Jamaica 86th in WEP GITR 2014 Rankings – UNCHR Rights to Broadband Legislation empowers Jamaican and Caribbean Nationals

“Little progress is being made in bridging the digital divide between technology savvy nations and others. The stalling of progress is worrisome for emerging and developing nations, which are at risk of missing out on many positive impacts information and communications technologies (ICT) bring, including increased innovation, economic competitiveness and greater social inclusion”

Excerpt from the WEF (World Economic Forum) GITR (Global Information Technology Report) 2014 on the state of Broadband Penetration in the Developing World

Jamaica has fallen yet again in the independent Swiss-based WEF’s (World Economic Forum) GITR (Global Information Technology Report) 2014 rankings as it relates to our state of Broadband Penetration as stated in “Jamaica falls in global IT ranking for eighth consecutive year”, published Friday, April 25, 2014 BY STEVEN JACKSON Business reporter, The Jamaica Observer.

According to the Think-Tank’s GITR (Global Information Technology Report) 2014, Jamaica has fallen 7 places in the rankings from 79^th to 86^th in the Global Rankings, a fall of seven places, when compared to the last WEF GITR 2013 entitled “Growth and Jobs in a Hyperconnected World”.

The other countries relative to us within the Caribbean in the ranking are as follows:

1.      1^st for Finland

2.      41^st for Puerto Rico

3.      56^th for Barbados

4.      71^st for Trinidad & Tobago

Jamaicans and WEP GITR Rankings – 87^th Globally but 5^th in the Caribbean in Broadband Penetration

Ironically, we’re ranked 5^th in the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) DigiLAC index as reported in “Ranking Caribbean Countries on Broadband Penetration”, published May 20, 2014 12:57 pm by Caribbean Journal staff, Caribbean Journal. The Index is as shown below:

So it’s not all Bad News…..Barbados is the only country that has us beat, albeit I’m expecting that BOTH the WEF GITR 2015 Report and the IDB DigiLAC index will show a shift up for all Caribbean Islands after Telecom Provider LIME and Telecom Provider Digicel deploy 4G LTE through the Caribbean.

Jamaicans and Broadband – Rights to Broadband needed as If it don’t Make Money it Don’t make Sense

I’d done a blog article entitled “Jamaica's 700MHz Spectrum Auction fails to attract bidders on Friday October 11 2013 - Jamaicans Lack interest in Broadband Internet and no Telecom Regulator for the Sector” in which I’d cited Jamaica’s lack of interest in Broadband Internet was due to the fact that Jamaicans do not know how to make Money from the Internet.

Jamaicans are a pragmatic bunch. If I’m paying for something, I must have some benefit, as unlike our first world cousins, we’re not as privileged or wealthy on average. Thus any Technology we possess must be either for Entertainment or to Make money.

To this end, we entertain ourselves by using Broadband Internet access mostly to play games and for Social Media, according to the results of an old but still very relevant Dr. Hopeton Dunn Caribbean ICT Indicators and Broadband Survey in 2011 conducted by the Mona School of Business (MSB) at the University of the West Indies (UWI), in 2011 as chronicled in my Geezam blog article entitled “Jamaica’s Low Net Penetration – Broadband Internet A Universal Right”.

The lack of a recognition that legally too, there is need to implement the UNCHR (United Nations Charter of Human Rights) as it relates to Access to Broadband Internet means many communities in Jamaica lack the Legislative tools to pressure Telecom Providers to demand Broadband Access in their communities.

There is also a need to Teach Jamaicans how to make money online, such as selling items on Ebay as summarized in my blog article entitled “How to make money as an EBay Seller online - Everything in Jamaica from Rare Coins to Unique Craft Items”.

But as mentioned above, if the deployments as mentioned in this week of World Telecommunications Day, celebrated on May 17^th 2014 are adhered to as stated in “LIME invests billions in mobile network”, Published Monday May 19, 2014, The Jamaica Gleaner and “Digicel says mobile 4G now 92% population coverage”, published Tuesday, May 20, 2014 10:18 AM, The Jamaica Observer, then expect these Reports and Indices to trend upwards as we become more Broadband Aware.

Here’s the link to the article:

WEF’s (World Economic Forum) GITR (Global Information Technology Report) 2014