Utech should lead in embracing digital advancements

It is evident that Jamaica must embrace the rapid technological advancements of our time. Running away from these changes is not an option, as it is crucial to position ourselves competitively on a global scale. A significant step forward would be for one of the island's tertiary institutions, such as Utech, to prioritize STEM education. By doing so, they can effectively equip both current and future generations with the necessary

UTech in transition?

11 Jul 2023

FIRST SET to Lloyd Carney. On Friday, he announced that Kevin Brown, an academic and aerospace engineer who lately worked at the global aerospace company Rolls Royce, will in September become the president of the University of Technology (UTech), Jamaica. Days earlier, UTech, the finance ministry, and the Students’ Loan Bureau signed an agreement for the Jamaican Government to provide 1,000 scholarships worth J$2.4 billion over five years to students who otherwise could not afford to enter the programmes to study for undergraduate degrees and diplomas in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects.

This newspaper takes these developments as signals that Mr Carney, who was appointed as the university’s chancellor last August (he was formally installed in February) is on a path to take UTech back to core. Put another way, he is attempting, as we have proposed, to arrest UTech’s crawl to being a kind of halfway house between a liberal arts-social sciences college and a polytechnic university.

UTech must be the latter. And its greater ambition must be to become not only the elite university of its kind in the Caribbean, but a globally competitive institution.

If that is indeed Mr Carney’s mission, it is a long way before he can declare game, set, and match. And he must be aware that he will face resistance from entrenched interests who misapprehend global currents, what is required for Jamaica to have a chance at competing in the 21st-century economy, and UTech’s potential for helping to give the island that chance.

To win at this game, Mr Carney should give the widest possible interpretation of the role of the chancellor – and, therefore, the law that established the position – and ensure that like-minded people are appointed to key positions.

ACTIVIST

He must be an activist rather than a ceremonial chancellor.

In that event, we presume that Dr Brown, an alumnus of the College of Arts, Science and Technology (which transitioned to UTech), was Lloyd Carney’s choice.

Mr Carney grew up in Jamaica in the 1970s, emigrated to the United States, studied engineering, and became a significant player in America’s digital technology world as creator and manager of big firms, a venture capitalist, and as a member of the boards of some of the US’s most iconic enterprises.

Dr Brown’s most recent job was as project lead for civil aerospace technology and future programmes at Rolls Royce, a key provider of jet engines for commercial and military aircraft. His instincts, therefore, are likely to be towards engineering and technology, and as such, aligned with Mr Carney’s.

At present, more than four in 10 of the over 12,000 students enrolled at the University of Technology study for diplomas and degrees in other STEM subjects, including 38 per cent who are reading for business degrees. Three per cent are in humanities and social sciences courses, and two per cent study law.

There is nothing wrong in doing such courses – just not at UTech. They erode UTech’s specialisation and create inefficient duplication of these programmes that are already adequately delivered by other institutions. If there is an issue of access and cost at those institutions, that should be addressed separately.

MAKES SENSE

Further, it makes sense that Jamaica has a tertiary i nstitution that focuses on STEM. The island’s low-wage, low value-added, lowproductivity economy that has grown at an annual average of one per cent over nearly a half a century cannot be deemed fit for purpose in a global environment that is increasingly defined by science and technology, evidenced by a rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI). Indeed, Jamaica’s low-wage jobs in technology-shaped enterprises are being threatened by AI.

By some estimates, 40 million technical jobs are unfilled globally, and that number could rise to over 85 million by 2030. The Americans also predict that over the next decade, more than 70 million new jobs in their country will require technical skills of some kind. These jobs are in areas such as digital technology and clean/renewable energy.

Jamaica faces the danger of being bypassed by this technological wave if it does not act fast in preparing itself to take advantage of the existing and emerging technologies – and not merely, as is generally the case, as consumers of them.

Despite the whinge to the contrary, an elite polytechnic – if it is clear on its mission – can thrive even in this environment, even as the crisis at the lower levels of the education spectrum is being addressed. Indeed, there is a critical mass of students for UTech’s STEM offerings, and there are ways to finance the institution without chasing a buck with liberal arts and humanities degrees. Which is what we hope that Mr Carney and Dr Brown understand and on which they are basing a partnership and are intending to build.

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