Broadband Partnership of the Americas

President Obama, seated at a panel discussion at the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia In April 2012, President Obama announced the creation of the Broadband Partnership of the Americas, an effort set to improve internet access across the Latin America and Caribbean region. The President was in Cartagena, Colombia, for the Sixth Summit of the Americas.

The Broadband Partnership for the Americas (BPA) is designed to improve access to broadband and the Internet and other communications technologies in the Americas. It will serve as a voluntary and flexible framework through which the governments of the Western Hemisphere, multilateral organizations, the donor community and the private sector can collaborate to increase access to broadband and the Internet across the Americas.

The BPA is supported by USAID and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and will be managed by the Global Broadband and Innovations Program, of which Integra is an implementing partner.

Eric Postel, Assistant Administrator for USAID’s Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade Bureau, said in a joint statement with the FCC, “We are very excited about this rich partnering opportunity within our own hemisphere- where we can mobilize public and private resources toward achieving more equitable access to broadband and the Internet as a key contributor to development.”

The financial and technical resources mobilized through the BPA will be used to help interested countries advance a range of information technology initiatives, including:

– developing and implementing national broadband strategies;

– creating or upgrading universal service funds to finance the expansion of mobile and broadband technologies to rural communities;

– improving international and regional connectivity by linking existing broadband networks;

– collaborating on a regional effort to harmonize the use of digital spectrum; and

– sharing best practices.

For more information, please visit GBI’s Broadband Partnership of the Americas page.

April 19, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Mobile, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

ICT Training for Guyanese Sugar Workers…

Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud addressing an audience

Credit:Guyana's Ministry of Agriculture

Sugar has been the mainstay of Guyana’s economy for over two centuries. But the sector has been contracting since the abolition of the 1975 Lomé Convention, a special arrangement under which the South American country’s famed Demarara sugar was allowed duty-free access into the lucrative European market.

The changing global trade environment forced many neighboring Caribbean countries, including Trinidad and Barbados, to shutter their sugar industry. Guyana, on the other hand, is holding firm. The government increased investments in the ailing sector, safeguarding the economy and livelihoods. Sugar is the largest single employer and contributor to the economy. So important is the sector to the country that the largest sugar producer, Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc. (Guysuco), puts more people to work than any other entity. Guysuco is also the country’s main source of foreign exchange, bringing in revenue that accounts for as much as 13% of GDP.

An economy so dependent on an industry prone to speculation, with a productive capacity outranked by other producers and alternatives, begs the question: How can this highly indebted poor country, with a per capita GDP hovering below US$1, 500 revitalize this crucial economic activity?

The Caribbean Farmers Network (CAFAN) points to Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) as a crucial set of tools in a mix of solutions. A view I share, as ICT is crucial for economic development. According to the World Bank, an increase of 10% in mobile phone penetration results in a 0.8% expansion in economic growth. The potential benefits of ICT expansion, especially to rural areas where farming is a mainstay, is wide-ranging. Farmers, irrespective of their crop specialty, are exposed to vital new information services that improves/enables a culture of enterprise.

Although Guyana is a slow starter in the ICT space, the government’s commitment to develop and promote ICT countrywide is strong. Earlier this year, Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud commissioned the second of eight ICT centers for the benefit of sugar workers and their families. Far too often states consider ICT expansion solely a matter for schools, ignoring the wider society and key aspects of the economy. Improving the ICT skill base among Guyanese sugar workers will better prepare them for planned improvements in sugar facilities, such as the new Skeldon Factory.

August 1, 2011/by actualize