CONTACT Magazine (Vol.18 No.2 – September 2018)

Tamana InTech Park
In 2014, Cable & Wireless Communications (then Columbus Communications)
earmarked Tamana InTech Park as a preferred location for a major regional data
centre, similar to previous investments made in Curaçao and Colombia. This would
have set the stage for Trinidad and Tobago to emerge as a regional hub and/or centre
of excellence for data-related services, similar to the models and initiatives established
by ASEAN leaders Malaysia 1 2 and Singapore 3 .
However, since little has been heard from either the government or Cable &
Wireless regarding this project for some time, there are those who fear that a serious
opportunity to develop Tamana into an active regional data hub is being missed.
Implementation
From the US diaspora, Matthew Talma, an engineering manager at Amazon and cofounder
of Ticktr and M:Carnival Manager, observes: “[T]he sense that I get is that the
government and business understand that technology can have a large impact [but]
they are still struggling with the implementation of these technologies. This may not
necessarily point to a lack of talent in the region but rather a problem in bridging the
gap between developers and business owners.”
Talma believes that nurturing small business with a technology focus will
help. “It solves the problem elegantly by giving technology developers real world
experience in applying it to business problems. It is usually these companies that are
able to disrupt larger ones. It will take a champion in the region to bring to light
that this sort of disruption is possible.”
According to Dr Patrick Hosein, Professor of Computer Science at The University
of the West Indies: “The latest ICT technologies are typically available locally, but
these are not being used to their maximum potential ... Companies must be brave
enough to make changes to decades-old processes and ignore the objections to
these changes by those who would prefer to maintain the status quo.”
Simon Aqui, IBM’s regional executive in charge of Caribbean Financial Services
(and most recently the Country Head responsible for Trinidad and Tobago’s IBM
operations), recognises that there are movements towards digital transformation
within the public sector, but thinks more must be done, and done faster.
“The public sector can lead the way through adoption of advanced ICT
initiatives,” he says, “such as electronic/online payments, integrated systems (like
‘single sign on’ for all government services), open data and API presentation for
companies to utilise back-end integration to government databases (payments,
registries, etc). Relevant legislation and ICT-based incentives can also encourage
businesses to confidently implement new technologies and services.”
Another regional professional with well over 30 years’ experience in Telecoms
and ICT is direct in his assessment. “I don’t believe the government has treated ICT
as a priority or as an enabler. Legislation that should have been changed years ago
remains as is. I believe that unless the government makes it a priority to maximise
investments such as the eTeck Park (at Tamana), we will not be considered a serious
ICT player in the Caribbean region.”
Matthew Talma, engineering manager,
Amazon
Simon Aqui, IBM regional executive
courtesy simon aqui courtesy matthew talma
1 ASEAN Data Analytics eXchange: ADAX.” Accessed June 25, 2018. http://adax.asia/.
2 “BDA - Digital Innovation Ecosystem I MDEC.” Accessed June 25, 2018. https://www.mdec.my/digitalinnovation-ecosystem/big-data-analytics.
3 “How Singapore plans to become Asia’s big data hub in 2018.” Accessed June 25, 2018. https://www.
edb.gov.sg/en/news-and-resources/insights/talent/how-singapore-plans-to-become-asias-big-datahub-in-2018.html.
www.chamber.org.tt/contact-magazine 39
Trinidad and Tobago Chamber
of Industry and Commerce