provide national coverage, as it aims to bridge the digital divide.

McCoy stressed that this is also part of the current Administration’s efforts to attain a digitally integrated knowledge-based society over the next decade. The minister was speaking at the Ministerial Roundtable at Plenipotentiary Conference 2022 of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) being held in Bucharest, Romania under the theme ‘Building Better Digital Future.’

McCoy noted that measures necessary to achieve this target include empowering vulnerable sections of the population with the means through which they could access the internet at personal and community levels.

Further, he said that in keeping with its manifesto promises and governance policies, the 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.

Minister McCoy outlining some of the projects being undertaken across the country, revealed that 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.

Additionally, he said in efforts to bridge the digital divide between the coastland and hinterland, 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.

“Services offered to hinterland villages include; IP Phone Service- free calls to landlines and other villages; receive calls from anywhere in the world and internet access including access to online learning resources and eServices offered by Government of Guyana,” the minister told the forum.

McCoy on the issue of building capacity, stressed that 20,000 world-class online academic and skill-based scholarships have been made available to citizens. “We have expanded virtual learning platforms for all levels of the education system including the installation of smart-classroom features in pilot schools in each administrative region, and we have achieved national reach of the Guyana Learning Television Channel,” he said.

The public affairs minister also mentioned some of the challenges the country is faced with, including vulnerability to flooding due to climate change. He explained that the nation’s drainage infrastructure, which remains manual in nature, poses a major challenge in identifying when flooding may be unavoidable and in reducing the severity of flooding.

However, he stressed, to know the on/off status of infrastructure, two main methods are used, cellular phone calls or physically visiting the sites. There is also a heavy reliance on the human element with little to no automation

Further, to begin the digital transition process, McCoy pointed out government’s recently commissioned Critical Infrastructure Monitoring Project, the initial phase of which will see the basic monitoring of drainage pumps and later, the monitoring of the sluice doors, conservancy water levels and other critical infrastructure. The project is utilising a Low Powered Internet of Things (IOT) network due to the suitable characteristics of the technology.

The minister affirmed Guyana’s commitment to partnering with the ITU and individual member states for capacity building and collaborative approaches for ‘Building Better Digital Future.’