Youth must use technology for national growth – GG
Published:Monday | October 10, 2022 | 12:06 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
GOVERNOR GENERAL Sir Patrick Allen believes that in light of Jamaica’s growing number of digital platform users, Jamaican young people must take full advantage of the current opportunities for technological and digital advancement in order to support national and personal development.
He made the call on Thursday, October 6, while addressing the 12th annual staging of the Governor General’s Programme of Excellence Youth Consultative Conference, held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in Rose Hall, St James. The conference was held under the theme: ‘Reimagining the power of technology for Jamaica’s youth’.
“According to Simon Kemp, a social researcher in the United States, at the end of 2021 there were approximately three million mobile connections in Jamaica, so this means there are more connections or devices in Jamaica than people. There were 1.5 million social media users in Jamaica, the equivalent of half the total population as at January 2021, and the number of social media users in Jamaica increased by 200,000, just about 15 per cent, between 2020 and 2021,” Sir Patrick told the conference.
He argued that many countries around the world, including Jamaica, have already started to leverage technology to create an enabling environment for learning and development. Sir Patrick said it was time that Jamaica start to use technology more intentionally and creatively.
“Not having adequate access to technology and the Internet in 21st-century Jamaica is like not having access to other vital resources such as water,” Sir Patrick noted. “It is essential to operate and exist in a digitally connected world.”
Thursday’s conference, which was held in-person for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, was physically attended by 600 youth representatives, plus other attendees who joined the conference on social media and other virtual platforms.
The governor general noted that over the years, Jamaica has become known for using technology for the wrong reasons, including involvement in criminal enterprises, like the infamous lottery scam.
“For many years, local and international news have shared alarming and heartbreaking stories of young Jamaicans using powerful technology for devious activities such as lottery scamming, and technology is perhaps playing an even more significant role in other forms of organised crime. It is time that we have discussions about how our talented young people with access to, and skills in the use of, technology can support areas of national development,” said Sir Patrick.
He said that Jamaica has been challenged by the limited reach of the Internet and access to mobile technology for some time now. “We experienced this even more significantly when many of you, specifically students, were thrust into the online space,” he noted. “We still have a long way to go in bridging this gap and ensuring greater access to this type of technology, but we cannot take for granted our young people’s almost innate and intuitive skills to use technology.”
His call comes less than a year after Science, Energy and Technology Minister Daryl Vaz announced the launch of the Organisation of American States-led Youth Academy on Transformative Technologies for the Americas last December, geared towards training young people across the Americas in information and communications technology.
At that time, the academy was announced as being set to provide training in areas such as augmented and virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and robotics for 10,000 young people by 2024, and 100,000 youth by 2026.
In the meantime, Dr Garry Conille, the United Nations’ resident coordinator in Jamaica, urged the conference’s youth attendees to use their acquired knowledge from the event to support the Jamaica 2030 development plan.
“We all know and acknowledge that the global shocks of COVID-19, climate change, and the conflict in Ukraine have thrown the Agenda 2030 and Vision 2030 off course. Now more than ever, we need the galvanising power of young people to bring us back on track to achieve these Sustainable Development Goals,” said Conille.
“There has never been a time in our history where young people are more implicated in every single discussion that concerns our future,” he added. “This is a remarkable opportunity for you to influence the decisions that are going to be made, not just in Jamaica, but all over the world.”